Northern Wreck or Northern Crock • Northern Rock nicknames.

Flight to Safety • the transfer of money into ‘safe’ deposits (eg, National Savings) in the wake of Northern Rock.

Philanthropreneurs • sponsors of non-profit ventures; often young tech billionaires. Also Filmanthropists • philanthropists who finance socially aware films. Also Minigarch • not quite an oligarch (ie, one with an annual income of less than $50m).

Vulture Funds • companies that buy cheaply the debt of poor countries, and then sue for the full sum, plus interest.

Pied Pipers of Performance • Warren Buffett’s caustic description of hedge fund (and other) managers who demand ever-greater commissions and fees in an attempt to increase returns.

Hedge Hogs • wealthy hedge fund managers.

Subprime • credit offered to those with poor (or no) credit history, in return for higher interest rates, fees, and penalties.

Ninja Loans • unsafe loans made to those with ‘No Income, No Job and No Assets’.

Triple bottom line • the aspiration that companies will take into account People, Planet and Profit when judging the success of a project.

Richistan • the bubble of wealth the über-rich inhabit. Also Bizarristan • Turkmenistan under (now dead) Niyazov. Also Outsourcistan • areas dependent on outsourced contracts.

Extracted and adapted from Schott’s Almanac 2008: conceived, written & designed by Ben Schott published by Bloomsbury on December 1. RRP £16.99, available from Times BooksFirst for £15.29, free p&p. 0870 1608080

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