The Last Twenty Years of the Twentieth Century Witnessed a Momentous

question 48

Multiple Choice

The last twenty years of the twentieth century witnessed a momentous shift in economic power and commercial activity from

• A) the Atlantic to the Pacific region, making China the second-largest national economy in the world.
• B) midsize, nationally based firms in western Europe and the United States to worldwide multinational corporations.
• C) national governments to private business interests, especially in the high-tech industries.
• D) western Europe to eastern Europe, particularly the newly independent (and in some cases oil-rich) republics of the former Soviet Union.

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Definitions:

Prior Service Cost Amortization

The process of expensing the costs of retroactive benefits granted in a pension plan over a period of time.

Actuarially Determined Discount Rate

This refers to the interest rate used in the actuarial valuation to discount future pension obligations to present value, reflecting the expected rate at which the pension plan's liabilities can be funded or settled.

Pension Liability

The amount of money a company is required to pay into its employees' retirement plans in the future.

Accumulated Benefit Obligation

An estimate of the total amount of an employer's obligation for pension benefits earned by employees to date, not based on future salary increases.