A list of building societies in the UK that gave up building society status (non-profit making, owned by members) and become profit making PLCs. This process is known as demutualisation. List of former building societies and date of demutualisation. Abbey National 1989 – Converted to PLC now known as “Santander”, it is part of Spanish …
Cash Flow. This is the pattern of a firms receipts of income and outgoings of expenses. To survive businesses need to ensure sufficient cash flow and not just profitability. For example, if a business sells goods, but, doesn’t receive payment for a long time, it may go out of business even though on paper it …
Business ethics refers to the way firms behave with regard to conducting business. Business ethics involves following legal requirements for business, but, also involves considering issues which may be legal but not necessarily beneficial for society. Business Ethics may involve. Treatment of workers, shareholders, stakeholders, suppliers etc Care not to mislead consumers and workers with …
Definition of Capital Consumption This is the loss of capital equipment due to depreciation. Depreciation can occur due to the machines wearing out, getting lost or breaking down. Capital can also become obsolete through advances in technology. Capital consumption can also occur due to a shift in demand. E.g. rise in demand for computers made …
A credit default swap is a financial instrument for swapping the risk of debt default. The buyer of a credit default swap pays a premium for effectively insuring against a debt default. He receives a lump sum payment if the debt instrument has defaulted. The seller of a credit default swap receives monthly payments from …
Free market economics believes government intervention should be limited to the protection of private property. It is advocated by many economists especially in the Chicago, and Austrian school of Economics. However, although free markets have advantages, such as greater efficiency, there are several criticisms levelled at purely free market economies. Criticisms of free-market economics Inequality. …
Antitrust is predominantly an American term referring to laws regulating the abuse of monopoly power. Monopolies have various disadvantages for society and consumers. In particular: Higher prices Less choice Less incentives to cut costs and develop new products Monopsony buying power and employment of labour Antitrust laws came into effect in the nineteenth century due …
Costs of production relate to the different expenses that a firm faces in producing a good or service. Types of costs Fixed costs – costs that don’t vary with output Sunk costs – costs that cannot be recovered on leaving industry, e.g. advertising Variable costs – costs relating to how much is produced (e.g. raw …