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Economagic Glossary
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Alternative Rate of Return
- The interest rate that could be achieved by
investing money elsewhere (such as a bank account, mutual fund, etc.). This
can be the basis
for selecting an interest rate to use when analyzing forestry investments,
as it represents the opportunity cost of
investing money in growing trees instead of using it to earn interest elsewhere.
(Lesson 4)
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Annual Administrative Costs
- These are costs that are incurred every year as part of owning and operating
a forestry enterprise. These costs may include property taxes, regular maintenance,
services (accountant, utilities, etc.), equipment costs, etc. (Lesson 4)
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Annual Series
- A payment series that occurs every year.
(Lesson 2)
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Bare Land
Value
- See Soil Expectation Value
Base Year
- The year used as the common reference point when keeping values in constant
dollars.
Values in different years are all expressed in terms of the purchasing
power of
the common base year in order to remove the effect of inflation.
(Lesson 3)
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Cash Flow
- Any revenue or expense. (Lesson 4)
Commercial Thin (CT)
- A thinning in which the trees removed are large enough to have commercial
value and generate a net revenue. (Lesson 4)
Compound Interest
- Compound interest is the effect of interest accruing
on interest—interest
not only accrues on the original amount (principal),
but also on any interest that has already accrued. In this way the
amount of interest increases each year. (Lesson 1)
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Compounding
- The growth of money over time due to compound
interest. (Lesson 1)
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Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- An index that measures inflation by tracking
the combined price of a “basket” of goods and services
consumed by a typical consumer. (Lesson 3)
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Constant Dollars
- Expressing values that occur at different times in terms of the purchasing
power of a common base year to remove
the effects of inflation. (Lesson
3)
Cost of Capital
- The interest rate you would pay a lender
when borrowing money to cover the expenses of a forestry investment
(e.g. purchasing land or planting
trees). This can be the basis for selecting an interest rate to use
when analyzing the forestry investments, as it will incorporate the
cost of the interest you will have to pay back
over time on the borrowed funds into the analysis of the investment
performance. (Lesson 4)
Discount Rate
- The Interest Rate. It is sometimes referred
to as the discount rate, as the interest rate is used to discount values
that occur in the future. (Lesson 1)
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Discounted Cash Flow
- A cash flow that has been discounted from
the time it occurs to the present. (Lesson 4)
Discounting
- Reducing the value of money in the future relative to today due to compound
interest (i.e.
doing compounding in reverse). (Lesson 1)
Establishment Cost
- The cost of establishing a stand of timber, such as planting and site
preparation. (Lesson 5)
Forest Value
- A measure of the total economic value of a forest, including both land
and timber, given expectations about future cash flows. It incorporates
the NPV of all costs and revenues
in perpetuity when starting with
existing timber. (Lesson 6)
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Future Value
- What money today will be worth in the future due to compounding.
(Lesson 1)
Inflation
- The general increase in wages and prices over time and subsequent reduction
in the purchasing power of money. (Lesson
3)
Installment Payment
Formula
- The formula for determining the annual payment needed to pay off a
present debt. (Lesson 2)
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Interest
- The “cost of money”—the amount of additional money
that must be paid/received in the future in order to use/give up money
today. (Lesson 1)
Interest Rate
- The interest rate quantifies the time value
of money by specifying the percentage rate at which interest accrues.
Also referred to as
the discount rate or rate
of return. (Lesson 1)
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
- The interest rate at which net present
value becomes zero. IRR is another
way to measure the economic performance of an investment. (Lesson 4)
IRR
- See Internal Rate of Return
Land Expectation Value
- See Soil Expectation Value (SEV)
Market Value
- The actual price that something (e.g. forestland) will sell for, based
on an aggregate of buyers and sellers in the marketplace (as opposed
to the economic value for an individual, such as SEV, Forest
Value,
etc.). (Lesson 5)
Mid-Rotation Cash Flows
- Any revenue or expense that occurs in the middle of rotation (between
stand establishment and final harvest), including PCT, CT,
vegetation control, etc. (Lesson 6)
Net Present Value (NPV)
- The total present value of cash
flows (revenues and expenses) over
time (i.e. the sum of discounted cash
flows). (Lesson 4)
Nominal Interest Rate
- An interest rate that has not been adjusted
for inflation (such as
what you would be quoted at the bank). (Lesson 3)
Nominal Price
- The actual price of something in the year it occurs. (Lesson 3)
Nominal Price Change
- The actual change in the price of something over time, including the
effect of inflation (Lesson 3)
Non-Market Values
- Goods and services that are not readily bought and sold in the marketplace.
Non-market values in forestry may include aesthetics, wildlife habitat,
recreation, clean air and water, etc. (Lesson 5)
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NPV
- See Net Present Value
Opportunity Cost
- When investing money in something, there is a lost opportunity to invest
in something else that becomes the cost of that choice. For example,
when investing in forestry, there may be a lost opportunity to earn
interest on that money in the bank. (Lesson 4)
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Payment Series
- A cash flow that occurs at regular intervals
over time, such as payments on a loan or regular income or expenses.
(Lesson 2)
PCT
- See Precommercial Thin.
Periodic Series
- A payment series that occurs at some
intervals other than every year. (Lesson 2)
Perpetual Series
- A payment series that continues forever.
(Lesson 2)
Perpetual Annual Series
- A payment series that occurs every year
forever. (Lesson 2)
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Perpetual Periodic Series
- A payment series that occurs at some interval other than every year
and continues forever. (Lesson 2)
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Perpetuity
- Continuing forever. (Lesson 5)
Precommercial Thin (PCT)
- A thinning. usually early in the life of a stand, in which smaller,
poorer-quality trees are removed to improve the growth of the remaining
trees. The trees that are removed have little or no commercial value
and are usually left on the ground. (Lesson 4)
Present Value
- What money in the future will be worth today due to discounting.
(Lesson 1)
Principal
- The amount of money actually borrowed or invested, not including interest.
(Lesson 1)
Purchasing Power
- The amount of goods and services that an amount of money can buy. Purchasing
power is diminished over time because of inflation.
(Lesson 3)
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Rate of Return
- The interest rate. Sometimes referred
to as the rate of return as it is reflects the extent to which an investment
will be returned with interest. (Lesson 1)
Real Interest Rate
- An interest rate that is adjusted for
(net of) inflation. (Lesson 3)
Real Price
- A price that has been adjusted for inflation (Lesson
3)
Real Price Change
- A change in price that is net of inflation.
A real price change reflects an actual change in value relative to
wages and other goods as opposed
to a change in value because of a general inflation of prices. (Lesson
3)
Rotation
- The commercial life cycle of a forest stand, from stand establishment
to final harvest. (Lesson 4)
SEV
- See Soil Expectation Value
Sinking Fund Formula
- The formula for determining the annual investment needed to accumulate
a future amount. (Lesson 2)
Site Preparation
- The preparation of land for planting trees, which may include herbicide
or broadcast burning to control competing vegetation, scarification
of the soil, etc. (Lesson 4)
Soil Expectation Value
- The economic value of bare land for forestry use given expectations
about future cash flows. It incorporates the NPV of all management
costs and revenues in perpetuity when starting with bare land. It can
be used as an economic performance benchmark for making direct comparisons
between different management options and land uses. (Lesson 5)
Terminating Annual Series
- A payment series that occurs every year
for a finite period of time (Lesson 2)
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Terminating Periodic
Series
- A payment series that occurs at some
interval other than every year and lasts for a finite period of time.
(Lesson 2)
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Terminating Series
- A payment series that occurs for a finite
period of time (i.e. it terminates at some point) (Lesson 2)
Today’s Dollars
- Constant dollars, using today as the base
year (i.e. expressing prices
over time in terms of today’s purchasing
power to remove the
effects of inflation) (Lesson 3)
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