ABSTRACT
In general usage people use the term ‘investment’ to include bank and building society deposits and the purchase of stocks and shares. Economists are more specific in their use of the term. Investment may be defined as expenditure on capital goods and working capital. Capital goods can be contrasted with consumer goods. The latter are produced because of the direct satisfaction they yield (e.g. food, magazines and clothes), whilst the former are produced because they improve efficiency of production.
