The process of settling transactions between banks. Because so many transactions take place between banks on a given day, bank clearing exists to process what each party owes or is owed in a central location so the least amount of money actually changes hands. For example, suppose Bank A owes $1 million to Bank B in cleared checks, but Bank B owes Bank A $1.5 million.
In economics, the minimum efficient scale is described as the lowest level on the long-run average total cost curve. It is also called the output of long-run productive efficiency. The minimum efficient scale is never a single level of output; rather, it is a range of outputs whereby the average cost is reduced. The minimum efficient scale differs from one economic sector to another due to the varying cost structures.
Diseconomies of Scale. The decrease of efficiency in the making of a product by producing more of it. That is, diseconomies of scale occur when a company increases its output for a product such that it increases the cost per unit of the product. For example, assume that labor costs at a factory are constant as long as the factory produces between 100,000 and 500,000 units per month.