Highly touted and respected American Economist and former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006. Also, Chairman of the Fed’s principle monetary policymaking committee known as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Greenspan was the first person ever appointed to chair the Fed for five consecutive terms after his initial appointment by then President Ronald Reagan.

Balance of Payments A measurement of payments that transact between an individual country and other countries of the world determining the economic position of that country over a specific period of time, usually a year. This position is made up of current account balances, those of imports and exports of good and services, and capital accounts, which are made up of the difference between the capital a country invests in another country and the capital that a country receives from another country.

Bankruptcy – The situation when a person or firm has the inability to pay their debts to all of their creditors. The debtor then petitions the courts for relief, which in return may ease or even erase all debts. Creditor can counter the bankruptcy by filing against the debtor in order to recoup some of the payments owed to them.