Neoliberal: "Liberal" is term used in continental Europe meaning "free market", so neoliberal means a return to free market economic measures. Used by some people on left to refer to attacks on workers' conditions and welfare benefits. Also sometimes used to describe period from mid-1970s to present.
"New Classical" School: School of free market economics which developed in 1 980s; holds that a market economy will stay in equilibrium unless subject to external forces or interference by state, monopolies or trade union action.
NICs: Newly Industrialising Countries of 1 960 to 1980s, like South Korea, Brazil, Taiwan.
Nomenklaturists: Those holding high up, privileged positions in state and industry in old Eastern Bloc countries before 1989-91.
Non-productive consumption: The use of goods in ways which serve neither to produce new plant, machinery, raw materials and so on ("means of production") nor to provide for the consumption needs of workers. The use of goods for the consumption of the ruling class, for advertising and marketing or for arms, all fall into this category.
Non-productiveexpenditures: Expenditures undertaken by capitalists or the state over and above what is necessary for the production of commodities (in cludes spending on consumption of the ruling class, on its personal servants, on the "'expenses of production" and so on).
OECD: Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development. Organisation of the established industrialised countries with an important research arm.
Oil shock: Sudden increase in price of oil, especially as a result of the Arab-Israel war of October 1973.
Okishio's theorem: Theory which claims to disprove Marx's tendency of the rate of profit to fall.
OPEC: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel currently made up of twelve countries: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.
Organic composition of capital: Ratio of the value of investment in plant, machinery, raw materials and so on ("means of production") to the value of expenditure on employing productive labour. Using Marxist terminology, this is the ratio of constant capital to variable capital, or dv. See also Technical composition of capital.
Organised sector: Term used in India for formal sector, ie where workers have legal working rights.
Pareto, Vilfredo: Italian neoclassical economist at turn of the 20th century, who supported Mussolini's rise to power.
Plaza Accord: 1985 Agreement by Japan and Germany to allow the value of their currencies to rise so as make it easier for the US to export.
Ponzi scheme: A fraudulent scheme which pays profits to old investors out of money collected from new investors.
Preobrazhensky, Evgeny: Russian Bolshevik activist and economist, executed by Stalin in 1 937.
Private equity funds: Investment vehicle where rich individuals come together to buy shares in companies in order to make a profit.
Productive expenditures: Spending which is necessary if commodities are to be produced and surplus value created (spending on the means and materials of production on the one hand, and on workers' wages on the other).
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