Are taking money during period running country (7)
I believe the answer is:
america
'country' is the definition.
(United States of America)
'are taking money during' is the wordplay.
'are' becomes 'a' (short for 'are', historical unit of measurement).
'taking' says to put letters next to each other.
'money' becomes 'm' (abbreviation in economics).
'during' becomes 'erica' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'m'+'erica'='AMERICA'
'period running' acts as a link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
(Other definitions for america that I've seen before include "'Country named after Vespucci, Italian navigator (7)'" , "Federation" , "Land of the free and home of the brave?" , "Name of two continents" , "Continent of the Western Hemisphere" .)