1.
Liberty Square (Budapest)
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Liberty Square is a public square located in the Lipótváros neighborhood of Budapest, Hungary. The square is a mix of business and residential, the United States Embassy in Hungary and the headquarters for the Hungarian National Bank are located in the square. The Bank of Hungary building is in the historicist style of architecture, some buildings on the square are designed in the Art Nouveau style. Two buildings were designed by Ignác Alpár, there are monuments for Ronald Reagan and Harry Hill Bandholtz. There is also a monument for Soviet liberation of Hungary in World War II from Nazi German occupation and it was designed by Károly Antal. A barrack-prison that had occupied the space, was the site of the execution of Prime Minister Lajos Batthyány in 1849. The building was destroyed in 1897 and the square was built thereafter
2.
Budapest
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Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary, one of the largest cities in the European Union and sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. It has an area of 525 square kilometres and a population of about 1.8 million within the limits in 2016. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the Danube river with the unification of Buda and Óbuda on the west bank, the history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century and their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241–1242. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture by the 15th century, following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, the region entered a new age of prosperity, and Budapest became a global city after its unification in 1873. It also became the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a power that dissolved in 1918. Budapest was the point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Republic of Councils in 1919, the Battle of Budapest in 1945. Budapest is an Alpha- global city, with strengths in arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts the Budapest Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks and it is the highest ranked Central and Eastern European city on Innovation Cities Top 100 index. Budapest attracts 4.4 million international tourists per year, making it the 25th most popular city in the world, further famous landmarks include Andrássy Avenue, St. It has around 80 geothermal springs, the worlds largest thermal water system, second largest synagogue. Budapest is home to the headquarters of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College, over 40 colleges and universities are located in Budapest, including the Eötvös Loránd University, Central European University and Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Budapest is the combination of the city names Buda and Pest, One of the first documented occurrences of the combined name Buda-Pest was in 1831 in the book Világ, written by Count István Széchenyi. The origins of the names Buda and Pest are obscure, according to chronicles from the Middle Ages, the name Buda comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of the Hunnic ruler Attila. The theory that Buda was named after a person is also supported by modern scholars, an alternative explanation suggests that Buda derives from the Slavic word вода, voda, a translation of the Latin name Aquincum, which was the main Roman settlement in the region. There are also theories about the origin of the name Pest. One of the states that the word Pest comes from the Roman times. According to another theory, Pest originates from the Slavic word for cave, or oven, the first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD
3.
Hungary
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Hungary is a unitary parliamentary republic in Central Europe. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken language in Europe. Hungarys capital and largest metropolis is Budapest, a significant economic hub, major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000, converting the country to a Christian kingdom, by the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world, reaching a golden age by the 15th century. Hungarys current borders were established in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon after World War I, when the country lost 71% of its territory, 58% of its population, following the interwar period, Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II, suffering significant damage and casualties. Hungary became a state of the Soviet Union, which contributed to the establishment of a four-decade-long communist dictatorship. On 23 October 1989, Hungary became again a democratic parliamentary republic, in the 21st century, Hungary is a middle power and has the worlds 57th largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the 58th largest by PPP, out of 188 countries measured by the IMF. As a substantial actor in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds 36th largest exporter and importer of goods, Hungary is a high-income economy with a very high standard of living. It keeps up a security and universal health care system. Hungary joined the European Union in 2004 and part of the Schengen Area since 2007, Hungary is a member of the United Nations, NATO, WTO, World Bank, the AIIB, the Council of Europe and Visegrád Group. Well known for its cultural history, Hungary has been contributed significantly to arts, music, literature, sports and science. Hungary is the 11th most popular country as a tourist destination in Europe and it is home to the largest thermal water cave system, the second largest thermal lake in the world, the largest lake in Central Europe, and the largest natural grasslands in Europe. The H in the name of Hungary is most likely due to historical associations with the Huns. The rest of the word comes from the Latinized form of Medieval Greek Oungroi, according to an explanation the Greek name was borrowed from Proto-Slavic Ǫgǔri, in turn borrowed from Oghur-Turkic Onogur. Onogur was the name for the tribes who later joined the Bulgar tribal confederacy that ruled the eastern parts of Hungary after the Avars. The Hungarians likely belonged to the Onogur tribal alliance and it is possible they became its ethnic majority. The Hungarian endonym is Magyarország, composed of magyar and ország, the word magyar is taken from the name of one of the seven major semi-nomadic Hungarian tribes, magyeri
4.
Hungarian forint
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The forint is the currency of Hungary. It is divided into 100 fillér, although fillér coins are no longer in circulation, the introduction of the forint on 1 August 1946 was a crucial step of the post-World War II stabilization of the Hungarian economy, and the currency remained relatively stable until the 1980s. Transition to market economy in the early 1990s deteriorated the value of the forint, since 2001, inflation is single digit and the forint was declared fully convertible. As a member of the European Union, the long term aim of the Hungarian government may be to replace the forint with the euro, the forints name comes from the city of Florence, where golden coins were minted from 1252 called fiorino doro. In Hungary, florentinus, also a currency, was used from 1325 under Charles Robert. Between 1868 and 1892 the forint was the used in Hungarian for the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was subdivided into 100 krajczár, the forint was reintroduced on 1 August 1946, after the pengő was rendered almost worthless by massive hyperinflation in 1945–46—the highest ever recorded. The process was managed by the Hungarian Communist Party, which held the relevant cabinet seats, the forints success was exploited for political gains, contributing to the Communists takeover of complete power in 1948–49. The forint replaced the pengő at the rate of 1 forint = 4×1029 pengő—dropping 29 zeroes from the old currency, in fact, this was an imaginary exchange rate. With the highest value note being 100 million B. pengő, of more significance was the exchange rate to the adópengő of 1 forint =200 million adópengő. Historically the forint was subdivided into 100 fillér, although coins have been rendered useless by inflation and have not been in circulation since 1999. The Hungarian abbreviation for forint is Ft, which is written after the number with a space between, the name fillér, the subdivision of all Hungarian currencies since 1925, comes from the German word Heller. The abbreviation for the fillér is f, written also after the number with a space in between, after the democratic change of 1989–90, the forint saw yearly inflation figures of app. 35% for three years, but significant market economy reforms helped stabilize it. Since year 2000 the relatively high value of forint handicaps the strongly export-oriented Hungarian industry against foreign competitors with lower valued currencies, in 1946, coins were introduced in denominations of 2,10,20 fillérs and 1,2,5 forints. The silver 5 forint was reissued only in the next year,5 and 50 fillérs coins were issued in 1948. In 1967, a 5 forint coin was reintroduced, followed by a 10 forint in 1971 and 20 forint in 1982. In 1992, a new series of coins was introduced in denominations of 1,2,5,10,20,50,100 and 200 forint, production of the 2 and 5 fillér coins ceased in 1992, with all fillér coins withdrawn from circulation by 1999. From 1996, a bicolor 100 forint coin was minted to replace the 1992 version, since the latter was considered too big and ugly, silver 200 forint coins were withdrawn in 1998, the 1 and 2 forint coins remained in circulation until 29 February 2008
5.
Bank run
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When they transfer funds to another institution it may be characterised as a capital flight. As a bank run progresses, it generates its own momentum, as more people withdraw cash and this can destabilize the bank to the point where it runs out of cash and thus faces sudden bankruptcy. A systemic banking crisis is one where all or almost all of the capital in a country is wiped out. The resulting chain of bankruptcies can cause an economic recession as domestic businesses. According to former U. S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, the Great Depression was caused by the Federal Reserve System, and much of the economic damage was caused directly by bank runs. The cost of cleaning up a banking crisis can be huge, with fiscal costs averaging 13% of GDP. Several techniques have been used to try to prevent bank runs or mitigate their effects. S, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and after a run has started, a temporary suspension of withdrawals. These techniques do not always work, for example, even with deposit insurance, Bank runs first appeared as part of cycles of credit expansion and its subsequent contraction. In the 16th century onwards, English goldsmiths issuing promissory notes suffered severe failures due to bad harvests, plummeting parts of the country into famine and unrest. Other examples are the Dutch Tulip manias, the British South Sea Bubble, the French Mississippi Company, the post-Napoleonic depression, Bank runs have also been used to blackmail individuals or governments. In 1832, for example, the British government under the Duke of Wellington overturned a majority government on the orders of the king, William IV, to prevent reform. Wellesleys actions angered reformers, and they threatened a run on the banks under the rallying cry Stop the Duke, many of the recessions in the United States were caused by banking panics. The Great Depression contained several banking crises consisting of runs on multiple banks from 1929 to 1933, in December, New York City experienced massive bank runs that were contained to the many branches of a single bank. Philadelphia was hit a week later by bank runs that affected several banks, but were contained by quick action by the leading city banks. Withdrawals became worse after financial conglomerates in New York and Los Angeles failed in prominently-covered scandals, much of the US Depressions economic damage was caused directly by bank runs, though Canada had no bank runs during this same era due to different banking regulations. Bank runs continued to plague the United States for the several years. City-wide runs hit Boston, Chicago, Toledo, and St. Louis, among others. Institutions put into place during the Depression have prevented runs on U. S. commercial banks since the 1930s, even under such as the U. S. savings
6.
Central bank
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A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages a states currency, money supply, and interest rates. Central banks also usually oversee the commercial banking system of their respective countries, Central banks in most developed nations are institutionally designed to be independent from political interference. Still, limited control by the executive and legislative bodies usually exists, prior to the 17th century most money was commodity money, typically gold or silver. However, promises to pay were widely circulated and accepted as value at least five hundred years earlier in both Europe and Asia. The Song dynasty was the first to issue generally circulating paper currency, in 1455, in an effort to control inflation, the succeeding Ming Dynasty ended the use of paper money and closed much of Chinese trade. The Bank of Amsterdam, established in the Dutch Republic in 1609, is considered to be the forerunner to modern central banks. The Wisselbanks innovations helped lay the foundations for the birth and development of the banking system that now plays a vital role in the worlds economy. Along with a number of local banks, it performed many functions of a central banking system. Lucien Gillard calls it the European guilder, and Adam Smith devotes many pages to explaining how the bank guilder works, the model of the Wisselbank as a state bank was adapted throughout Europe, including the Bank of Sweden and the Bank of England. Established by Dutch-Latvian Johan Palmstruch in 1668, Sveriges Riksbank is often considered by many as the worlds oldest central bank, the lenders would give the government cash and also issue notes against the government bonds, which could be lent again. A Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694, the bank was given exclusive possession of the governments balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue banknotes. The £1. 2M was raised in 12 days, half of this was used to rebuild the Navy and these modern central banking functions evolved slowly through the 18th and 19th centuries. The currency crisis of 1797, caused by panicked depositors withdrawing from the Bank led to the government suspending convertibility of notes into specie payment. The bank was accused by the bullionists of causing the exchange rate to fall from over issuing banknotes. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Bank was being treated as an organ of the state, henry Thornton, a merchant banker and monetary theorist has been described as the father of the modern central bank. An opponent of the real bills doctrine, he was a defender of the bullionist position, thorntons process of monetary expansion anticipated the theories of Knut Wicksell regarding the cumulative process which restates the Quantity Theory in a theoretically coherent form. Until the mid-nineteenth century, commercial banks were able to issue their own banknotes, many consider the origins of the central bank to lie with the passage of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. Under this law, authorisation to issue new banknotes was restricted to the Bank of England, at the same time, the Bank of England was restricted to issue new banknotes only if they were 100% backed by gold or up to £14 million in government debt
7.
World Bank
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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%
8.
Global financial system
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In the late 1800s, world migration and communication technology facilitated unprecedented growth in international trade and investment. At the onset of World War I, trade contracted as foreign exchange markets became paralyzed by money market illiquidity, efforts to revamp the international monetary system after World War II improved exchange rate stability, fostering record growth in global finance. A series of currency devaluations and oil crises in the 1970s led most countries to float their currencies, the world economy became increasingly financially integrated in the 1980s and 1990s due to capital account liberalization and financial deregulation. A series of crises in Europe, Asia, and Latin America followed with contagious effects due to greater exposure to volatile capital flows. The global financial crisis, which originated in the United States in 2007, a market adjustment to Greeces noncompliance with its monetary union in 2009 ignited a sovereign debt crisis among European nations known as the Eurozone crisis. A countrys decision to operate an economy and globalize its financial capital carries monetary implications captured by the balance of payments. Both individuals and groups may participate in the financial system. Consumers and international businesses undertake consumption, production, and investment, governments and intergovernmental bodies act as purveyors of international trade, economic development, and crisis management. Regulatory bodies establish financial regulations and legal procedures, while independent bodies facilitate industry supervision, research institutes and other associations analyze data, publish reports and policy briefs, and host public discourse on global financial affairs. While the global system is edging toward greater stability, governments must deal with differing regional or national needs. Some nations are trying to orderly discontinue unconventional monetary policies installed to cultivate recovery, while others are expanding their scope, Nations inability to align interests and achieve international consensus on matters such as banking regulation has perpetuated the risk of future global financial catastrophes. The world experienced substantial changes prior to 1914, which created an environment favorable to an increase in, principal among such changes were unprecedented growth in capital flows and the resulting rapid financial center integration, as well as faster communication. Before 1870, London and Paris existed as the only prominent financial centers. Soon after, Berlin and New York grew to major financial centres. An array of smaller financial centers became important as they found market niches, such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Zurich, London remained the leading international financial center in the four decades leading up to World War I. During the mid-nineteenth century, the system in Europe dissolved as rail transport expanded rapidly. Most countries issuing passports did not require their carry, thus people could travel freely without them, the standardization of international passports would not arise until 1980 under the guidance of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization. From 1870 to 1915,36 million Europeans migrated away from Europe, approximately 25 million of these travelers migrated to the United States, while most of the rest reached Canada, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil
9.
Social policy
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Social policy is a term which is applied to various areas of policy, usually within a governmental or political setting. It can refer to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare, such as a persons quality of life. Social policy might also be described as actions that affect the well-being of members of a society through shaping the distribution of and access to goods, Social policy often deals with wicked problems. The earliest example of direct intervention by government in human welfare dates back to Umar ibn al-Khattābs rule as the caliph of Islam in the 6th century. He used zakat collections and also other governmental resources to establish pensions, income support, child benefits, Social policy in the 21st century is complex and in each state it is subject to local and national governments, as well as supranational political influence. For example, membership of the European Union is conditional on member states adherence to the Social Chapter of European Union law, Social policy is an academic discipline focusing on the systematic evaluation of societies responses to social need. It was established in the part of the 20th century as a complement to social work studies. One can reasonably argue there is not a clear and comprehensive definition of social policy. This is probably because social policy is more an area of study than a discipline, scholars studied and categorized social security systems on the basis of their modes of intervention. Of course, each state system includes a mixture of these elements. Others emphasize social insurance mechanisms, i. e. Germany, still other focus on social assistance for the poor, i. e. the United Kingdom. Social policy aims to human welfare and to meet human needs for education, health, housing. Moreover, Social Darwinism helped mold Americas ideas of capitalism and the survival of the fittest mentality, the Catholic Churchs social teaching has also been considerably influential to the development of social policy. The programs were in response to the Great Depression affecting the United States in the 1930s, an American education policy proposal from a Republican president is the No Child Left Behind Act. This Act took effect on January 8,2002, and was put in place to raise standards in education so different individuals can have better educational outcomes, the No Child Left Behind Act requires every state to assess students on basic skills to receive federal funding. However, this Act did not create a standard since each state develops their own set of standards. Critics of most all social policies point toward a depiction of a state on the make of a Hobbesian Leviathan. Social Policy & Administration Titmuss, R. M, the three worlds of welfare capitalism
10.
Government debt
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Government debt is the debt owed by a central government. By contrast, the government deficit refers to the difference between government receipts and spending in a single year. A central government with its own currency can pay for its spending by creating money ex novo, Governments create debt by issuing securities, government bonds and bills. Less creditworthy countries sometimes borrow directly from an organization or international financial institutions. As the government draws its income from much of the population, Government debt can be categorized as internal debt and external debt. Another common division of government debt is by duration until repayment is due, short term debt is generally considered to be for one year or less, long term is for more than ten years. Medium term debt falls between two boundaries. A broader definition of government debt may consider all government liabilities, including future pension payments and payments for goods and services the government has contracted, during the Early Modern era, European monarchs would often default on their loans or arbitrarily refuse to pay them back. This generally made financiers wary of lending to the king and the finances of countries that were often at war remained extremely volatile. The creation of the first central bank in England—an institution designed to lend to the government—was initially an expedient by William III of England for the financing of his war against France and he engaged a syndicate of city traders and merchants to offer for sale an issue of government debt. This syndicate soon evolved into the Bank of England, eventually financing the wars of the Duke of Marlborough and later Imperial conquests. The establishment of the bank was devised by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, in 1694, the Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694. The founding of the Bank of England revolutionised public finance and put an end to such as the Great Stop of the Exchequer of 1672. From then on, the British Government would never fail to repay its creditors, in the following centuries, other countries in Europe and later around the world adopted similar financial institutions to manage their government debt. 1815, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, British government debt reached a peak of more than 200% of GDP, a government bond is a bond issued by a national government. Such bonds are most often denominated in the domestic currency. Sovereigns can also issue debt in foreign currencies, almost 70% of all debt in 2000 was denominated in US dollars, Government bonds are sometimes regarded as risk-free bonds, because national governments can if necessary create money de novo to redeem the bond in their own currency at maturity. Although many governments are prohibited by law from creating money directly, central banks may provide finance by buying government bonds, Government debt, synonymous to sovereign debt, can be issued either in domestic or foreign currencies
Members of Euro Banking Association