ROOTS
Money matters
Deepti

WHEN an economy is going through a feel-good phase, the noun ‘green shoots’ describes growth and renewal. Green shoots as an expression was first used figuratively in 1991 in Britain at the Conservative Party Conference when the Chancellor Norman Lamont said: "The green shoots of economic spring are appearing once again." The context stuck, today it is used both as a straightforward comment on economic progress and a sarcastic jibe for feel-bad developments.

Fluctuations the economy may go through, but the citizenry is well looked after. In the 1980s economists began to worry about the degree to which funds could be protected and, subsequently, emerged the neologism ‘ring-fence’, to protect or guarantee the safety of funds. It can also be used in the context of the money allocated for a particular purpose, not to be used elsewhere. Governments the world over are also toying with the implementation of a tax that would be known as carbon tax. Now, carbon tax is a tax levied on fossil fuels with the intention of discouraging the production of harmful carbon dioxide that is produced when they are burnt. From the possibility of this tax first mooted in the US in 1986 to the Earth Summit of 1992 to the European Union’s 1995 pigeon-holing of carbon tax, the greenhouse effect lies at the back of this kind of decision, so earthlings can look forward to a better world.

An apt guide to which way the wind blows, neologisms today indicate that business groups are happy to work together for mutual benefit. Precompetitive is one such trend-spotting adjective. The precompetitive stage is that early stage in the development of a commercial idea or product during which the competing companies collaborate willingly. An offshoot of the 1980s, the notion of a precompetitive stage allows natural competitors to combine for the generic stages of research, often forming a consortium to undertake generic research from which they may individually benefit. Similarly, outplacement demands active cooperation from business houses. With executives made redundant, the notion of finding placement outside the present place of work created outplacement.