A Field Guide for the Economically Baffled (Liberation Day Edition)
Economics explained with 70% spark, 30% clarity.
Because if we’re living in a casino, we might as well know the rules.
(Collab with ChatGPT.)
Glossary (Alphabetical Index)
Anti-Dumping Regime (Policy & Response)
A wall of paperwork against ghost economies.
Definition: Laws to prevent foreign companies from selling products at below market value to undermine domestic producers.
Arbitrage (Markets & Speculation)
The polite word for profiting from chaos. Arbitrageurs don’t cause the fire—they just sell the smoke.
Definition: Buying in one market and selling in another to exploit price differences.
AUD/USD (Currency & Trade)
The economic version of a long-distance relationship: when one gets clingy, the other drifts.
Definition: The currency pair comparing the Australian dollar against the U.S. dollar.
Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve (Policy & Response)
Economic doomsday prepping.
Definition: Stockpiling essential minerals to protect supply chains in geopolitical or economic crises.
Currency Manipulation (Currency & Trade)
An accusation flung when your dollar dreams shrink. Often true, often projection.
Definition: When a country artificially alters its currency’s value to gain trade advantages.
Depression (Economic Conditions)
When the lights go out and stay out.
Definition: A severe and prolonged downturn in economic activity, deeper and longer than a recession.
Economic Nationalism (Currency & Trade)
Waving a flag in one hand while slapping tariffs with the other. Often smells faintly of economic isolation and election season.
Definition: Policy prioritising domestic industry and workers over global trade, often via protectionism.
Executive Order (Economic) (Policy & Response)
A presidential pen turned wrecking ball.
Definition: A directive from the president that bypasses Congress to enact immediate policy, often with wide economic implications.
Futures (Markets & Speculation)
Fortune cookies for markets—except the message is written in fear, hope, and caffeine.
Definition: Financial contracts to buy/sell an asset at a predetermined price on a set future date.
Government Procurement Preference (Policy & Response)
The local shop gets to serve the government barbecue first.
Definition: Policies that favour domestic businesses in government contracts.
Greenback (Currency & Trade)
The world’s most muscular piece of paper. When it sneezes, whole economies catch pneumonia.
Definition: A nickname for the U.S. dollar, the dominant global reserve currency.
Inflation (Markets & Speculation)
When your money starts dieting without telling you.
Definition: A rise in prices across the economy, eroding the purchasing power of money.
Inflation Shock (Markets & Speculation)
A sucker punch to the wallet.
Definition: A rapid and unexpected surge in inflation, usually caused by supply disruptions or geopolitical events.
Recession (Economic Conditions)
A cold snap in the economic weather.
Definition: A significant decline in economic activity, typically over two or more quarters.
Reserve Currency (Currency & Trade)
The dollar at the centre of the dance floor, and everyone else has to sway in time.
Definition: A widely held global currency used in international trade and finance. The U.S. dollar currently holds the dominant position.
Stagflation (Economic Conditions)
The economy’s version of a hangover and food poisoning at the same time.
Definition: High inflation + low growth + high unemployment.
Tariff (Currency & Trade)
A border tax dressed as patriotism.
Definition: A tax imposed on imports or exports to protect domestic industries or punish foreign economies.
Technical Recession (Economic Conditions)
The economist’s version of “we’re not panicking… yet.”
Definition: Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth.
Trade Deficit / Surplus (Currency & Trade)
A seesaw at customs: buy more than you sell, and you’re borrowing lunch money.
Definition: A deficit occurs when a nation imports more than it exports; a surplus is the reverse.
Trade Missions (Policy & Response)
Diplomatic speed dating for exporters.
Definition: Delegations sent abroad to promote national exports and secure new markets.
Trade War (Currency & Trade)
Diplomacy’s loud, clumsy cousin.
Definition: Escalating tariffs and trade barriers between nations in response to perceived economic injustices.
Zero-Interest Loans (Policy & Response)
A government money hose with no burn on the back end.
Definition: Public loans with no interest, used to stimulate industries in crisis.
Updated daily while the world burns.
Want a term added? Heard a phrase you didn’t understand on the news? Drop it in the comments.
The Auld Skald's Fudgel 