Bio
Matthew Bishop
Matthew Bishop is the New York bureau chief and US business editor of The Economist and previously served as the magazine's London-based business editor. He is the author of several acclaimed books, most recently, The Road From Ruin: How to Renew Capitalism and Put America Back on Top and Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World, both with Michael Green. He has also written numerous special reports for The Economist on such topics as corporate governance and the private equity boom.
Before joining The Economist, Bishop was on the faculty of the London Business School. He was honored by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader and served as chairman of the Forum's Global Agenda Council on Philanthropy and Social Investing. He has also been a member of the Sykes Commission on restoring trust in the investment system and the UN Advisory Group for the International Year of Microcredit.
Joseph E. Stiglitz
Joseph E. Stiglitz is a professor at Columbia University and the chair of the university's Committee on Global Thought. In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for his analyses of markets with asymmetric information. He was a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under Clinton and later the chief economist for the World Bank. His latest book is Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy.
Encyclopædia Britannica Articles
- economic growth
Process by which a nation's wealth increases over time. The most widely used measure of economic growth is the real rate of growth in a country's total output of goods and services (gauged by the gross domestic product adjusted for inflation, or “real GDP”). Other measures (e.g., national income per capita, consumption per capita) are also used. The rate of economic growth is influenced by natural resources, human resources, capital resources, and technological development in the economy along with institutional structure and stability. Other factors include the level of world economic activity and the terms of trade. See also economic development.
- economic growth on britannica.com
- gross domestic product (GDP)
Total market value of the goods and services produced by a nation's economy during a specific period of time. GDP is customarily reported on an annual basis. It is defined to include all final goods and services—that is, those that are produced by the economic resources located in that nation regardless of their ownership and are not resold in any form. GDP differs from gross national product (GNP), which is defined to include all final goods and services produced by resources owned by that nation's residents, whether located in the nation or elsewhere.
- gross domestic product (GDP) on britannica.com
- recession
Downward trend in the business cycle characterized by a decline in production and employment, which in turn lowers household income and spending. Even though not all households and businesses experience actual declines in income, they become less certain about the future and consequently delay making large purchases or investments. Consumers buy fewer durable household goods, and businesses are less likely to purchase machinery and equipment and more likely to use up existing inventory instead of adding goods to their stock. This drop in demand leads to a corresponding fall in output and thus worsens the economic situation. Whether a recession develops into a severe and prolonged depression depends on a number of circumstances. Among them are the extent and quality of credit extended during the previous period of prosperity, the amount of speculation permitted, the ability of government monetary and fiscal policies to reverse (or minimize) the downward trend, and the amount of excess productive capacity. Compare depression.
- recession on britannica.com
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