Webster's have been in the business of publishing dictionaries since the early nineteenth century. This latest volume in their stable covers the sometimes turbulent and frequently jargon laden world of finance. The aim of Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary is “to provide a basic definition of investment terms in an easy‐to‐understand format and then add context so readers comprehend the meaning of the term”. It has been written by Barbara Etzel who has been a financial reporter for Reuters and Dow Jones. She has pulled together some 3,500 terms that are in constant use in accounting, banking, economics, finance, investment and the securities markets.
Definitions of terms are concise, easy to understand and cross‐referenced where appropriate. Also meriting entries are financial organizations such as the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Conference Board; key figures including Alan Greenspan, George Soros and Mervyn King; and major new regulations such as the USA Patriot Act (passed after 11 September) and the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (brought in to tighten the financial rules governing companies).
A browse through this dictionary highlights how changing times have affected the vocabulary of finance. It includes terms such as Digital Pearl Harbor – a concern that hackers could gain access to a computer system and wreak global havoc; Enronitis – nervousness about a company because of suspected accounting problems; and Board Independence – a relatively new concept in corporate governance that calls for a majority of board members to be independent from the company. Other interesting definitions cover Chinese Wall, Bowie Bond, Cookie Jar Accounting, Greater Fool Theory, Lean Hogs, Sin Tax, Gunslinger and Smoothing.
The dictionary does have an American slant. However this aside, it provides easy access to current terms in the financial world and is a useful volume to help demystify them.
