1.
Debt
–
Debt is money owed by one party, the borrower or debtor, to a second party, the lender or creditor. The borrower may be a state or country, local government, company. The lender may be a bank, credit card company, payday loan provider, Debt is generally subject to contractual terms regarding the amount and timing of repayments of principal and interest. Loans, bonds, notes, and mortgages are all types of debt, the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value. For example, in Western cultures, a person who has been helped by a person is sometimes said to owe a debt of gratitude to the second person. Interest is the fee paid by the borrower to the lender, interest is calculated as a percentage of the outstanding principal, which percentage is known as an interest rate, and is generally paid periodically at intervals, such as monthly or semi-annually. Interest rates may be fixed or floating, in floating-rate structures, the rate of interest that the borrower pays during each time period is tied to a benchmark such as LIBOR or, in the case of inflation-indexed bonds, inflation. There are many different conventions for calculating interest, depending on the terms of the debt, compound interest may accumulate at a specific interval. In addition, different day count conventions exist, for example, sometimes each month is considered to have thirty days. The annual percentage rate is a way to calculate and compare interest rates on an annual basis. Quoting interest rates using APR is required by regulation for most loans to individuals in the United States, for some loans, the amount actually loaned to the debtor is less than the principal sum to be repaid. This may be because upfront fees or points are charged, or because the loan has been structured to be sharia-compliant, the additional principal due at the end of the term has the same economic effect as a higher interest rate. This is sometimes referred to as a dozen, a play on bakers dozen – owe twelve, receive a loan of eleven. Amortization structures are common in mortgages and credit cards, debtors of every type default on their debt from time to time, with various consequences depending on the terms of the debt and the law governing default in the relevant jurisdiction. If the debt was secured by collateral, such as a car or home. In more serious circumstances, individuals and companies may go into bankruptcy, riskier borrowers must generally pay higher rates of interest to compensate lenders for taking on the additional risk of default. Debt investors assess the risk of default prior to making a loan, for example through credit scores and corporate, common types of debt owed by individuals and households include mortgage loans, car loans, and credit card debt. For individuals, debt is a means of using anticipated income, commonly, people in industrialized nations use consumer debt to purchase houses, cars and other things too expensive to buy with cash on hand
Debt
–
Corporate finance
Debt
Debt
–
Personal finance
2.
Credit bubble
–
An economic bubble or asset bubble is trade in an asset at a price or price range that strongly deviates from the corresponding assets intrinsic value. It could also be described as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future, Asset bubbles date back as far as the 1600s and are now widely regarded as a recurrent feature of modern economic history. Because it is difficult to observe intrinsic values in real-life markets, bubbles are often conclusively identified only in retrospect. Such a drop is known as a crash or a bubble burst, prices in an economic bubble can fluctuate erratically, and become impossible to predict from supply and demand alone. While some economists deny that bubbles occur, the cause of bubbles remains disputed by those who are convinced that asset prices often deviate strongly from intrinsic values. Many explanations have suggested, and research has recently shown that bubbles may appear even without uncertainty, speculation. In such cases, the bubbles may be argued to be rational and these approaches require that the timing of the bubble collapse can only be forecast probabilistically and the bubble process is often modelled using a Markov switching model. Similar explanations suggest that bubbles might ultimately be caused by processes of price coordination, more recent theories of asset bubble formation suggest that these events are sociologically driven. For instance, explanations have focused on emerging social norms and the role that culturally-situated stories or narratives play in these events and this was one of the earliest modern financial crises, other episodes were referred to as manias, as in the Dutch tulip mania. The metaphor indicated that the prices of the stock were inflated and fragile – expanded based on nothing but air, and vulnerable to a sudden burst, as in fact occurred. The impact of economic bubbles is debated within and between schools of thought, they are not generally considered beneficial, but its debated how harmful their formation. Political economist Robert E. Wright argues that bubbles can be identified before the fact with high confidence. A protracted period of low risk premiums can simply prolong the downturn in asset price deflation as was the case of the Great Depression in the 1930s for much of the world and the 1990s for Japan. Not only can the aftermath of a crash devastate the economy of a nation, another important aspect of economic bubbles is their impact on spending habits. Market participants with overvalued assets tend to spend more because they feel richer, many observers quote the housing market in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and parts of the United States in recent times, as an example of this effect. In an economy with a bank, the bank may therefore attempt to keep an eye on asset price appreciation. This is usually done by increasing the interest rate, in the 1970s, excess monetary expansion after the U. S. came off the gold standard created massive commodities bubbles. These bubbles only ended when the U. S, central Bank finally reined in the excess money, raising federal funds interest rates to over 14%
Credit bubble
–
A card from the
South Sea Bubble
3.
Housing bubble
–
A real estate bubble or property bubble is a type of economic bubble that occurs periodically in local or global real estate markets, typically following a land boom. A land boom is the increase in the market price of real property such as housing until they reach unsustainable levels. The financial crisis of 2007–08 was related to the bursting of real estate bubbles which had begun during the 2000s around the world, Bubbles in housing markets are more critical than stock market bubbles. Historically, equity price busts occur on average every 13 years, lasts for 2.5 years, Housing price busts are less frequent, but last nearly twice as long and lead to output losses that are twice as large. A recent laboratory experimental study also shows that, compared to financial markets, real estate markets involve longer boom, as with all types of economic bubbles, disagreement exists over whether or not a real estate bubble can be identified or predicted, then perhaps prevented. Speculative bubbles are persistent, systematic and increasing deviations of actual prices from their fundamental values, Bubbles can often be hard to identify, even after the fact, due to difficulty in accurately estimating intrinsic values. In real estate, fundamentals can be estimated from rental yields or based on a regression of actual prices on a set of demand and/or supply variables. Some argue further that governments and central banks can and should take action to prevent bubbles from forming, within mainstream economics, economic bubbles, and in particular real estate bubbles, are not considered major concerns. Within some schools of economics, by contrast, real estate bubbles are considered of critical importance. The pre-dominating economic perspective is that economic bubbles result in a temporary boost in wealth, when prices increase, there is a positive wealth effect, and when they decline, there is a negative wealth effect. These effects can be smoothed by counter-cyclical monetary and fiscal policies, the ultimate effect on owners who bought before the bubble formed and did not sell is zero. Those who bought low and sold high profited, whereas those who bought high. This redistribution of wealth is of little macroeconomic significance and these are then argued to cause financial and hence economic crises. This is first argued empirically – numerous real estate bubbles have been followed by economic slumps, when the bubble bursts, the value of the property decreases but not the level of debt. The burden of repaying or defaulting on the loan depresses aggregate demand, it is argued, the crash of the Japanese asset price bubble from 1990 on has been very damaging to the Japanese economy. The crash in 2005 affected Shanghai, Chinas largest city, in comparison to the stock market bubbles, real estate bubbles take longer to deflate, prices decline slower because the real estate market is less liquid. Therefore, this focuses on housing bubbles and mentions other sectors only when their situation differs. Then U. S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said in mid-2005 that at a minimum, the Economist magazine, writing at the same time, went further, saying the worldwide rise in house prices is the biggest bubble in history
Housing bubble
–
US house price trend (1998–2008) as measured by the
Case-Shiller index
Housing bubble
–
Ratio of Melbourne median house prices to Australian annual wages, 1965 to 2010
Housing bubble
–
Inflation-adjusted home prices in
Japan (1980–2005) compared to home price appreciation in the
United States,
Britain, and
Australia (1995–2005).
4.
Konrad Adenauer
–
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman who served as the first post-war Chancellor of Germany from 1949 to 1963. He led his country from the ruins of World War II to a productive and prosperous nation that forged close relations with France, the United Kingdom, during his years in power West Germany achieved democracy, stability, international respect and economic prosperity. He was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union, a Christian Democratic party that under his leadership became one of the most influential parties in the country, Adenauer, the Chancellor till age 87 was dubbed Der Alte. British historian Roy Jenkins says he was the oldest statesman ever to function in elected office and he belied his age by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. He displayed a strong dedication to a vision of market-based liberal democracy. A shrewd politician, Adenauer was deeply committed to a Western-oriented foreign policy and he worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction of World War II to a central position in Europe, presiding over the German Economic Miracle. He reestablished the German military in 1955 and he came to terms with France, which made possible the economic unification of Western Europe. Adenauer opposed rival East Germany and made his nation a member of NATO, a devout Roman Catholic, he had been a leading Centre Party politician in the Weimar Republic, serving as Mayor of Cologne and as president of the Prussian State Council. Konrad Adenauer was born as the third of five children of Johann Konrad Adenauer and his wife Helene in Cologne, Rhenish Prussia and his siblings were August, Johannes, Lilli and Elisabeth, who died shortly after birth in c. In 1894, he completed his Abitur and began studying law and politics at the universities of Freiburg, Munich and Bonn. In 1896, at the age of 20, he was conscripted into the German army and he was a member of several Roman Catholic students associations under the K. St. V. He graduated in 1900 and afterwards worked as a lawyer at the court in Cologne and he was strongly interested in the use of medicinal herbs, according to famous French herbalist Maurice Messugue, whom he met and befriended. These were his favorite medicinal plants according to Messugue, though he had knowledge of a wide range of plants. He agreed with Messugue that plants had to be free of sprays and he told Messugue that he owed his good health to the plants, to nature. Adenauer found relaxation and great enjoyment in the Italian game of bocce, as a devout Catholic, he joined the Centre Party in 1906 and was elected to Colognes city council in the same year. In 1909, he became Vice-Mayor of Cologne, a metropolis with a population of 635,000 in 1914. From 1917 to 1933, he served as Mayor of Cologne, Adenauer headed Cologne during World War I, working closely with the army to maximize the citys role as a rear base of supply and transportation for the Western Front. He paid special attention to the food supply, enabling the residents to avoid the worst of the severe shortages that beset most German cities during 1918–19
Konrad Adenauer
–
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
–
Cöln Notgeld Banknote 10 Pfennig 1918, signed by Mayor Konrad Adenauer, on the reverse the historical town hall of
Cologne (Rathaus).
Konrad Adenauer
–
In
Wilhelmshaven in 1928, when a new cruiser was given the name of Adenauer's (centre, with left hand visible) town Köln
Konrad Adenauer
–
Heinrich Hoerle: Zeitgenossen (contemporaries). An expressionist painting with mayor Adenauer (in grey) together with artists and a boxer.
5.
Underdevelopment
–
Esteva stated, On that day two billion people became underdeveloped. More than half of the nations were categorized by what they lacked. The Euro-centric development discourse and its aura of expertise often conflated development with economic growth, when the world began to categorize nations based on their economic status, it narrowed the issue of underdevelopment to an economics problem. Colonialism, which dates back to the 15th century, involved the subjugation of numerous countries and cultures by physical and psychological force through military conquest, colonialism, the manifestation of the White Man’s Burden, was founded on racism and inequality and it altered non-European cultures irreversibly. The European concept of “private property” coupled with the introduction of large-scale mono-cropping led to the undermining of local crafts, colonizers of what is now considered the Global south introduced and imposed new forms of inequalities and systems of oppression to facilitate the process of exploitation in their colonies. During this era the African people were divided around new tensions which still disrupt their societies today, in addition to the internal divisions, there were also Diasporas of the African, Indian, and Chinese peoples These legacies have impacted modern expressions of race, ethnicity, and nationality. The Green Revolution is a paradigm of an effort of intervention in the name of global development. During this time, developed countries, in an attempt to modernize the agricultural sector. At the start of the Green Revolution, the U. S, crops that weren’t previously prevalent across the globe, such as wheat, were being transferred and from the global north to south in massive quantities. This occurred until developing countries, such as India, became dependent on the food aid—much of which were crops that could not be grown locally. In order for dependent countries to keep receiving foreign assistance, the U. S. made it conditional for recipients of food-aid to adopt the whole model of agriculture. The revolution was titled “Green” not just because of its connections to agriculture but also was used as a tool to fight the “Red”, the West believed that hunger had the power to drive people to peasant revolutions, so food aid was used explicitly to fight the spread communism. The countries that were dependent on food aid now became dependent on the corporations that provided agricultural inputs that the industrial model required. The Green Revolution was able to crop yields, but in the process it exacerbated vulnerable populations poverty in countries that are now considered underdeveloped. One of the first major theories to surface as a solution to this new issue of “underdevelopment” was the Modernization theory and this highlights the positive role played by Western countries in modernizing and facilitating development in the non-West. It is often contrasted with Dependency theory and it became a moral imperative for developed nations, primarily the U. S. to offer assistance so that these countries could industrialized the way the countries of the first world had. The Modernization theory, growing out of U. S. scholarship, equated modernization with industrialization, development, and progress. Dependency theory states that the poverty of the countries in the periphery is not because they are not integrated into the world system, first world nations actively, but not necessarily consciously, perpetuate a state of dependency through various policies and initiatives
Underdevelopment
–
Most
Sub-Saharan African countries remain largely underdeveloped - street in
Dakar,
Senegal.
6.
Developing country
–
Also, the general term less-developed country should not be confused with the specific least developed country. The term developing describes a currently observed situation and not a dynamic or expected direction of progress, since the late 1990s developing countries tended to demonstrate higher growth rates than the developed ones. There is criticism of the use of the developing country. The term implies inferiority of a country or undeveloped country compared with a developed country. It assumes a desire to develop along the traditional Western model of development which a few countries, such as Cuba and Bhutan. An alternative measurement that has suggested is that of gross national happiness. Countries on the boundary between developed and developing are often categorized under the newly industrialized countries. In the 2016 edition of its World Development Indicators, the World Bank made a decision to no longer distinguish between “developed” and “developing” countries in the presentation of its data, nobody has ever agreed on a definition for these terms in the first place. Various terms are used for whatever is not a developed country, terms used include less developed country or less economically developed country, and for the more extreme, least developed country or least economically developed country. But according to the United Nations Statistics Division, There is no established convention for the designation of developed, the World Bank classifies countries into four income groups. These are set each year on July 1, economies were divided according to 2016 GNI per capita using the following ranges of income, Low income countries had GNI per capita of US$1,025 or less. Lower middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$1,026 and US$4,035, upper middle income countries had GNI per capita between US$4,036 and US$12,475. High income countries had GNI per capita above US$12,476 and this may be by absolute numbers or country ranking. The UN has developed the Human Development Index, an indicator of the above statistics. The UN sets Millennium Development Goals from a blueprint developed by all of the countries and leading development institutions. There is an association between low income and high population growth. The terms utilized when discussing developing countries refer to the intent, other terms sometimes used are less developed countries, least economically developed countries, underdeveloped nations or Third World nations, and non-industrialized nations. Conversely, developed countries, most economically developed countries, First World nations and that is, LEDCs are the poorest subset of LDCs
Developing country
–
developing economies according to the IMF
7.
Non-governmental organization
–
A non-governmental organization is a not-for-profit organization that is independent from states and international governmental organizations. They are usually funded by donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers, NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes, others may be fronts for political, religious, or other interests. The number of NGOs worldwide is estimated to be 3.7 million, India is estimated to have had around 2 million NGOs in 2009, just over one NGO per 600 Indians, and many times the number of primary schools and primary health centres in India. China is estimated to have approximately 440,000 officially registered NGOs, NGOs are difficult to define, and the term NGO is not always used consistently. In some countries the term NGO is applied to an organization that in another country would be called an NPO, there are many different classifications of NGO in use. The most common focus is on orientation and level of operation, an NGOs orientation refers to the type of activities it takes on. These activities might include human rights, environmental, improving health, an NGOs level of operation indicates the scale at which an organization works, such as local, regional, national, or international. The term non-governmental organization was first coined in 1945, when the United Nations was created, later the term became used more widely. One characteristic these diverse organizations share is that their non-profit status means they are not hindered by short-term financial objectives. Accordingly, they are able to devote themselves to issues which occur across longer time horizons, such as change, malaria prevention. Public surveys reveal that NGOs often enjoy a degree of public trust. NGO/GRO types can be understood by their orientation and level of how they operate, charitable orientation often involves a top-down paternalistic effort with little participation by the beneficiaries. It includes NGOs with activities directed toward meeting the needs of the poor people, in the classical community development project, participation begins with the need definition and continues into the planning and implementation stages. There is maximum involvement of the beneficiaries with NGOs acting as facilitators, community-based organizations arise out of peoples own initiatives. They can be responsible for raising the consciousness of the poor, helping them to understand their rights in accessing needed services. City-wide organizations include organizations such as chambers of commerce and industry, coalitions of business, ethnic or educational groups, national NGOs include national organizations such as the YMCAs/YWCAs, professional associations and similar groups. Some have state and city branches and assist local NGOs and they can be responsible for funding local NGOs, institutions and projects and implementing projects
Non-governmental organization
–
Valdis Dombrovskis, then
Prime Minister of Latvia, meeting an NGO representative
8.
Jubilee 2000
–
Jubilee 2000 was an international coalition movement in over 40 countries that called for cancellation of third world debt by the year 2000. This movement coincided with the Great Jubilee, the celebration of the year 2000 in the Catholic Church, from early 2001, Jubilee 2000 split into an array of organisations around the world. The concept derived from the idea of the year of Jubilee. In the Jubilee Year as quoted in Leviticus, those enslaved because of debts are freed, lands lost because of debt are returned and it aimed to wipe out $90bn of debt owed by the worlds poorest nations, reducing the total to about $37bn. The activities were directed through church channels, and youth groups in particular became heavily involved. Campaigns were launched via a secretariat in the United Kingdom, franchising the trade mark to any who directed campaign in the spirit of Jubilee 2000, perhaps the best known part of the movement was the global campaign created to engage the music and entertainment industries called Drop The Debt. Among the supporters were Bono of rock band U2, Quincy Jones, Willie Colón, Muhammad Ali, Bob Geldof, Youssou Ndour, Thom Yorke, N. T. Wright, Jubilee 2000 staged demonstrations at the 1998 G8 meeting in Birmingham, England. Subsequently, the Prime Minister publicly expressed his support for. Jubilee later lobbied the United States Congress to make good on this promise, Congress responded to the growing pressure to address debt relief issues in 2000 by committing $769 million to bilateral and multilateral debt relief. These co-ordinate their actions through a loose global confederation, Jubilee USA, located in Washington DC, is the USAs campaigning successor to Jubilee 2000. There are very many other organisations around the world which also carry forward the debt campaign, Jubilee Research at the New Economics Foundation, located in London, took over from Jubilee 2000 in 2001 and now provides in-depth analysis and data on third world debt. Jubilee Debt Campaign is the UKs campaigning successor to Jubilee 2000, comprising much of the UKs original Jubilee 2000 membership, the campaign calls for cancellation of debts owed by the worlds poorest countries. Debt was one of the targets of 2005s Make Poverty History Campaign, Jubilee South The Birth of Jubilee 2000 Jubilee Debt Campaign Jubilee USA Network Jubilee Research at nef Jubilee Scotland Erlassjahr. de Jubilee Ecuador indana
Jubilee 2000
–
Logo of Jubilee 2000
9.
G8
–
The G8 is an inter-governmental political forum of the world′s major highly industrialized economies in countries that view themselves as democracies. The summit came to be known as the Group of Seven, or G7, Russia was added to the political forum from 1997, which the following year became known as the G8. In March 2014 Russia was suspended following the annexation of Crimea, however, the European Union is represented at the G8 since the 1980s as a nonenumerated participant, but originally could not host or chair summits. The 40th summit was the first time the European Union was able to host, collectively, in 2012 the G8 nations comprised 50.1 percent of 2012 global nominal GDP and 40.9 percent of global GDP. G7 can refer to the states in aggregate or to the annual summit meeting of the G7 heads of government. The former term, G6, is now applied to the six most populous countries within the European Union. G7 ministers also meet throughout the year, such as the G7 finance ministers, G7 foreign ministers, or G7 environment ministers. Each calendar year the responsibility of hosting the G8 is rotated through the states in the following order, France, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy. The holder of the sets the agenda, hosts the summit for that year. Nevertheless, the G7/G8 retains its relevance as a group for the West. The concept of a forum for the major industrialized countries emerged prior to the 1973 oil crisis. When running the idea past President Nixon, he noted that he would be out of town and offered use of the White House, taking their name from the setting, this original group of four became known as the Library Group. In mid-1973, at the World Bank-IMF meetings, Shultz proposed the addition of Japan to the four nations. The informal gathering of senior officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan. Presidents, moreover, Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau was forced into an early election, of the members of the Group of Five, all were new to the job with the exception of Pierre Trudeau. S. President Gerald Ford could get together in a retreat and discuss election results. Until the 1985 Plaza Accord no one outside a tight official circle knew when the seven finance ministers met, the summit was announced the day before and a communiqué was issued afterwards. Following 1994s G7 summit in Naples, Russian officials held meetings with leaders of the G7 after the groups summits
G8
–
At the 34th G8 Summit at
Toyako, Hokkaido, formal photo during Tanabata matsuri event for world leaders—
Silvio Berlusconi (Italy),
Dmitry Medvedev (Russia),
Angela Merkel (Germany),
Gordon Brown (UK),
Yasuo Fukuda (Japan),
George W. Bush (U.S.),
Stephen Harper (Canada),
Nicolas Sarkozy (France),
José Manuel Barroso (EU)—July 7, 2008.
G8
G8
–
Leaders of the G8 on 18 June 2013, in
Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
G8
–
G8 leaders confer during the
2009 summit in
L'Aquila (
Abruzzo, Italy).
10.
Birmingham
–
Birmingham is a major city and metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England lying on the River Rea, a small river that runs through Birmingham. It is the largest and most populous British city outside London, the city is in the West Midlands Built-up Area, the third most populous urban area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2,440,986 at the 2011 census. Birminghams metropolitan area is the second most populous in the UK with a population of 3.8 million and this also makes Birmingham the 8th most populous metropolitan area in Europe. By 1791 it was being hailed as the first manufacturing town in the world, perhaps the most important invention in British history, the industrial steam engine, was invented in Birmingham. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by the German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz. The damage done to the infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive demolition. Today Birminghams economy is dominated by the service sector and its metropolitan economy is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $121. 1bn, and its six universities make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham is the fourth-most visited city in the UK by foreign visitors, Birminghams sporting heritage can be felt worldwide, with the concept of the Football League and lawn tennis both originating from the city. Its most successful football club Aston Villa has won seven league titles, people from Birmingham are called Brummies, a term derived from the citys nickname of Brum. This originates from the citys name, Brummagem, which may in turn have been derived from one of the citys earlier names. There is a distinctive Brummie accent and dialect, Birminghams early history is that of a remote and marginal area. The main centres of population, power and wealth in the pre-industrial English Midlands lay in the fertile and accessible river valleys of the Trent, the Severn and the Avon. The area of modern Birmingham lay in between, on the upland Birmingham Plateau and within the wooded and sparsely populated Forest of Arden. Birmingham as a settlement dates from the Anglo-Saxon era, within a century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years, by 1700 Birminghams population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The importance of the manufacture of goods to Birminghams economy was recognised as early as 1538. Equally significant was the emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham
11.
International Monetary Fund
–
The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was also intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
International Monetary Fund
–
IMF "Headquarters 1" in Washington, D.C.
International Monetary Fund
–
Coat of arms
International Monetary Fund
–
The Gold Room within the
Mount Washington Hotel where the
Bretton Woods Conference attendees signed the agreements creating the IMF and
World Bank
International Monetary Fund
–
First page of the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund, 1 March 1946. Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs archives
12.
World Bank
–
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association, the World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group, which is part of the United Nations system. The World Banks stated official goal is the reduction of poverty, the president of the World Bank is, traditionally, an American. The World Bank and the IMF are both based in Washington, D. C. and work closely with each other, although many countries were represented at the Bretton Woods Conference, the United States and United Kingdom were the most powerful in attendance and dominated the negotiations. Before 1974 the reconstruction and development loans provided by the World Bank were relatively small, the Banks staff were aware of the need to instill confidence in the bank. Fiscal conservatism ruled, and loan applications had to meet strict criteria, the first country to receive a World Bank loan was France. The Banks president at the time, John McCloy, chose France over two other applicants, Poland and Chile, the loan was for US$250 million, half the amount requested, and it came with strict conditions. France had to agree to produce a budget and give priority of debt repayment to the World Bank over other governments. World Bank staff closely monitored the use of the funds to ensure that the French government met the conditions. In addition, before the loan was approved, the United States State Department told the French government that its members associated with the Communist Party would first have to be removed, the French government complied with this diktat and removed the Communist coalition government - the so-called tripartisme. Within hours, the loan to France was approved, when the Marshall Plan went into effect in 1947, many European countries began receiving aid from other sources. Faced with this competition, the World Bank shifted its focus to non-European countries, in 1960, the International Development Association was formed, providing soft loans to developing countries. From 1974 to 1980 the bank concentrated on meeting the needs of people in the developing world. The size and number of loans to borrowers was greatly increased as loan targets expanded from infrastructure into social services and these changes can be attributed to Robert McNamara, who was appointed to the presidency in 1968 by Lyndon B. Johnson. McNamara implored bank treasurer Eugene Rotberg to seek out new sources of capital outside of the banks that had been the primary sources of funding. Rotberg used the bond market to increase the capital available to the bank. One consequence of the period of poverty alleviation lending was the rise of third world debt. From 1976 to 1980 developing world debt rose at an annual rate of 20%
World Bank
–
John Maynard Keynes (right) and
Harry Dexter White, the "founding fathers" of both the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
World Bank
–
The Gold Room at the
Mount Washington Hotel where the IMF and World Bank were established
World Bank
–
The
World Bank Group headquarters bldg. in
Washington, D.C.
World Bank
–
Jim Yong Kim, the current President of the World Bank Group
13.
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
–
The HIPC Initiative was initiated by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in 1996, following extensive lobbying by NGOs and other bodies. It provides debt relief and low-interest loans to cancel or reduce external debt repayments to sustainable levels, to be considered for the initiative, countries must face an unsustainable debt burden which cannot be managed with traditional means. Assistance is conditional on the governments of these countries meeting a range of economic management and performance targets and undertaking economic. As of January 2012, the HIPC Initiative had identified 39 countries as being eligible to receive debt relief. An additional three countries are being considered for entry into the program, to receive debt relief under HIPC, a country must first meet HIPCs threshold requirements. At HIPCs inception in 1996, the threshold requirement was that the countrys debt remains at unsustainable levels despite full application of traditional, bilateral debt relief. At the time, HIPC considered debt unsustainable when the ratio of debt-to-exports exceeded 200-250% or when the ratio of debt-to-government revenues exceeded 280%, the IMF estimates that the total cost of providing debt relief to the 40 countries currently eligible for the HIPC program would be around $71 billion. Half of the funding is provided by the IMF, World Bank, critics soon began to attack HIPCs scope and its structure. First, they criticized HIPCs definition of sustainability, arguing that the debt-to-export and debt-to-government-revenues criteria were arbitrary. As evidence, critics highlighted that, by 1999, only four countries had received any debt relief under HIPC, second, the six-year program was too long and too inflexible to meet the individual needs of debtor nations. Third, the IMF and the World Bank did not cancel any debt until the completion point, fourth, the ESAF conditions often undermined poverty-reduction efforts. For example, privatization of utilities tended to raise the cost of services beyond the ability to pay. Finally, critics attacked HIPC as a designed by creditors to protect creditor interests. Inadequate debt relief for such means that they will need to spend more on servicing debts. HIPC addressed its shortcomings by expanding its definition of unsustainable debts, making relief available to more countries. Since 1996, the IMF has modified HIPC in several ways, the IMF first restructured HIPC in 1999. These revisions modified HIPCs threshold requirements, today, HIPC defines three minimum requirements for participation in the program. Lastly, the country must establish a record of reforms to help prevent future debt crises
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
–
Countries qualifying for full HIPC relief.
14.
Poverty reduction
–
Poverty reduction, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. In modern times, various economists within the Georgism movement propose measures like the land tax to enhance access to the natural world for all. Poverty occurs in developing countries and developed countries. While poverty is more widespread in developing countries, both types of countries undertake poverty reduction measures. Poverty has been accepted in some parts of the world as inevitable as non-industrialized economies produced very little while populations grew almost as fast. Poverty reduction has been largely as a result of economic growth. Food shortages were common before modern technology and in places that lack them today, such as nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides. The dawn of industrial revolution led to economic growth, eliminating mass poverty in what is now considered the developed world. World GDP per person quintupled during the 20th century, in 1820, 75% of humanity lived on less than a dollar a day, while in 2001, only about 20% do. Today, continued development is constrained by the lack of economic freedoms. Economic liberalization requires extending property rights to the poor, especially to land, financial services, notably savings, can be made accessible to the poor through technology, such as mobile banking. Inefficient institutions, corruption and political instability can also discourage investment, aid and government support in health, education and infrastructure helps growth by increasing human and physical capital. Poverty alleviation also involves improving the conditions of people who are already poor. Aid, particularly in medical and scientific areas, is essential in providing better lives, such as the Green Revolution and the eradication of smallpox. Problems with todays development aid include the high proportion of tied aid, nevertheless, some believe that small changes in the way each of us in affluent nations lives our lives could solve world poverty. Many also argue that property rights protection to the poor is one of the most important poverty reduction strategies a nation can implement. Securing property rights to land, the largest asset for most societies, is vital to their economic freedom, the World Bank concludes that increasing land rights is ‘the key to reducing poverty’ citing that land rights greatly increase poor people’s wealth, in some cases doubling it. It is estimated that state recognition of the property of the poor would give them assets worth 40 times all the aid since 1945
Poverty reduction
–
Information and communication technologies for development help to fight poverty. Caption shows mobile phone charging from a
car battery in Uganda
Poverty reduction
–
"Working together to end poverty one nail at a time," T-shirt, 50th Anniversary of the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Poverty reduction
–
A poor woman in India
Poverty reduction
–
Man on bike with chickens,
Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso
15.
Public utilities
–
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service. Public utilities are subject to forms of control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to statewide government monopolies. The term utilities can also refer to the set of services provided by these organizations consumed by the public, electricity, natural gas, water, broadband internet services are increasingly being included within the definition. As a result, they are government monopolies, or if privately owned. The first public utility in the United States was a grist mill on Mother Brook in Dedham, developments in technology have eroded some of the natural monopoly aspects of traditional public utilities. Public utilities can be owned or publicly owned. Publicly owned utilities include cooperative and municipal utilities, municipal utilities may actually include territories outside of city limits or may not even serve the entire city. Cooperative utilities are owned by the customers they serve and they are usually found in rural areas. Private utilities, also called investor-owned utilities, are owned by investors, Public utilities provide services at the consumer level, be it residential, commercial, or industrial consumer. For example, the California Public Utilities Commission is an operating in the state of California, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, the state, private firms, and charities ran the traditional public utilities. For instance, the Sanitary Districts were established in England and Wales in 1875 and they are regulated by Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom. Disabled community transport services may occasionally be included within the definition and they were mostly privatised in the UK during the 1980s. World Bank report on Water, Electricity and Utility subsidies Latest News in Utilities and Information Technology Latest in UK business utility news
Public utilities
–
Grand Coulee Dam
16.
31st G8 summit
–
The 31st G8 summit was held on July 6–8,2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by the United Kingdom include, London, a sixth U. K. summit was held in Lough Erne in 2013. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia, in addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981. The G8 is an annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom. The 31st G8 summit was the last summit for Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and these summit participants are the current core members of the international forum, Other non-G8 leaders were invited to attend and participate in the summit talks. As host, the UK stated its intent to focus this G8 meeting on the issues of climate change. The British government set the priorities of supporting Africas economic development and of moving forward initiatives to research, Other announced items on the agenda were counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and reform in the Middle East. The summit was overshadowed, however, by attacks in London on the second day of the conference. The traditional meeting of G8 finance ministers before the summit took place in London on 10 and 11 June 2005, the annual saving in debt payments amounts to just over US$1 billion. War on Want estimates that US$45.7 billion would be required for 62 countries to meet the Millennium Development Goals, the agreement, which required weeks of intense negotiations led by Brown, must be approved by the lending institutions to take effect. In mid-July, objections by Belgium raised the possibility of the relief bill not being approved by the International Monetary Fund. The event attracted much media attention, on July 6, U. S. President Bush recognised that the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse gases is contributing to the problem. However, he said the Kyoto treaty was not the answer, environment campaigners called the result of the summit a very disappointing finale. The G8 have delivered nothing new here and the text conveys no sense of the scale or urgency of the challenge. The action plan, without any targets or timetables, will deliver very little to reduce emissions, or to roll out renewables to the scale required, said a spokesperson for Friends of the Earth. The U. S. also pulled out of financial pledges to fund a network of regional centers throughout Africa which were designed to monitor the unfolding impact of global warming. Other schemes opposed by the U. S. include the Clean Development Mechanism set up to help developing states develop economically while controlling greenhouse gas emissions, the Kuyasa low-income housing energy upgrade project located in Cape Town, South Africa, was chosen. The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members, as a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions
31st G8 summit
–
Protesters clash with the Greater Manchester Police officers who were deployed to Edinburgh at the start of the summit
31st G8 summit
–
31st G8 Summit official logo
31st G8 summit
–
The area surrounding
Holyrood Palace and the
Scottish Parliament was cordoned off by double fences.
31st G8 summit
–
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair speaks with the summit attendees behind him. Left to right (front row):
Lula da Silva,
Gerhard Schröder,
Hu Jintao,
George W. Bush,
Tony Blair at podium,
Jacques Chirac,
Manmohan Singh,
Vladimir Putin,
Vicente Fox; (back row):
Paul Martin,
José Barroso,
Thabo Mbeki,
Silvio Berlusconi,
Kofi Annan,
Junichiro Koizumi and
Paul Wolfowitz.
17.
African Development Bank
–
The African Development Bank Group is a multilateral development finance institution established to contribute to the economic development and social progress of African countries. The AfDB was founded in 1964 and comprises three entities, The African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund, the AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries. While it was headquartered in Abidjan, Côte dIvoire, the banks headquarters moved to Tunis, Tunisia in 2003, due to the Ivorian civil war. The agreement came into force on 10 September 1964, although established officially in under the auspices of the Economic Commission for Africa, the AfDB began operation in 1966. Although originally only African countries were able to join the bank, during its forty years of operations, AfDB has financed 2,885 operations, for a total of $47.5 billion. In 2003, it received an AAA rating from the financial rating agencies and had a capital of $32.043 billion. The African Development Bank Group has two entities, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. Established in 1972, the African Development Fund started operations in 1974, in harmony with its lending strategy, poverty reduction is the main aim of ADF activities. Twenty-four non-African countries along with the AfDB constitute its current membership, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was designated as the depositor bank for the fund according to telegraphs sent from the U. S. Embassy in Abidjan in 1976. The ADF’s sources are mainly contributions and periodic replacements by non-African member states, the fund is usually replenished every three years, unless member states decide otherwise. The total donations, at the end of 1996, amounted to $12.58 billion. The ADF lends at no interest rate, with a service charge of 0. 75%, a commitment fee of 0. 5%. The tenth United Kingdom replenishment of the ADF was in 2006, the Nigeria Trust Fund was established in 1976 by the Nigerian government with an initial capital of $80 million. The NTF is aimed at assisting in the development efforts of the poorest AfDB members, in 1996, the NTF had a total resource base of $432 million. It lends at a 4% interest rate with a 25-year repayment period, the AfDB is controlled by a Board of Executive Directors, made up of representatives of its member countries. The voting power on the Board is split according to the size of each members share, the largest African Development Bank shareholder is Nigeria with nearly 9 percent of the vote. All member countries of the AfDB are represented on the AfDB Board of Executive Directors, dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina is the 8th elected President of the African Development Bank Group], having taken the oath of office on September 1,2015. He chairs the Boards of both the African Development Bank and the African Development Fund, dr. Adesina served as Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2011 to 2015
African Development Bank
–
AfDB logo
African Development Bank
–
AfDB Beneficiary Countries
18.
Book of Leviticus
–
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Old Testament from the Bible, included in the Christian biblical canons, and the third of five books of the Pentateuch. The Hebrew name of the book of the Jewish Bible. Its Greek name Levitikon, things pertaining to the Levites, and its Latin name Leviticus, are based on the term torat kohanim, instruction of the priests from early rabbinic times. The English name is from the Latin Leviticus, taken in turn from Greek and a reference to the Levites, the book, however, addresses all the people of Israel though some passages address the priests specifically. Most of its chapters consist of Gods speeches to Moses which he is commanded to repeat to the Israelites and this takes place within the story of the Israelites Exodus after they escaped Egypt and reached Mt. Sinai. The Book of Exodus narrates how Moses led the Israelites in building the Tabernacle based on Gods instructions, then in Leviticus, God tells the Israelites and their priests how to make offerings in the Tabernacle and how to conduct themselves while camped around the holy tent sanctuary. Leviticus takes place during the month or month-and-a-half between the completion of the Tabernacle and the Israelites departure from Sinai, the instructions of Leviticus emphasize ritual, legal and moral practices rather than beliefs. Nevertheless, they reflect the view of the creation story in Genesis 1 that God wishes to live with humans. The book teaches that faithful performance of the sanctuary rituals can make possible, so long as the people avoid sin. Scholars debate whether it was primarily for Jewish worship in exile that centered on reading or preaching, or was aimed instead at worshipers at temples in Jerusalem. But they are unanimous that the book had a long period of growth. Instructions for the laity on bringing offerings 1–5, the types of offering, burnt, cereal, peace, purification, reparation offerings B. The various offerings, with the addition of the priests cereal offering 7, institution of the priesthood A. Ordination of Aaron and his sons B. Aaron makes the first sacrifices C, judgement on Nadab and Abihu III. Cleansing of diseases E. Unclean discharges IV, Day of Atonement, purification of the tabernacle from the effects of uncleanliness and sin V. Blasphemy J. Sabbatical and Jubilee years K. Exhortation to obey the law, blessing, redemption of votive gifts Chapters 1–5 describe the various sacrifices from the sacrificers point of view, although the priests are essential for handling the blood. Sacrifices are to be divided between God, the priest, and the offerers, although in cases the entire sacrifice is a single portion consigned to God—i. e. Chapters 8–10 describe the consecration by Moses of Aaron and his sons as the first priests, the first sacrifices, the purpose is to underline the character of altar priesthood as an Aaronite privilege, and the responsibilities and dangers of their position
Book of Leviticus
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Leviticus
–
Vaikro – Book of Leviticus, Warsaw edition, 1860, page 1
Book of Leviticus
–
The
Tabernacle and the Camp (19th Century drawing)
Book of Leviticus
–
The Scapegoat (painting) (1854 painting by
William Holman Hunt)
19.
Judaism
–
Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
Judaism
–
Judaica (clockwise from top):
Shabbat candlesticks,
handwashing cup,
Chumash and
Tanakh,
Torah pointer,
shofar and
etrog box
Judaism
–
Silver case containing a handwritten
Torah (
Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris)
Judaism
–
Glass platter inscribed with the Hebrew word zokhreinu – remember us
Judaism
–
A 19th-century silver
Macedonian Hanukkah menorah
20.
Christianity
–
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
Christianity
–
An
Eastern Christian icon depicting
Emperor Constantine and the Fathers of the
First Council of Nicaea (325) as holding the Niceno–Constantinopolitan Creed of 381
Christianity
–
Various
depictions of Jesus
Christianity
–
Crucifixion, representing the death of
Jesus on the
Cross, painting by
Diego Velázquez, 17th century
21.
Moses
–
Moses is a prophet in Abrahamic religions. Also called Moshe Rabbenu in Hebrew, he is the most important prophet in Judaism and he is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Baháí Faith as well as a number of other Abrahamic religions. Moses Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaohs daughter, the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slavemaster, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak with assurance or eloquence, so God allowed Aaron, his brother, to become his spokesperson. After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, after 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land on Mount Nebo. According to archaeologist William G. Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE, Jerome gives 1592 BCE, the Biblical account of Moses birth provides him with a folk etymology to explain the ostensible meaning of his name. He is said to have received it from the Pharaohs daughter and she named him Moses, saying, I drew him out of the water. This explanation links it to a verb mashah, meaning to draw out, the princess made a grammatical mistake which is prophetic of his future role in legend, as someone who will draw the people of Israel out of Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea. Abraham Yahuda, based on the spelling given in the Tanakh, argues that it combines water or seed and pond, expanse of water, the Hebrew etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses Egyptian origins. The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers like Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. Philo linked Mōēsēs to the Egyptian word for water, while Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews, claimed that the element, -esês. Hizkuni suggested she either converted or took a tip from Jochebed, the Israelites had settled in the Land of Goshen in the time of Joseph and Jacob, but a new pharaoh arose who oppressed the children of Israel. At this time Moses was born to his father Amram, son of Kehath the Levite, who entered Egypt with Jacobs household, his mother was Jochebed, Moses had one older sister, Miriam, and one older brother, Aaron. One day after Moses had reached adulthood he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, Moses, in order to escape the Pharaohs death penalty, fled to Midian. There, on Mount Horeb, God revealed to Moses his name YHWH and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring his people out of bondage. Moses returned to carry out Gods command, but God caused the Pharaoh to refuse, from Egypt, Moses led the Israelites to biblical Mount Sinai, where he was given the Ten Commandments from God, written on stone tablets
Moses
–
Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law by
Rembrandt
Moses
–
Moses and the tablets of law, by
Jusepe de Ribera.
Moses
–
Moses rescued from the Nile, 1638, by
Nicolas Poussin.
Moses
–
Moses before the Pharaoh, a 6th-century miniature from the
Syriac Bible of Paris
22.
Shmita
–
During shmita, the land is left to lie fallow and all agricultural activity, including plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting, is forbidden by halakha. Other cultivation techniques may be performed as a measure only. Additionally, any fruits which grow of their own accord are deemed hefker, a variety of laws also apply to the sale, consumption and disposal of shmita produce. All debts, except those of foreigners, were to be remitted, chapter 25 of the Book of Leviticus promises bountiful harvests to those who observe the shmita, and describes its observance as a test of religious faith. There is little notice of the observance of this year in Biblical history and it is still discussed among scholars of the Ancient Near East whether or not there is clear evidence for a seven-year cycle in Ugaritic texts. Jehuda Felix suggests that the land may have been farmed only 3 years in seven, borowski takes the fallow year as one year in seven. But during the year, you must leave it alone. The needy among you will then be able to eat just as you do and this also applies to your vineyard and your olive grove. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops and it is Gods sabbath during which you may not plant your fields, nor prune your vineyards. Do not harvest crops that grow on their own and do not gather the grapes on your unpruned vines, the land is resting may be eaten by you, by your male and female slaves, and by the employees and resident hands who live with you. All the crops shall be eaten by the domestic and wild animals that are in your land, and if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year. Behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our increase, then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for the three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the produce, I will scatter you among the nations, and keep the sword drawn against you. Your land will remain desolate, and your cities in ruins, then, as long as the land is desolate and you are in your enemies land, the land will enjoy its sabbaths. The land will rest and enjoy its sabbatical years, thus, as long as it is desolate, will enjoy the sabbatical rest that you would not give it when you lived there. Book of Deuteronomy, At the end of seven years. The idea of the year is that every creditor shall remit any debt owed by his neighbor. You may collect from the alien, but if you have any claim against your brother for a debt and you must gather together the people, the men, women, children and proselytes from your settlements, and let them hear it
Shmita
–
Proclamation of Chief Rabbi, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Regarding The Importance of Shemitah Observance, and collecting for a communal fund to support those who observe shmita without compromise.
23.
Hittite language
–
Hittite, also known as Nesite and Neshite, is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, an Indo-European-speaking people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia. By the Late Bronze Age, Hittite had started losing ground to its close relative Luwian and it appears that in the 13th century BC, Luwian was the most widely spoken language in the Hittite capital of Hattusa. Hittite is the earliest-attested of the Indo-European languages and is the best-known of the Anatolian languages, Hittite is the modern name for the language, chosen after the identification of the Hatti kingdom with the Hittites mentioned in the Bible, although this identification was subsequently challenged. The terms Hattian or Hattic, by contrast, are used to refer to the people who preceded them. In multi-lingual texts found in Hittite locations, passages written in the Hittite language are preceded by the adverb nesili, in the of Neša, in one case, the label is Kanisumnili, in the of the people of Kaneš. Although the Hittite empire was composed of people from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. In spite of arguments over the appropriateness of the term, Hittite remains the most current term by convention. Knudtzon argued that Hittite was Indo-European, largely on the basis of the morphology, although he had no bilingual texts, he was able to give a partial interpretation to the two letters because of the formulaic nature of the diplomatic correspondence of the period. Based on a study of this material, Bedřich Hrozný succeeded in analyzing the language. He presented his argument that the language is Indo-European in a paper published in 1915, hroznýs argument for the Indo-European affiliation of Hittite was thoroughly modern, though poorly substantiated. He focused on the similarities in idiosyncratic aspects of the morphology, unlikely to occur independently by chance. These included the r/n alternation in some noun stems and vocalic ablaut and he also presented a set of regular sound correspondences. Sturtevant who authored the first scientifically acceptable Hittite grammar with a chrestomathy, the most up-to-date grammar of the Hittite language is currently Hoffner and Melchert 2008. Hittite is one of the Anatolian languages and it is known from cuneiform tablets and inscriptions erected by the Hittite kings. The script formerly known as Hieroglyphic Hittite is now termed Hieroglyphic Luwian, the Anatolian branch also includes Cuneiform Luwian, Hieroglyphic Luwian, Palaic, Lycian, Milyan, Lydian, Carian, Pisidian, and Sidetic. Hittite lacks some features of the other Indo-European languages, such as a distinction between masculine and feminine gender, subjunctive and optative moods, and aspect. Various hypotheses have been formulated to explain these contrasts, the parent, Indo-Hittite, lacked the features not present in Hittite, which Proto-Indo-European innovated. Other linguists, however, have taken the point of view, the Schwund Hypothesis, that Hittite came from a Proto-Indo-European possessing the full range of features
Hittite language
–
Hittite
Hittite language
–
Geography
24.
Hurrian language
–
The Hurrian language was spoken by the Hurrians, a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly vanished by 1000 BC. Hurrian was the language of the Mitanni kingdom in northern Mesopotamia, Hurrian is an ergative, agglutinative language that, together with Urartian, constitutes the Hurro-Urartian family. I. M. Diakonoff and S. Starostin see similarities between Hurrian and the Northeast Caucasian languages, and thus place it in the Alarodian family, examples of the proposed phonological correspondences are Proto-East-Caucasian *l- > Hurrian t-, Proto-East-Caucasian *-dl- > Hurrian -r-. Some scholars, such as I. J. Gelb and E. A. Speiser, the earliest Hurrian text fragments consist of lists of names and places from the end of the third millennium BC. The first full texts date to the reign of king Tish-atal of Urkesh and were found on a stone tablet accompanying the Hurrian foundation pegs known as the Urkish lions, at the start of the second milliennium BC. Archeologists have discovered the texts of numerous spells, incantations, prophecies and letters at sites including Hattusha, Mari, Tuttul, Babylon, Ugarit and others. Early study of the language, however, was based on the Mitanni letter, found in 1887 at Amarna in Egypt. The Hurro-Urartian relation was recognized as early as 1890 by Sayce, in the thirteenth century BC, invasions from the west by the Hittites and the south by the Assyrians brought the end of the Mitanni empire, which was divided between the two conquering powers. In the following century, attacks by the Sea Peoples brought an end to the last vestiges of the Hurrian language. It is around this time that other languages, such as the Hittite language, in the texts of these languages, as well as those of Akkadian or Urartian, many Hurrian names and places can be found. Renewed interest in Hurrian was triggered by texts discovered in Boğazköy in the 1910s, Speiser published the first comprehensive grammar of Hurrian. Since the 1980s, the Nuzi corpus from the archive of Silwa-tessup has been edited by G. Wilhelm, since the late 1980s, significant progress was made due to the discovery of a Hurrian-Hittite bilingual, edited by E. Neu. The Hurrian of the Mitanni letter differs significantly from that used in the texts at Hattusha and other Hittite centres, the non-Mitanni letter varieties, while not entirely homogeneous, are commonly subsumed under the designation Old Hurrian. Whereas in Mitanni the vowel pairs i/e and u/o are differentiated, there are also differences in morphology, some of which are mentioned in the course of the exposition below. Nonetheless, it is clear that these represent dialects of one language, there was also a Hurrian-Akkadian creole, called Nuzi, spoken in the Mitanni provincial capital of Arrapha. As can be seen from the table, Hurrian did not possess a voiced-voiceless distinction, there is no voiced consonant with an unvoiced counterpart, nor vice versa. Sometimes a voiced consonant is written in these situations, i. e. b, d, g, v or ž, all consonants except /w/ and /j/ can be long or short. The long consonants occur only between vowels, in the cuneiform, as in the Latin transcription, geminated consonants are indicated by doubling the corresponding symbol, so. VC-CV
Hurrian language
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The
Louvre lion and accompanying stone tablet bearing the earliest known text in Hurrian
Hurrian language
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Geography
25.
Ancient Athens
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Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for at least 5000 years. Following a period of decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The name of Athens, connected to the name of its patron goddess Athena, the etiological myth explaining how Athens acquired this name through the legendary contest between Poseidon and Athena was described by Herodotus, Apollodorus, Ovid, Plutarch, Pausanias and others. It even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon, both Athena and Poseidon requested to be patrons of the city and to give their name to it, so they competed with one another for the honour, offering the city one gift each. Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident, Athena created the olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. The Athenians, under their ruler Cecrops, accepted the olive tree, a sacred olive tree said to be the one created by the goddess was still kept on the Acropolis at the time of Pausanias. It was located by the temple of Pandrosus, next to the Parthenon, according to Herodotus, the tree had been burnt down during the Persian Wars, but a shoot sprung from the stump. The Greeks saw this as a symbol that Athena still had her there on the city. Plato, in his dialogue Cratylus, offers his own etymology of Athenas name connecting it to the phrase ἁ θεονόα or hē theoû nóēsis. The site on which Athens stands was first inhabited in the Neolithic period, perhaps as a settlement on top of the Acropolis. The Acropolis is a defensive position which commands the surrounding plains. The settlement was about 20 km inland from the Saronic Gulf, in the centre of the Cephisian Plain, to the east lies Mount Hymettus, to the north Mount Pentelicus. Ancient Athens, in the first millennium BC, occupied a small area compared to the sprawling metropolis of modern Greece. The Acropolis was situated just south of the centre of this walled area, the Agora, the commercial and social centre of the city, lay about 400 m north of the Acropolis, in what is now the Monastiraki district. The hill of the Pnyx, where the Athenian Assembly met, the Eridanus river flowed through the city. One of the most important religious sites in ancient Athens was the Temple of Athena, known today as the Parthenon, which stood on top of the Acropolis, where its evocative ruins still stand. Two other major sites, the Temple of Hephaestus and the Temple of Olympian Zeus or Olympeion also lay within the city walls. According to Thucydides, the Athenian citizens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War numbered 40,000, making with their families a total of 140,000 people in all
Ancient Athens
–
The
Acropolis of Athens by
Leo von Klenze.
Ancient Athens
–
The contest of
Athena and
Poseidon. West Pediment of the
Parthenon.
Ancient Athens
–
Map of the Environs of Ancient Athens.
Ancient Athens
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Statue of the Greek goddess
Athena,
National Archaeological Museum, Athens.
26.
Solon
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Solon was an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and his reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. He wrote poetry for pleasure, as propaganda, and in defense of his constitutional reforms. Ancient authors such as Herodotus and Plutarch are the source of information, yet they wrote about Solon long after his death. Fourth century orators, such as Aeschines, tended to attribute to Solon all the laws of their own, Solon was born in Athens around 638 B. C. His family was distinguished in Attica as they belonged to a noble or Eupatrid clan although only possessing moderate wealth, Solons lineage, therefore, could be traced back to Codrus, the last King of Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius, he had a brother named Dropides who was an ancestor of Plato, according to Plutarch, Solon was related to the tyrant Peisistratos for their mothers were cousins. Solon was eventually drawn into the pursuit of commerce. When Athens and Megara were contesting for the possession of the Salamis Island, after repeated disasters, Solon was able to increase the morale and spirits of his body of troops on the strength of a poem he wrote about the islands. Supported by Peisistratos, he defeated the Megarians either by means of a trick or more directly through heroic battle around 595 B. C. The Megarians however refused to give up their claim to the island, the dispute was referred to the Spartans, who eventually awarded possession of the island to Athens on the strength of the case that Solon put to them. According to Diogenes Laertius, in 594 B. C, Solon was chosen archon or chief magistrate. As archon, Solon discussed his intended reforms with some friends, knowing that he was about to cancel all debts, these friends took out loans and promptly bought some land. Suspected of complicity, Solon complied with his own law and released his own debtors and his friends never repaid their debts. After he had finished his reforms, he travelled abroad for ten years, there, according to Herodotus he visited the Pharaoh of Egypt Amasis II. According to Plutarch, he spent some time and discussed philosophy with two Egyptian priests, Psenophis of Heliopolis and Sonchis of Sais, according to Platos dialogues Timaeus and Critias, he visited Neiths temple at Sais and received from the priests there an account of the history of Atlantis. Next Solon sailed to Cyprus, where he oversaw the construction of a new capital for a local king, Solons travels finally brought him to Sardis, capital of Lydia. According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, Count no man happy until he be dead
Solon
–
Bas-relief of Solon from the chamber of the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Solon
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Bust of Solon from the National Museum,
Naples.
Solon
–
Croesus awaits fiery execution (
Attic red-figure
amphora, 500–490 BC,
Louvre G 197)
Solon
–
Solon, the wise lawgiver of Athens
27.
Muslim
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A Muslim is someone who follows or practices Islam, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion. Muslims consider the Quran, their book, to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet. They also follow the teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts, Muslim is an Arabic word meaning one who submits. Most Muslims will accept anyone who has publicly pronounced Shahadah as a Muslim, the shahadah states, There is no god but the God and Muhammad is the last messenger of the God. The testimony authorized by God in the Quran that can found in Surah 3,18 states, There is no god except God, which in Arabic, is the exact testimony which God Himself utters, as well as the angels and those who possess knowledge utter. The word muslim is the active participle of the verb of which islām is a verbal noun, based on the triliteral S-L-M to be whole. A female adherent is a muslima, the plural form in Arabic is muslimūn or muslimīn, and its feminine equivalent is muslimāt. The Arabic form muslimun is the stem IV participle of the triliteral S-L-M, the ordinary word in English is Muslim. It is sometimes transliterated as Moslem, which is an older spelling, the word Mosalman is a common equivalent for Muslim used in Central Asia. Until at least the mid-1960s, many English-language writers used the term Mohammedans or Mahometans, although such terms were not necessarily intended to be pejorative, Muslims argue that the terms are offensive because they allegedly imply that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. Other obsolete terms include Muslimite and Muslimist, musulmán/Mosalmán is a synonym for Muslim and is modified from Arabic. In English it was sometimes spelled Mussulman and has become archaic in usage, the Muslim philosopher Ibn Arabi said, A Muslim is a person who has dedicated his worship exclusively to God. Islam means making ones religion and faith Gods alone. The Quran states that men were Muslims because they submitted to God, preached His message and upheld His values. Thus, in Surah 3,52 of the Quran, Jesus disciples tell him, We believe in God, and you be our witness that we are Muslims. In Muslim belief, before the Quran, God had given the Tawrat to Moses, the Zabur to David and the Injil to Jesus, who are all considered important Muslim prophets. The most populous Muslim-majority country is Indonesia, home to 12. 7% of the worlds Muslims, followed by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Egypt. About 20% of the worlds Muslims lives in the Middle East and North Africa, Sizable minorities are found in India, China, Russia, Ethiopia. The country with the highest proportion of self-described Muslims as a proportion of its population is Morocco
Muslim
–
Afghan Muslims praying inside
Gardens of Babur in
Kabul,
Afghanistan.
Muslim
–
Famous
Muslim converts from various fields.
28.
Scripture
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Religious texts are texts which religious traditions consider to be central to their religious practice or set of beliefs. It is not possible to create an exhaustive list of religious texts, one of the oldest known religious texts is the Kesh Temple Hymn of Ancient Sumer, a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE. For example, the content of a Protestant Bible may differ from the content of a Catholic Bible, the word canon comes from the Sumerian word meaning standard. Hierographology is the study of sacred texts, the following is an in-exhaustive list of links to specific religious texts which may be used for further, more in-depth study. The writings of Franklin Albert Jones a. k. a, some denominations also include the Apocrypha. For Protestantism, this is the 66-book canon - the Jewish Tanakh of 24 books divided differently, some denominations also include the 15 books of the Apocrypha between the Old Testament and the New Testament, for a total of 81 books. For Catholicism, this includes seven deuterocanonical books in the Old Testament for a total of 73 books, called the Canon of Trent. For the Eastern Orthodox Church, this includes the anagignoskomena, which consist of the Catholic deuterocanon, plus 3 Maccabees, Psalm 151, the Prayer of Manasseh,4 Maccabees is considered to be canonical by the Georgian Orthodox Church. Some Syriac churches accept the Letter of Baruch as scripture, christian Scientists The Bible Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. This textbook, along with the Bible, serves as the permanent impersonal pastor of the church, the Community of Christ uses the Joseph Smith Translation, which it calls the Inspired Version, as well as updated modern translations. Seventh-day Adventists The Bible The writings of Ellen White are held to a status, though not equal with the Bible. Also known as the Gospel of Mani and The Living Gospel the Treasure of Life the Pragmateia the Book of Mysteries The Book of Giants the Epistles the Psalms, the Shabuhragan The Arzhang The Kephalaia, Discourses, found in Coptic translation. Odù Ifá Jaap Verduijns Odu Ifa Collection Primary religious texts, that is, the Avesta collection, The Yasna, the Visperad, a collection of supplements to the Yasna. The Yashts, hymns in honor of the divinities, the Vendidad, describes the various forms of evil spirits and ways to confound them. Shorter texts and prayers, the Yashts the five Nyaishes, the Sirozeh, there are some 60 secondary religious texts, none of which are considered scripture. The Khordeh Avesta, Zoroastrian prayer book for lay people from the Avesta, religious full text online library Ancient texts library Internet Sacred Text Archive
Scripture
–
Ancient style of scripture used for the
Pāli Canon
Scripture
–
The Chinese
Diamond Sutra, the oldest known dated
printed book in the world, printed in the 9th year of Xiantong Era of the
Tang Dynasty, or 868 CE.
British Library.
Scripture
–
Christian
Bible, 1407 handwritten copy
Scripture
–
The Bible (left) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (right) serve as the pastor of the
Christian Science church.
29.
Debt consolidation
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Debt consolidation is a form of debt refinancing that entails taking out one loan to pay off many others. This commonly refers to a personal process of individuals addressing high consumer debt. The process can secure an overall interest rate to the entire debt load. Debt generally refers to money owed by one party, the debtor, to a second party and it is generally subject to repayments of principal and interest. Debt can be secured with collateral or unsecured, although there is variation from country to country and even in regions within country, consumer debt is primarily made up of home loans, credit card debt and car loans. Household debt is the debt of the adults in the household plus the mortgage. In many countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, the overall debt can reach the point where a debtor is in danger of bankruptcy, insolvency, or other fiscal emergency. Options available to overburdened debtors include credit counseling and personal bankruptcy, sometimes the solution includes some of each of these tactics. The bulk of the debt, especially that with a high interest, is repaid by a new loan. Most debt consolidation loans are offered from lending institutions and secured as a mortgage or home equity line of credit. These require the individual to put up a home as collateral, the overall lower interest rate is an advantage of the debt consolidation loan offers consumers. Lenders have fixed costs to process payments and repayment can spread out over a larger period, however, such consolidation loans have costs, fees, interest, and points where one point equals to one percent of the amount borrowed. In some countries, these loans may provide certain tax advantages, because they are secured, a lender can attempt to seize property if the borrower goes into default. Personal loans comprise another form of debt consolidation loan, individuals can issue debtors a personal loan that satisfies the outstanding debt and creates a new one on their own terms. These loans, often unsecured, are based on the relationship rather than collateral. In the United States, federal student loans are consolidated somewhat differently from in the UK, in a federal student loan consolidation, existing loans are purchased by the Department of Education. Upon consolidation, a fixed interest rate is set based on the then-current interest rate, reconsolidating does not change that rate. Federal student loan consolidation is often referred to as refinancing, which is incorrect because the rates are not changed
Debt consolidation
–
Personal finance
30.
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
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Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 7 is the most common form of bankruptcy in the United States, when a troubled business is unable to pay its creditors, it may file for bankruptcy in a federal court under Chapter 7. A Chapter 7 filing means that the business ceases operations unless those operations are continued by the Chapter 7 Trustee, a Chapter 7 trustee is appointed almost immediately, with broad powers to examine the businesss financial affairs. The Trustee generally liquidates the assets and distributes the proceeds to the creditors and this may or may not mean that all employees will lose their jobs. When a large company enters Chapter 7 bankruptcy, entire divisions of the company may be sold intact to other companies during the liquidation, the investors who took the least amount of risk prior to the bankruptcy are generally paid first. For example, secured creditors will have less risk, because the credit that they will have extended is usually backed by collateral. Secured creditors often know they will get paid first if the company declares bankruptcy, a creditor is fully secured if the value of the collateral for its loan to the debtor equals or exceeds the amount of the debt. For this reason, however, fully secured creditors are not entitled to participate in any distribution of liquidated assets that the bankruptcy trustee might make, in a Chapter 7 case, a corporation or partnership does not receive a bankruptcy discharge. An individual can receive a Chapter 7 discharge, once all assets of the corporate or partnership debtor have been fully administered, the case is closed. The debts of the corporation or partnership theoretically continue to exist until applicable statutory periods of limitations expire, individuals who reside, have a place of business, or own property in the United States may file for bankruptcy in a federal court under Chapter 7. Chapter 7, as other bankruptcy chapters, is not available to individuals who have had bankruptcy cases dismissed within the prior 180 days under specified circumstances. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the individual is allowed to keep certain exempt property, the value of property that can be claimed as exempt varies from state to state. Other assets, if any, are sold by the trustee to repay creditors, many types of unsecured debt are legally discharged by the bankruptcy proceeding, but there are various types of debt that are not discharged in a Chapter 7. Spousal support is not covered by a bankruptcy filing, nor are property settlements through divorce. Despite their potential non-dischargeability, all debts must be listed on bankruptcy schedules, a chapter 7 bankruptcy stays on an individuals credit report for 10 years from the date of filing the chapter 7 petition. This contrasts with a chapter 13 bankruptcy, which stays on a credit report for 7 years from the date of filing the chapter 13 petition. This may make credit less available or may make lending terms less favorable and that must be balanced against the removal of actual debt from the filers record by the bankruptcy, which tends to improve creditworthiness. Consumer credit and creditworthiness is a subject, however
Chapter 7 bankruptcy
–
Bankruptcy in the
United States
