Foreign economic terms (voucherization, privatization, sequestration) began to be used frequently in the nineties of the last century. There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, the new states that emerged in the former USSR were rapidly moving towards market relations, and, apparently, Russian words, with all the richness of our language, were not enough to describe this process. And secondly, in the resulting confusion, many politicians and economists wanted to disguise their (sometimes very unsightly) activities, using incomprehensible language.
Unpleasant word
The word "sequestration" became widespread in everyday speech after the financial crisis of 1997, when the use of funds to ensure the implementation of most budget programs was forced to be limited. This measure was caused by the misuse of the allocated money, and, consequently, their shortage. Many socially unprotected segments of the population suffered, and since then the opinion that sequestration is something bad has been firmly rooted in the minds of people. So it is.
Latin word "sequestro", passed into othersmodern languages of the world, literally expresses the concept of separating a fragment from the main part. It is used not only in economic vocabulary, but also in other branches of human activity.
Jurisprudence
In cases where property disputes arise over real estate, production equipment, consignments of goods and other economic assets that are at the disposal of one of the conflicting parties, sequestration agreements are applied in world practice. It is tripartite and is concluded between two entities, one of which makes a claim to the other, and another participant, who assumes the responsibility for storing and ensuring the security of the disputed property, which no one can use until the court decides. The storage service is most often paid or, more rarely, free of charge. Upon expiration of the term or upon receipt of a court decision, the contract is terminated, and the owner takes over.
Thus, in the legal sense, sequestration is a temporary alienation of disputed property. What about other industries?
In medicine, sequestration is a partial necrosis of tissues
It is always unpleasant to talk about diseases, and in this sense, the medical term is similar to the legal one. Doctors sometimes have to use words that sound scary in both Russian and Latin.
Sometimes an inflammatory process (for example, osteomyelitis) develops so acutely that it leads to local necrosis of body tissue,which doctors call a sequester. Most often this happens with the bone. Part of its cells loses the properties that distinguish a living body from a dead one, and separation occurs. The boundary between the he althy part and the affected area is fibrous and sclerotic bone tissue. On x-rays, a seal is noticeable in this place. Like any foreign body, dead tissue causes irritation and inflammation, up to the formation of fistulas. There is only one way out - an operation, the surgeon removes the sequester, this is called a sequestrectomy in medicine.
Cutting the state budget as an emergency measure
Any budget, regardless of whether it is family, city, regional or national, consists of two parts: income and expenditure. The country receives funds from taxpayers in the form of fees, duties, as well as from various types of economic activities. This money is spent on ensuring the work of government bodies, the maintenance of educational institutions, medicine and other state structures, called "budgetary". The maintenance of combat-ready armed forces and law enforcement agencies costs, as they say, "a pretty penny", as well as the development and purchase of new equipment for the security forces. But these expenses cannot be dispensed with, and their reduction sometimes threatens, as the history of recent decades shows, with the most deplorable consequences.
The reason for the need to reduce costs is an unexpected excess of their volume or a sudden reduction in revenue to the treasury. Budget sequestration is justified under the circumstancesthreatening the financial security of the state, with an insufficient amount of gold and foreign exchange reserves and the impossibility of external borrowing.
It happens, but very rarely. Usually, all expenses, including a certain percentage of unforeseen expenses, are included in the expenditure part of the budget, and if receipts are planned correctly, then we can say that it is compiled correctly.
In the macroeconomic sense, budget sequestration is a restriction on the use of funds to perform certain government functions. Most often, the degree of funding cuts is expressed as a percentage (by 10%, by 20%, etc.) At the same time, no matter how bad things are in the state, there are articles that cannot be corrected, that is, protected.
Sequestration of the family budget
Family budgets can also be adjusted when incomes decline (for example, some able-bodied adults suddenly become unemployed) or because prices rise. Of course, the use of macroeconomic terms in relation to the modest means of the "primary unit of society" is ironic. There is a widely known story about a father concerned about the increase in the price of alcohol. "Are you going to drink less now?" - hopefully ask his household. “No, you will eat less!” - he answers. Such budget sequestration should not be an example for public financiers.
