Bad Debts and Low Wages in the News: A Vocabulary List

With Illinois alleviating its crushing debt by trimming retirees pension plans, a federal judge ruling that Detroit's pension pledges would not be immune to a declaration of bankruptcy, and Democrats mobilizing around the issue of low wages, the vocabulary of debt is dominating this week's news.

To fully understand these unfolding news stories, learn ten key words taken from this week's New York Times and Wall Street Journal coverage.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    The Illinois legislature on Tuesday ended a day of emotional debate and fierce back-room arm-twisting by passing a deal to shore up the state’s debt-engulfed pension system by trimming retiree benefits and increasing state contributions.
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    To be engulfed is to be completely covered, as in a burning building engulfed in flames. When you are engulfed in debt, it means your income is completely absorbed by your debt obligations.
  2. arrears
    an unpaid overdue debt
    With one of the nation’s worst-financed state employee pension systems — some $100 billion in arrears — Illinois has been the focus of intense attention across the country as states and municipalities struggle to come to grips with their own public pension problems.
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    See rear inside arrears and you'll be able to remember that it means "behind," as in "behind" in payments. If you are ten months behind on your $100 monthly rent payments, you can be said to be "$1000 in arrears" or "to have arrears of $1000."
  3. municipality
    a local district having powers of self-government
    With one of the nation’s worst-financed state employee pension systems — some $100 billion in arrears — Illinois has been the focus of intense attention across the country as states and municipalities struggle to come to grips with their own public pension problems.
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    Municipality is a catchall term to refer to towns, cities, townships--really, any self-governing entity smaller than a state. Good to know when talking about debt, as a township or hamlet can encounter the same rules and regulations, debt-wise, as a larger metropolis.
  4. fiscal
    involving financial matters
    “This landmark legislation is a bipartisan solution that squarely addresses the most difficult fiscal issue Illinois has ever confronted.”
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    If you were following stories of the "fiscal cliff," you're probably already aware that fiscal means "financial" or "having to do with money."
  5. bankrupt
    render unable to discharge all debts as they come due
    “But it is the responsible thing to provide for a pension system that gives workers retirement security without bankrupting our state.”
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    When you declare bankruptcy, you appeal to a court of law to take control of your assets, figure out who gets paid what, and in the case of a city or a vital institution, help you get back on track. Use bankrupt as an adjective to describe a person or entity who has declared bankruptcy, and as a verb when you mean "to drive into bankruptcy," as in, "My shoe-buying habit bankrupted my family."
  6. Draconian
    imposing a harsh code of laws
    Opposition to the plan rose swiftly, particularly from union leaders who found it too draconian.
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    Draco was a 7th century Athenian who developed that city-state's first code of written law. The laws were so severe that the adjective draconian came to refers to a harsh or unforgiving style of rule. Harry Potter fans can remember this word by thinking of the unforgiving, mean-spirited Draco Malfoy, Harry's nemesis.
  7. brink
    the edge of a steep place
    “The pension crisis is not truly solved until relief is brought to Chicago and all of the other local governments across our state that are standing on the brink of a fiscal cliff because of our pension liabilities,” he said.
    -- Illinois Legislature Approves Retiree Benefit Cuts in Troubled Pension System, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 2013
    Brink means the edge, as in a cliff, and along with its relative brinkmanship, we've been seeing it in the news a lot recently as local, state, and even the federal government teeter on the edge of one crisis after another.
  8. mobilize
    make ready for action or use
    The White House, Democrats, and their supporters are mobilizing behind a focus for 2014 and beyond on the wage gap between the wealthy and the rest of America.
    -- Democrats Mobilizing Push on Wage Gap, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2013
    When you see words with mobile somewhere inside them, you know they will have something to do with movement. Automobile means an car that moves on its own (as opposed to being drawn by a horse). Here, mobilize means to get ready to move. You mobilize troops when preparing for battle, and in politics, you mobilize your party's "base" when you are looking for support.
  9. minimum
    the smallest possible quantity
    Part of Mr. Obama’s focus will be on raising the minimum wage, as the White House begins to highlight an issue Democrats hope to inject into the 2014 midterm elections.
    -- Democrats Mobilizing Push on Wage Gap, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2013
    When reading about, or earning, the minimum wage, know that minimum means "the least possible," and thus minimum wage means the lowest amount it is legal to pay a worker. The opposite of minimum is maximum. Some people find CEO salaries appalling, but to date there's little movement to get maximum wage legislation on the books.
  10. vital
    urgently needed; absolutely necessary
    They are also fighting to prevent cuts in programs like food stamps, saying it is vital to many Americans.
    -- Democrats Mobilizing Push on Wage Gap, The Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4, 2013
    Your vital signs are your pulse and breathing. They are the things that you cannot live without. Vital programs or services are similarly indispensable. Keeping traffic lights running. Making sure the fire engines have gas in their tanks. These are considered vital services that cities cannot function without.
Created on Wed Dec 04 09:04:34 EST 2013 (updated Wed Dec 04 10:32:43 EST 2013)

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