1.
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%
2.
Economic development
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Economic development is the process by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people. The term has been used frequently by economists, politicians, and others in the 20th, the concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are other people have used while discussing economic development. Economic development has a relationship with the environment and environmental issues. Whereas economic development is a policy intervention endeavor with aims of economic and social well-being of people, economic growth is a phenomenon of market productivity, consequently, as economist Amartya Sen points out, economic growth is one aspect of the process of economic development. The scope of development includes the process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political. The University of Iowas Center for International Finance and Development states that, Economic development is a term that economists, politicians, the concept, however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernisation, and especially Industrialisation are other people have used while discussing economic development. Economic development has a relationship with the environment. Although nobody is certain when the concept originated, some agree that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism. Economic development can also be considered as a theory that documents the state of an economy at a certain time. According to Schumpeter and Backhaus, the changes in equilibrium state to document in economic theory can only be caused by intervening factors coming from the outside. Economic development originated in the period of reconstruction initiated by the United States. Their food is inadequate, they are victims of disease and their economic life is primitive and stagnant. Their poverty is a handicap and a both to them and to more prosperous areas. For the first time in history humanity possesses the knowledge and the skill to relieve the suffering of these people, greater production is the key to prosperity and peace. And the key to production is a wider and more vigorous application of modem scientific. There have been several phases of development theory since 1945
3.
Extreme poverty
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It depends not only on income but also on access to services. In 2008, extreme poverty widely refers to earning below the poverty line of $1. 25/day. This measure is the equivalent to earning $1.00 a day in 1996 US prices, hence the widely used expression, living on less than a dollar a day. The vast majority of those in extreme poverty – 96% – reside in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, The West Indies, East Asia, the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger was the first Millennium Development Goal, as set by 189 United Nations Member States in 2000. Specifically, MDG1 set a target of reducing the poverty rate in half by 2015. Extreme poverty is defined by the International Community as earning less than a $1.25 a day, originally, the international poverty line was set at earning a $1 a day when the Millennium Development Goals were first published. However, in 2008, the World Bank pushed the line to $1.25 to recognize higher price levels in developing countries than previously estimated. As of September 2010, according to the UN, roughly 1.2 billion people remain in extreme poverty based on this metric.9 billion. On September 23,2015 the UK-based Financial Times reported that the World Bank intends to revise its income-based benchmark upward, as differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the global poverty line has to be periodically updated to reflect these changes. The new global poverty line uses updated price data to paint a more accurate picture of the costs of food, clothing. In other words, the value of $1.90 in 2011’s prices is the same as $1.25 was in 2005. Though widely used by most international organizations, the $1. 25/day extreme poverty line has come under scrutiny from a variety of factors, not to mention the fact that there may be missing data from the poorest and most fragile countries which may muddle the picture even further. Thus, the 2010 Human Development Report introduced the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which not only income. Using this tool, the United Nations Development Programme estimated that roughly 1.5 billion people remained in poverty as opposed to the conventional figure of 1.2 billion. As this figure is considered more holistic, it may shed new light on relative deprivation within a country, for example, in Ethiopia, 39% of the population is considered extremely poor under conventional measures, but 90% are in multidimensional poverty. This tool is useful as development officials, using the M0 measure of the method, in contrast, data from the Chhukha District of Bhutan reveals that income is a much larger contributor to poverty as opposed to other dimensions within the region. Using the World Bank definition of $1. 25/day, as of September 2013, nearly half live in India and China, with more than 85% living in just 20 countries. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a decline in both the worldwide poverty rate and the total number of extreme poor
4.
Member states of the United Nations
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The United Nations member states are the 193 sovereign states that are members of the United Nations and have equal representation in the UN General Assembly. The UN is the worlds largest intergovernmental organization, ahead of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. A recommendation for admission from the Security Council requires affirmative votes from at least nine of the fifteen members. The Security Councils recommendation must then be approved in the General Assembly by a majority vote. In principle, only states can become UN members. Although five members were not sovereign when they joined the UN and this is because the UN does not consider them to possess sovereignty, mainly due to the lack of international recognition or due to opposition from one of the permanent members. Observers are generally intergovernmental organizations and international organizations and entities whose statehood or sovereignty is not precisely defined, the other two original members, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, had been dissolved and their memberships in the UN not continued from 1992 by any one successor state. India was under British colonial rule, until gaining independence in 1947. The Philippines was a commonwealth with the United States, until gaining independence in 1946. New Zealand, while de facto sovereign at that time, only gained full capacity to enter into relations with states in 1947 when it passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act. This occurred 16 years after the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster Act in 1931 that recognised New Zealands autonomy, if judged by the Montevideo Convention criteria, New Zealand did not achieve full de jure statehood until 1947. The current members and their dates of admission are listed below with their official designations used by the United Nations, the member states can be sorted by their official designations and dates of admission by clicking on the buttons in the header of the columns. See related sections on former members by clicking on the links in the column See also, original members are listed with blue background. Both sides rejected compromise proposals to both states to participate in the UN, based on the One-China policy. By the 1970s, a shift had occurred in diplomatic circles. This effectively transferred the seat of China in the UN, including its permanent seat on the Security Council, from the ROC to the PRC, from the United Nations perspective the Republic of China is not a former member. No UN member was expelled in 1971, rather, the credentials of one Chinese delegation were rejected and the credentials of another Chinese delegation were accepted. In addition to losing its seat in the UN, the UN Secretary-General concluded from the resolution that the General Assembly considered Taiwan to be a province of China
5.
Kosovo
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Kosovo is a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula, with its strategic position in the Balkans, it serves as an important link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. Its capital and largest city is Pristina, and other urban areas include Prizren, Pejë. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, the Republic of Macedonia to the southeast, Montenegro to the west, while Serbia recognises administration of the territory by Kosovos elected government, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region, the area was inhabited by several ancient Illyrian tribes. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian Empires, Kosovo was the core of the medieval Serbian state and it has been the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the 14th century when its status was upgraded into a patriarchate. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, the war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a UN protectorate under UNSCR1244. On 17 February 2008 Kosovos Parliament declared independence and it has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 111 UN member states, Taiwan, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Cook Islands and Niue. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovar institutions, the entire region is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova or Kosovë. The name of the plain was applied to the Kosovo Province created in 1864, Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of a Roman province located in Central Balkans that was formed in 284 AD which covered the territory of modern Kosovo. The name is derived from the Albanian word dardha/dardā which means pear, the former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova had been an enthusiastic backer of a Dardanian identity and the Kosovan flag and presidential seal refer to this national identity. However, the name Kosova remains more widely used among the Albanian population, the official conventional long name of the state is Republic of Kosovo, as defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, and is used to represent Kosovo internationally. This arrangement, which has dubbed the asterisk agreement, was agreed in an 11-point arrangement agreed on 24 February 2012. By the independence declaration in 2008, its long name became Republic of Kosovo. In prehistory, the succeeding Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, the area in and around Kosovo has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years. During the Neolithic age, Kosovo lay within the area of the Vinča-Turdaş culture which is characterised by West Balkan black, bronze and Iron Age tombs have been found in Metohija. However, life during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age is not confirmed yet, therefore, until arguments of Paleolithic and Mesolithic man are confirmed, Neolithic man, respectively the Neolithic sites are considered as the chronological beginning of population in Kosovo. From this period until today Kosovo has been inhabited, and traces of activities of societies from prehistoric, ancient, whereas, in some archaeological sites, multilayer settlements clearly reflect the continuity of life through centuries
6.
Jim Yong Kim
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Jim Yong Kim MD, PhD, also known as Kim Yong, is a South Korean-American physician and anthropologist who has served as the 12th President of the World Bank since July 1,2012. Kim was named the worlds 50th most powerful person by Forbes Magazines List of The Worlds Most Powerful People in 2013. Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1959, Jim Yong Kim immigrated with his family to the U. S. at the age of five and grew up in Muscatine and his father taught dentistry at the University of Iowa, while his mother received her PhD in philosophy. Kim attended Muscatine High School, where he was valedictorian, president of his class, after a year and a half at the University of Iowa, he transferred to Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in human biology in 1982. He was awarded an M. D. at Harvard Medical School in 1991, and he was among the first enrollees of Harvards experimental MD/PhD program in the social sciences. Jim Yong Kim, along with Paul Farmer, Todd McCormack, Thomas J. White and Ophelia Dahl, the organization began with radical new, community-focused health care programs in Haiti, which executed treatments based on local needs and by training community members to implement them. By the early 1990s, the program in Haiti was serving more than 100,000 people, Kim was instrumental in designing treatment protocols and cutting deals for cheaper, more effective drugs. The PIH model was expanded to Peru in 1994, Kims work with PIH to treat MDR-TB was the first large-scale attempt to treat the disease in a poor country, and the efforts have now been replicated in more than 40 countries around the world. PIH now employs more than 13,000 people in 12 countries, Kim left the organization as Executive Director in 2003. Kim left PIH in 2003 to join the World Health Organization as an adviser to the director-general, in March 2004, he was appointed as director of WHO’s HIV/AIDS department, after having success creating programs to fight the disease at PIH. Dr. Kim oversaw all of WHO’s work related to HIV/AIDS, focusing on initiatives to help developing countries scale up their treatment, prevention and this included an ambitious “3x5 initiative” that was designed to put three million people in developing countries on AIDS treatment by the end of 2005. The goal was not met until 2007, but according to the WHO, as of 2012, the program has treated more than 7 million Africans with HIV. Beginning in 1993, Dr. Kim served as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, eventually holding professorships in medicine, social medicine, over his two decade career working to improve health in developing countries, Kim has been involved in a number of research and academic efforts. In recent years, Kim spearheaded the development of a new field focused on improving the implementation and this new field will rigorously gather, analyze, and widely disseminate a comprehensive body of practical, actionable insights on effective global health delivery. The global health field case studies produced by this form the core of a new global health delivery curriculum now taught at Harvard School of Public Health. An expert in tuberculosis, Kim also chaired or served on a number of committees on international TB policy, in March 2009, Kim was named the 17th President of Dartmouth College, becoming the first Asian-American to assume the post of president at an Ivy League institution. Kim has overseen the development of innovative programs at Dartmouth, utilizing his past experience in health care. In April 2010, Kim launched the National College Health Improvement Project, the project launched its inaugural program, an effort to address binge drinking, in April 2011
7.
International organization
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An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope, or presence. There are two types, International nongovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations that operate internationally. The UN has used the term intergovernmental organization instead of organization for clarity. The first and oldest intergovernmental organization is the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, International organizations also define the salient issues and decide which issues can be grouped together, thus help governmental priority determination or other governmental arrangements
8.
United Nations Development Group
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Currently, the UNDG is one of the main UN actors involved in the development of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. UNDG brings together 32 UN agencies and groups, plus five observers working on development issues. This was especially so with the Delivering as One initiative, an initial proposal was to merge the UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the UNFPA into the UNDP. Finally, then Secretary General Kofi Annan worked to form the UNDG, the CEB brings the executive heads of UN organizations together on a regular basis under the chairmanship of the Secretary-General. The Administrator of the UN Development Programme chairs the UNDG, the UNDG Chair reports to the Secretary-General and the CEB on progress in implementing the group’s work plan, and on the management of the Resident Coordinator System. The United Nations Economic and Social Council and the United Nations General Assembly provide oversight, the UNDG is overseen by the Economic and Financial Committee of the General Assembly. The UNDGs chairperson is the UNDPs Administrator, in 2009, the non-rotational members of the advisory group were, the FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, WFP, WHO and UNIDO. The rotational members are, the UNCTAD and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Africa, the UN Development Operations Coordination Office is a key component within the UNDG, promoting social and economic progress by providing support. It was key part of UNDGs formation in 1997, uniting the UN system, at present is the Secretariat and technical and advisory support unit of the UNDG. It brings together the UN development system to change and innovation to deliver together on sustainable development. DOCO works under the leadership of the UNDG Chair and guidance of the UNDG, the team provides field evidence to inform policy, facilitates the achievement of shared results, and promotes excellence in UN leadership and coordination. The core objective is a relevant and impactful UN contribution to development
9.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
10.
International Development Association
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The International Development Association is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the worlds poorest developing countries. The IDA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, the IDAs stated aim is to assist the poorest nations in growing more quickly, equitably, and sustainably to reduce poverty. The IDA is the single largest provider of funds to economic, the IDA has issued a total $238 billion USD in loans and grants since its launch in 1960. Thirty-six of the associations borrowing countries have graduated from their eligibility for its concessional lending, however, eight of these countries have relapsed and have not re-graduated. At the onset of his term in 1949, then-President of the United States Harry S. The advisory group recommended an international mechanism that would function somewhere in between providing strictly-loaned and strictly-granted funds, the UN and United States government published reports expressing support for the creation of a multilateral, concessional lending program for the poorest developing countries. However, the United States was largely unresponsive and ultimately distracted by its involvement in the Korean War, developing countries grew increasingly frustrated with not being able to afford IBRD lending and perceived the Marshall Plan as a comparatively generous gift to European nations. However, the United States ultimately opposed proposals of that nature, despite the launch of the IFC in 1956, developing countries persisted in demanding the creation of a new concessional financing mechanism and the idea gained traction within the IBRD. Monroneys proposal was more preferred received within the United States than the SUNFED, the resolution passed the senate in 1958, and then-U. S. Treasury Secretary Robert B. Anderson encouraged other countries to conduct similar studies, in 1959, the World Banks Board of Governors approved a U. S. -born resolution calling for the drafting of the articles of agreement. SUNFED later became the Special Fund and merged with the Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance to form the United Nations Development Programme, by the end of January 1960, fifteen countries signed the articles of agreement which established the International Development Association. The association launched in September of that year with an initial budget of $913 million. Over the next eight months following its launch, the IDA grew to 51 member states, the IDA is governed by the World Banks Board of Governors which meets annually and consists of one governor per member country. The Board of Governors delegates most of its authority over matters such as lending. The Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors and is chaired by the President of the World Bank Group, the executive directors collectively represent all 187 member states of the World Bank, although decisions regarding IDA matters concern only the IDAs 172 member states. The president oversees the IDAs overall direction and daily operations, as of July 2012, Jim Yong Kim serves as the President of the World Bank Group. The association and IBRD operate with a staff of approximately 10,000 employees, the IDA is evaluated by the Banks Independent Evaluation Group. In 2009, the group identified weaknesses in the set of used to protect against fraud
11.
International Finance Corporation
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The IFC is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D. C. Since 2009, the IFC has focused on a set of development goals that its projects are expected to target, the IFC is owned and governed by its member countries, but has its own executive leadership and staff that conduct its normal business operations. It is a corporation whose shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and it offers an array of debt and equity financing services and helps companies face their risk exposures, while refraining from participating in a management capacity. The corporation also offers advice to companies on making decisions, evaluating their impact on the environment and society and it advises governments on building infrastructure and partnerships to further support private sector development. The corporation is assessed by an independent evaluator each year, the corporations total investments in 2011 amounted to $18.66 billion. It committed $820 million to advisory services for 642 projects in 2011, the IFC is in good financial standing and received the highest ratings from two independent credit rating agencies in 2010 and 2011. IFC comes under frequent criticism from NGOs that it is not able to track its money because of its use of financial intermediaries. Robert L. Garner joined the World Bank in 1947 as a senior executive, in 1950, Garner and his colleagues proposed establishing a new institution for the purpose of making private investments in the developing countries served by the Bank. In 1956 the International Finance Corporation became operational under the leadership of Garner and it initially had 12 staff members and $100 million in capital. The corporation made its investment in 1957 by making a $2 million loan to a Brazil-based affiliate of Siemens & Halske. In 2007, IFC bought 18% stake in the Indian Financial firm, in December 2015 IFC supported Greek banks with 150 million euros by buying shares in four of them, Alpha Bank, Eurobank, Piraeus Bank and National Bank of Greece. The IFC is governed by its Board of Governors which meets annually, each member typically appoints one governor and also one alternate. The IFCs Board of Directors consists of 25 executive directors who meet regularly and work at the IFCs headquarters, the executive directors collectively represent all 184 member countries. The IFCs Executive Vice President and CEO oversees its overall direction, as of October 2012, Jin-Yong Cai serves as the Executive Vice President and CEO of the IFC. President of the World Bank Group Jim Yong Kim appointed Jin-Yong Cai to serve as the new Executive Vice President, Cai is a Chinese citizen who formerly served as a managing director for Goldman Sachs and has over 20 years of financial sector experience. The corporation operates with a staff of over 3,400 employees, in its fiscal year 2010, the IFC invested $12.7 billion in 528 projects across 103 countries. Of that total investment commitment, approximately 39% was invested into 255 projects across 58 member nations of the World Banks International Development Association, the IFC makes loans to businesses and private projects generally with maturities of seven to twelve years. It determines a suitable repayment schedule and grace period for each individually to meet borrowers currency
12.
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
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The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency is an international financial institution which offers political risk insurance and credit enhancement guarantees. Such guarantees help investors protect foreign direct investments against political and non-commercial risks in developing countries, MIGA is a member of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D. C. It was established in 1988 as an investment insurance facility to encourage confident investment in developing countries, MIGAs stated mission is to promote foreign direct investment into developing countries to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve peoples lives. It targets projects that endeavor to create new jobs, develop infrastructure, generate new tax revenues, MIGA is owned and governed by its member states, but has its own executive leadership and staff which carry out its daily operations. Its shareholders are member governments that provide paid-in capital and have the right to vote on its matters and it insures long-term debt and equity investments as well as other assets and contracts with long-term periods. The agency is assessed by the World Banks Independent Evaluation Group each year, in September 1985, the Board of Governors of the World Bank endorsed the Convention establishing the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. MIGA was established and became operational on April 12,1988 under the leadership of then-Executive Vice President Yoshio Terasawa, MIGA initially had $1 billion in capital and 29 member states. All members of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were eligible to become members of the agency, MIGA was established as an effort to complement existing sources of non-commercial risk insurance for investments in developing countries, and thereby improve investor confidence. The agencys mandate to be apolitical has been said to be an advantage over private, by serving as a multilateral guarantor, the agency reduces the likelihood of confrontations among the investors country and the host country. MIGAs inaugural investment guarantees were issued in 1990 to cover $1.04 billion worth of foreign direct investment comprising four individual projects, the agency also issued its first reinsurance contracts signed in collaboration with Export Development Canada and the United States Overseas Private Investment Corporation. That same year, MIGA held a conference in Ghana to promote investment, the agency joined the Berne Union, an international community of export credit and investment insurance providers in 1994. In 1997, MIGA issued the inaugural contract under its Cooperative Underwriting Program to support a project in Indonesia. In collaboration with the European Union Investment Trust Fund for Bosnia and Herzegovina, the agency also established the West Bank and Gaza Investment Guarantee Trust Fund with a capacity of $20 million. In 1998 the Council of Governors of MIGA adopted a resolution establishing a capital increase of $850 million. MIGA exceeded $1 billion in investment guarantees within a year for the first time in 1999. The agency also approved an Environmental Assessment and Disclosure Policy and began attempting to implement such standards for new projects, in 2000 MIGA paid its first insurance claim since the agencys founding. In 2001 MIGAs issuance of new investment guarantees grew to $2 billion, the agency launched its Small Investment Program in 2005 in an effort to promote investment among small and medium enterprises. That same year, MIGA set up its Afghanistan Investment Guarantee Facility in an effort to promote FDI into Afghanistan, in 2007 MIGA issued investment guarantees for a Djibouti port, marking its first support in the form of Islamic finance
13.
Developing country
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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
14.
Paul Wolfowitz
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He is considered to be a leading neoconservative. However, Wolfowitz rejects the term and prefers to call himself a Scoop Jackson Republican and he was reportedly the model for a minor character named Philip Gorman in Saul Bellows 2001 book Ravelstein. Strongly influenced by his father, Paul Wolfowitz became a soft-spoken former aspiring-mathematician-turned-policymaker, were forged by family history and in the halls of academia rather than in the jungles of Vietnam or the corridors of Congress. Escaped Poland after World War I, the rest of his fathers family perished in the Holocaust. In the mid-1960s, while they were undergraduate students at Cornell residing at the Cornell Branch of the Telluride Association, he met Clare Selgin. They married in 1968, had three children, lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland and they separated in 1999, and, according to some sources, became legally separated in 2001 and divorced in 2002. In late 1999, Wolfowitz began dating Shaha Ali Riza and their relationship led to controversy later, during his presidency of the World Bank Group. Wolfowitz speaks five languages in addition to English, Arabic, French, German, Hebrew, Wolfowitz entered Cornell University in 1961. He lived in the Telluride House in 1962 and 1963, while philosophy professor Allan Bloom served as a faculty mentor living in the house. In August 1963, he and his mother participated in the march on Washington organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. Wolfowitz was a member of the Quill. Wolfowitz graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, against his fathers wishes, Wolfowitz decided to go to graduate school to study politics. Wolfowitz would later say one of the things that ultimately led me to leave mathematics. At the University of Chicago, Wolfowitz took two courses with Leo Strauss, who James Mann argues influenced Wolfowitzs thinking and his belief in democratic ideals and he completed his PhD dissertation under Albert Wohlstetter. In the words of Wolfowitzs future colleague Richard Perle, Paul thinks the way Albert thinks, from 1970 to 1972, Wolfowitz taught in the Department of Political Science at Yale University, where one of his students was I. In the 1970s Wolfowitz served as an aide to Democratic Senator Henry M. Jackson, Jackson was a Cold War liberal supporting higher military spending and a hard line against the Soviet Union, while also supporting social welfare programs, civil rights, and labor unions. In 1972, US President Richard Nixon, under pressure from Senator Jackson, dismissed the head of the US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Ikle brought in a new team including Wolfowitz. Wolfowitz wrote research papers and drafted testimony, as he had previously done at the Committee to Maintain a Prudent Defense Policy and he traveled with Ikle to strategic arms limitations talks in Paris and other European cities. He helped dissuade South Korea from reprocessing plutonium that could be diverted into a weapons program
15.
Bretton Woods system
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The Bretton Woods system was the first example of a fully negotiated monetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states. Also, there was a need to address the lack of cooperation among other countries, the delegates deliberated during 1–22 July 1944, and signed the Bretton Woods agreement on its final day. The United States, which controlled two thirds of the gold, insisted that the Bretton Woods system rest on both gold and the US dollar. Soviet representatives attended the conference but later declined to ratify the final agreements and these organizations became operational in 1945 after a sufficient number of countries had ratified the agreement. On 15 August 1971, the United States unilaterally terminated convertibility of the US dollar to gold, effectively bringing the Bretton Woods system to an end and rendering the dollar a fiat currency. This action, referred to as the Nixon shock, created the situation in which the US dollar became a currency used by many states. At the same time, many fixed currencies also became free-floating, there was a high level of agreement among the powerful nations that failure to coordinate exchange rates during the interwar period had exacerbated political tensions. This facilitated the decisions reached by the Bretton Woods Conference, furthermore, all the participating governments at Bretton Woods agreed that the monetary chaos of the interwar period had yielded several valuable lessons. The experience of World War II was fresh in the minds of public officials, the planners at Bretton Woods hoped to avoid a repeat of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, which had created enough economic and political tension to lead to WWII. The solution at Versailles for the French, British, and Americans seemed to be make Germany pay for it all, if the demands on Germany were unrealistic, then it was unrealistic for France to pay back Britain, and for Britain to pay back the US. Thus, many assets on bank balance sheets internationally were actually unrecoverable loans, in the 1920s, international flows of speculative financial capital increased, leading to extremes in balance of payments situations in various European countries and the US. In the 1930s, world markets never broke through the barriers and restrictions on trade and investment volume – barriers haphazardly constructed. The lesson was that simply having responsible, hard-working central bankers was not enough, Britain in the 1930s had an exclusionary trading bloc with nations of the British Empire known as the Sterling Area. If Britain imported more than it exported to, say, South Africa and this meant that though Britain was running a trade deficit, it had a financial account surplus, and payments balanced. Increasingly, Britains positive balance of payments required keeping the wealth of Empire nations in British banks, one incentive for, say, South African holders of rand to park their wealth in London and to keep the money in Sterling, was a strongly valued pound sterling. Unfortunately, as Britain deindustrialized in the 1920s, the way out of the deficit was to devalue the currency. But Britain couldnt devalue, or the Empire surplus would leave its banking system, nazi Germany also worked with a bloc of controlled nations by 1940. Germany forced trading partners with a surplus to spend that surplus importing products from Germany, thus, Britain survived by keeping Sterling nation surpluses in its banking system, and Germany survived by forcing trading partners to purchase its own products
16.
Bretton Woods Conference
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The conference was held from July 1–22,1944. Agreements were signed that, after ratification by member governments, established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On May 25,1944, the U. S, the United States also invited a smaller group of countries to send experts to a preliminary conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to develop draft proposals for the Bretton Woods conference. The Atlantic City conference was held from June 15–30,1944, the Bretton Woods Conference had three main results, Articles of Agreement to create the IMF, whose purpose was to promote stability of exchange rates and financial flows. Articles of Agreement to create the IBRD, whose purpose was to speed reconstruction after the Second World War and to economic development. Other recommendations for economic cooperation. The Final Act of the conference incorporated these agreements and recommendations, within the Final Act, the most important part in the eyes of the conference participants and for the later operation of the world economy was the IMF agreement. Its major features were, An adjustably pegged foreign exchange rate system. Governments were only supposed to alter exchange rates to correct a fundamental disequilibrium, member countries pledged to make their currencies convertible for trade-related and other current account transactions. There were, however, transitional provisions that allowed for indefinite delay in accepting that obligation, the goal of widespread current account convertibility did not become operative until December 1958, when the currencies of the IMFs Western European members and their colonies became convertible. The IMF could concur in or object to changes beyond that level, the IMF could not force a member to undo a change, but could deny the member access to the resources of the IMF. All member countries were required to subscribe to the IMFs capital, membership in the IBRD was conditioned on being a member of the IMF. Voting in both institutions was apportioned according to formulas giving greater weight to countries contributing more capital, the seminal idea behind the Bretton Woods Conference was the notion of open markets. In his closing remarks at the conference, its president, U. S. Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, stated that the establishment of the IMF and this meant countries would maintain their national interest, but trade blocs and economic spheres of influence would no longer be their means. The conference conducted its work through three commissions. Commission I dealt with the IMF and was chaired by Harry Dexter White, Assistant to the Secretary of the U. S. Treasury and the chief American negotiator at the conference. Commission II dealt with the IBRD and was chaired by John Maynard Keynes, economic adviser to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and the chief British negotiator at the conference. Commission III dealt with other means of financial cooperation and was chaired by Eduardo Suárez, Mexico’s minister of finance
17.
Andorra
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Created under a charter in 988, the present principality was formed in 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a monarchy headed by two Co-Princes – the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgell in Spain, and the President of France. Andorra is the sixth-smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 km2 and its capital Andorra la Vella is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. The official language is Catalan, although Spanish, Portuguese, Andorras tourism services an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually. It is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is the official currency and it has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. In 2013, the people of Andorra had the highest life expectancy in the world at 81 years, the origin of the word Andorra is unknown, although several hypotheses have been formulated. The word Andosini or Andosins may derive from the Basque handia whose meaning is big or giant, the Andorran toponymy shows evidence of Basque language in the area. Another theory suggests that the word Andorra may derive from the old word Anorra that contains the Basque word ur, another theory suggests that Andorra may derive from Arabic al-durra, meaning The forest. Other theories suggest that the term derives from the Navarro-Aragonese andurrial, la Balma de la Margineda found by archaeologists at Sant Julia de Loria were the first temporal settled in 10000 BC as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees. The seasonal camp was located for hunting and fishing by the groups of hunter-gatherers from Ariege. During the Neolithic Age the group of humans moved to the Valley of Madriu as a permanent camp in 6640 BC, the population of the valley grew cereals, raised domestic livestock and developed a commercial trade with people from the Segre and Occitania. Other archaeological deposits include the Tombs of Segudet and Feixa del Moro both dated in 4900-4300 BC as an example of the Urn culture in Andorra, the model of small settlements begin to evolved as an complex urbanism during the Bronze Age. We can found metallurgical items of iron, ancient coins and relicaries in the ancient sanctuaries scattered around the country, the inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberians and historically located in Andorra as the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini during the VII and II centuries BC. Influenced by Aquitanias, Basque and Iberian languages the locals developed some current toponyms, early writings and documents relating this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his Histories during the Punic Wars. Some of the most significant remains of this era are the Castle of the Roc dEnclar, lAnxiu in Les Escaldes and it is known the presence of Roman influence from the II century BC to the V century AD. The places found with more Roman presence are in Camp Vermell in Sant Julia de Loria, people continued trading, mainly with wine and cereals, with the Roman cities of Urgellet and all across Segre through the Via Romana Strata Ceretana. After the fall of the Roman Empire Andorra was under the influence of the Visigoths, not directly from the Kingdom of Toledo by distance, the Visigoths remained during 200 years in the valleys, a period in which Christianization takes place within the country. The fall of the Visigoths came from the Muslim Empire and its conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Andorra remained away from these invasions by the Franks
18.
Cuba
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Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
19.
Liechtenstein
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Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein, is a doubly landlocked German-speaking microstate in Central Europe. It is a monarchy with the rank of principality, headed by the Prince of Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein is bordered by Switzerland to the west and south and Austria to the east and it has an area of just over 160 square kilometres and an estimated population of 37,000. Divided into 11 municipalities, its capital is Vaduz and its largest municipality is Schaan, the unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the world at 1. 5%. Liechtenstein has been known in the past as a tax haven, however. An alpine country, Liechtenstein is mainly mountainous, making it a winter sport destination, many cultivated fields and small farms are found both in the south and north. The country has a financial sector centered in Vaduz. Liechtenstein is a member of the European Free Trade Association, and while not being a member of the European Union and it also has a customs union and a monetary union with Switzerland. The oldest traces of human existence in Liechtenstein date back to the Middle Paleolithic era, neolithic farming settlements were founded in the valleys around 5300 BC. Hallstatt and La Tène cultures flourished during the late Iron Age from around 450 BC possibly under influence from the Greek. One of the most important tribal groups in the Alpine region were the Helvetii, in 58 BC, at the Battle of Bibracte, Julius Caesar defeated the Alpine tribes, bringing the region under closer control of the Roman Empire. By 15 BC, Tiberius, who was destined to be the second Roman emperor, Liechtenstein was integrated into the Roman province of Raetia. The area was maintained by the Roman military, which maintained a large legionary camp called Brigantium near Lake Constance, a Roman road ran through the territory. In 259/60 Brigantium was destroyed by the Alemanni, a Germanic people who settled in the area in around 450. In the Early Middle Ages, the Alemanni had settled the eastern Swiss plateau by the 5th century, Liechtenstein was at the eastern edge of Alemannia. In the 6th century, the region became part of the Frankish Empire following Clovis Is victory over the Alemanni at Tolbiac in 504. The area that later became Liechtenstein remained under Frankish hegemony until the empire was divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843 AD following the death of Charlemagne. The territory of present-day Liechtenstein belonged to East Francia until it was reunified with Middle Francia under the Holy Roman Empire around 1000 AD
20.
Monaco
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Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate, located on the French Riviera in Western Europe. France borders the country on three sides while the other side borders the Mediterranean Sea, Monaco has an area of 2.02 km2 and a population of about 38,400 according to the last census of 2015. With 19,009 inhabitants per km², it is the second smallest, Monaco has a land border of 5.47 km, a coastline of 3.83 km, and a width that varies between 1,700 and 349 m. The highest point in the country is a pathway named Chemin des Révoires on the slopes of Mont Agel, in the Les Révoires Ward. Monacos most populous Quartier is Monte Carlo and the most populous Ward is Larvotto/Bas Moulins, through land reclamation, Monacos land mass has expanded by twenty percent, in 2005, it had an area of only 1.974 km2. Monaco is known as a playground for the rich and famous, in 2014, it was noted about 30% of the population was made up of millionaires, more than in Zürich or Geneva. Monaco is a principality governed under a form of constitutional monarchy, although Prince Albert II is a constitutional monarch, he wields immense political power. The House of Grimaldi have ruled Monaco, with brief interruptions, the official language is French, but Monégasque, Italian, and English are widely spoken and understood. The states sovereignty was recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite Monacos independence and separate foreign policy, its defense is the responsibility of France, however, Monaco does maintain two small military units. Economic development was spurred in the late 19th century with the opening of the countrys first casino, Monte Carlo, since then, Monacos mild climate, scenery, and gambling facilities have contributed to the principalitys status as a tourist destination and recreation center for the rich. In more recent years, Monaco has become a major banking center and has sought to diversify its economy into services and small, high-value-added, the state has no income tax, low business taxes, and is well known for being a tax haven. It is also the host of the street circuit motor race Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is not formally a part of the European Union, but it participates in certain EU policies, including customs, through its relationship with France, Monaco uses the euro as its sole currency. Monaco joined the Council of Europe in 2004 and it is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. Monacos name comes from the nearby 6th-century BC Phocaean Greek colony, according to an ancient myth, Hercules passed through the Monaco area and turned away the previous gods. As a result, a temple was constructed there, the temple of Hercules Monoikos, because the only temple of this area was the House of Hercules, the city was called Monoikos. It ended up in the hands of the Holy Roman Empire, an ousted branch of a Genoese family, the Grimaldi, contested it for a hundred years before actually gaining control
21.
State of Palestine
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The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as the designated capital. Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War and its independence was declared on 15 November 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization in Algiers as a government-in-exile. Since the British Mandate, the term Palestine has been associated with the area that currently covers the State of Israel, the West Bank. In 1947, the UN adopted a plan for a two-state solution in the remaining territory of the mandate. The plan was accepted by the Jewish leadership but rejected by the Arab leaders, on the eve of final British withdrawal, the Jewish Agency for Israel declared the establishment of the State of Israel according to the proposed UN plan. During the war, Israel gained additional territories that were designated to be part of the Arab state under the UN plan, Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and Transjordan occupied the West Bank. Egypt initially supported the creation of an All-Palestine Government, but disbanded it in 1959, Transjordan never recognized it and instead decided to incorporate the West Bank with its own territory to form Jordan. The annexation was ratified in 1950 but was rejected by the international community, the Six-Day War in 1967, when Egypt, Jordan, and Syria fought against Israel, ended with Israel being in occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, besides other territories. In 1964, when the West Bank was controlled by Jordan, the Palestinian National Charter of the PLO defines the boundaries of Palestine as the whole remaining territory of the mandate, including Israel. Following the Six-Day War, the PLO moved to Jordan, the October 1974 Arab League summit designated the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and reaffirmed their right to establish an independent state of urgency. In November 1974, the PLO was recognized as competent on all matters concerning the question of Palestine by the UN General Assembly granting them observer status as an entity at the UN. In spite of this decision, the PLO did not participate at the UN in its capacity of the State of Palestines government, in 1979, through the Camp David Accords, Egypt signaled an end to any claim of its own over the Gaza Strip. In July 1988, Jordan ceded its claims to the West Bank—with the exception of guardianship over Haram al-Sharif—to the PLO, in November 1988, the PLO legislature, while in exile, declared the establishment of the State of Palestine. In the month following, it was recognised by many states, including Egypt. In the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, the State of Palestine is described as being established on the Palestinian territory, the UN membership application submitted by the State of Palestine also specified that it is based on the 1967 borders. During the negotiations of the Oslo Accords, the PLO recognised Israels right to exist, after Israel took control of the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza Strip from Egypt, it began to establish Israeli settlements there. These were organised into Judea and Samaria district and Hof Aza Regional Council in the Southern District, in 1980, Israel decided to freeze elections for these councils and to establish instead Village Leagues, whose officials were under Israeli influence. Later this model became ineffective for both Israel and the Palestinians, and the Village Leagues began to break up, with the last being the Hebron League, dissolved in February 1988
22.
Vatican City
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Vatican City, officially Vatican City State or the State of Vatican City, is a walled enclave within the city of Rome. With an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of 842, however, formally it is not sovereign, with sovereignty being held by the Holy See, the only entity of public international law that has diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. It is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Bishop of Rome – the Pope, the highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various national origins. Vatican City is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the episcopal see of 1.2 billion Latin. According to the terms of the treaty, the Holy See has full ownership, exclusive dominion, within Vatican City are religious and cultural sites such as St. Peters Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. They feature some of the worlds most famous paintings and sculptures, the unique economy of Vatican City is supported financially by the sale of postage stamps and tourist mementos, fees for admission to museums, and the sale of publications. The name Vatican City was first used in the Lateran Treaty, signed on 11 February 1929, the name is taken from Vatican Hill, the geographic location of the state. Vatican is derived from the name of an Etruscan settlement, Vatica or Vaticum meaning garden, located in the area the Romans called vaticanus ager. The official Italian name of the city is Città del Vaticano or, more formally, Stato della Città del Vaticano, although the Holy See and the Catholic Church use Ecclesiastical Latin in official documents, the Vatican City officially uses Italian. The Latin name is Status Civitatis Vaticanæ, this is used in documents by not just the Holy See. The name Vatican was already in use in the time of the Roman Republic for an area on the west bank of the Tiber across from the city of Rome. Under the Roman Empire, many villas were constructed there, after Agrippina the Elder drained the area and laid out her gardens in the early 1st century AD. In AD40, her son, Emperor Caligula built in her gardens a circus for charioteers that was completed by Nero, the Circus Gaii et Neronis, usually called, simply. Even before the arrival of Christianity, it is supposed that this originally uninhabited part of Rome had long considered sacred. A shrine dedicated to the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis remained active long after the Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter was built nearby, the particularly low quality of Vatican water, even after the reclamation of the area, was commented on by the poet Martial. The Vatican Obelisk was originally taken by Caligula from Heliopolis in Egypt to decorate the spina of his circus and is thus its last visible remnant and this area became the site of martyrdom of many Christians after the Great Fire of Rome in AD64. Ancient tradition holds that it was in this circus that Saint Peter was crucified upside-down, opposite the circus was a cemetery separated by the Via Cornelia. Peters in the first half of the 4th century, the Constantinian basilica was built in 326 over what was believed to be the tomb of Saint Peter, buried in that cemetery
23.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
24.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo, the name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea
25.
Independent Evaluation Group
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The head of IEG, the Director-General, Evaluation, reports directly to the Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors and not to Bank Group management. The World Bank Group has twin goals, to end extreme poverty, IEG evaluations seek to provide objective assessments to ensure that the Bank Group is accountable for achieving its development objectives. IEG also provides training and advisory monitoring and evaluation services to Bank Group client countries, through this evaluation capacity development, IEG is readying a network of capable evaluators to perform M&E services in their own countries and regions. IEG is a partner in the International Program for Development Evaluation Training, the Regional Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results, and she has more than 25 years of international experience in evaluation. Caroline is a member of the International Development Evaluation Association. She is currently Chair of the Global Evaluation Advisory Committee, UN Women, Evaluation of World Bank projects began in 1970 when President Robert McNamara created an Operations Evaluation Unit in the banks Programming and Budgeting Department. In 1973 the unit was renamed the Operations Evaluation Department, the International Finance Corporation established an evaluation unit in 1984, and in 1995 the unit increased its independence under a new name, the Operations Evaluation Group. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency created an office in 2002. In July 2006 the Board of the Bank Group integrated the independent evaluation functions of the World Bank, IFC, and MIGA into a single unit, the Independent Evaluation Group. World Bank Group World Bank The IMFs Independent Evaluation Office Patrick G. Grasso, Sulaiman S. Wasty, World Bank Operations Evaluation Department - The First 30 Years. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
26.
Government Accountability Office
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The Government Accountability Office is a government agency that provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the audit institution of the federal government of the United States. The GAO was established as the General Accounting Office by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. reports recommendations looking to greater economy or efficiency in public expenditures. The name was changed in 2004 to Government Accountability Office by the GAO Human Capital Reform Act to better reflect the mission of the office, while most other countries have government entities similar to the GAO, their focus is primarily on conducting financial audits. The GAOs auditors conduct not only financial audits, but also engage in an assortment of performance audits. News media often draw attention to the GAOs work by publishing stories on the findings, members of Congress also frequently cite the GAOs work in statements to the press, congressional hearings, and floor debates on proposed legislation. The GAO is headed by the general of the U. S. a professional. The comptroller general is appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a 15-year, the president selects a nominee from a list of at least three individuals recommended by an eight-member bipartisan, bicameral commission of congressional leaders. During such term, the general has standing to pursue litigation to compel access to federal agency information. The comptroller general may not be removed by the president, since 1921, there have been only seven comptrollers general, and no formal attempt has ever been made to remove a comptroller general. Labor-management relations became fractious during the 9-year tenure of the 7th comptroller general, on September 19,2007, GAO analysts voted by a margin of two to one, in a 75% turnout, to establish the first union in the GAOs 86-year history. The analysts voted to affiliate with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, there are more than 1,800 analysts in the GAO analysts bargaining unit, the local voted to name itself IFPTE Local 1921, in honor of the date of the GAOs establishment. On February 14,2008, the GAO analysts union approved its first-ever negotiated pay contract with management and these standards pertain to auditors professional qualifications, the quality of audit effort, and the characteristics of professional and meaningful audit reports. In 1992 the GAO hosted XIV INCOSAI, the triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. Due to its nature of a specific meta-study, the Ig Nobel Prize motivation described it as a report about the report about reports about reports, GAO often produces highlights of its reports that serve as a statement for the record for various subcommittees of the United States Congress. Many reports are issued periodically and take a view of U. S. agencies operations. GAO also produces annual reports on key issues such as Duplication and Cost savings, the GAO prepares some 900 reports annually. GAO publishes reports and information relating to, inter alia, Each year the GAO issues a report on the financial statements of the United States Government
27.
Environmental impact assessment
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Environmental assessment is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or concrete projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, the purpose of the assessment is to ensure that decision makers consider the environmental impacts when deciding whether or not to proceed with a project. Environmental impact assessments commenced in the 1960s, as part of increasing environmental awareness, EIAs involved a technical evaluation intended to contribute to more objective decision making. In the United States, environmental impact assessments obtained formal status in 1969, EIAs have been used increasingly around the world. The number of Environmental Assessments filed every year has vastly overtaken the number of more rigorous Environmental Impact Statements, an Environmental Assessment is a mini-EIS designed to provide sufficient information to allow the agency to decide whether the preparation of a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement is necessary. EIA is an activity that is done to find out the impact that would be done before development will occur and these EIAs consider activities related to extraction of raw materials, ancillary materials, equipment, production, use, disposal and ancillary equipment. Genetically modified plants - Specific methods available to perform EIAs of genetically modified organisms include GMP-RAM, fuzzy logic - EIA methods need measurement data to estimate values of impact indicators. However, many of the environment impacts cannot be quantified, e. g. landscape quality, lifestyle quality, instead information from similar EIAs, expert judgment and community sentiment are employed. Approximate reasoning methods known as fuzzy logic can be used, a fuzzy arithmetic approach has also been proposed and implemented using a software tool. At the end of the project, an audit evaluates the accuracy of the EIA by comparing actual to predicted impacts, the objective is to make future EIAs more valid and effective. The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol is a specific method for checking the quality of Environmental and Social assessments. The history of EIA in Australia could be linked to the enactment of the U. S. National Environment Policy Act in 1970, which made the preparation of environmental impact statements a requirement. In Australia, one might say that the EIA procedures were introduced at a State Level prior to that of the Commonwealth, with a majority of the states having divergent views to the Commonwealth. One of the states was New South Wales, whose State Pollution Control Commission issued EIA guidelines in 1974. At a Commonwealth level, this was followed by passing of the Environment Protection Act in 1974, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 superseded the Environment Protection Act 1974 and is the current central piece for EIA in Australia on a Commonwealth level. Overlap between federal and state requirements is addressed via bilateral agreements or one off accreditation of state processes, in addition to this, the EPBC Act aims at providing a streamlined national assessment and approval process for activities. The Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts assess the process and this is primarily due to the division of powers between the States and the Federal government and due to which the Australian Government environment minister cannot overturn a state decision. There are strict civil and criminal penalties for the breach of EPBC Act, EIA provisions within Ministerial Authorities in the ACT are found in the Chapters 7 and 8 of the Planning and Development Act 2007
28.
Emil Salim
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Professor Dr. Emil Salim, is an economist and former Minister of Indonesia. Born of Minangkabau parents, both from the village of Koto Gadang in West Sumatra and his uncle is Agus Salim, one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Indonesia and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the early 1950s. Professor Salim graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Indonesia in 1959 and he became one of the well-known group of Berkeley Mafia economic advisers, working closely with Professor Widjojo Nitisastro. In 1977 he was appointed the position of professor of development at the University of Indonesia. 1967-1969, Chairman of the team of the Council for Economic Stability. 1969, Vice Chairman of Bappenas 1971, Minister of State for the Improvement of the State Apparatus, 1973-1978, Minister of Transportation 1978-1983, Minister of State for Development Supervision and the Environment 1983-1993, Minister of State for Population and the Environment. 2007-2010, Member of the Advisory Council to President Yudhoyono, as the adviser for environment and he is a member of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals. In July 2001 the World Bank launched an independent inquiry called the Extractive Industries Review, the review was headed by Emil Salim as an eminent person. Dr. Salim held consultations with a range of stakeholders in 2002 and 2003. The EIR recommendations were published in January 2004 in a report entitled Striking a Better Balance. The World Bank published its Management Response to the EIR in September 2004, the EIR served to alter the World Banks policies on oil, gas and mining. Following the EIR process, the World Bank also issued a revised Policy on Indigenous Peoples, reprinted as Emil Salim in Thee Kian Wie,2003, Recollections, the Indonesian economy, 1950s - 1990s. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, and Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
29.
Renewable energy
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Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas, electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, based on REN21s 2016 report, renewables contributed 19. 2% to humans global energy consumption and 23. 7% to their generation of electricity in 2014 and 2015, respectively. This energy consumption is divided as 8. 9% coming from biomass,4. 2% as heat energy,3. 9% hydro electricity and 2. 2% is electricity from wind, solar, geothermal. Worldwide investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than US$286 billion in 2015, with countries like China, globally, there are an estimated 7.7 million jobs associated with the renewable energy industries, with solar photovoltaics being the largest renewable employer. As of 2015 worldwide, more than half of all new electricity capacity installed was renewable, Renewable energy resources exist over wide geographical areas, in contrast to other energy sources, which are concentrated in a limited number of countries. Rapid deployment of energy and energy efficiency is resulting in significant energy security, climate change mitigation. In international public opinion there is strong support for promoting renewable sources such as solar power. At the national level, at least 30 nations around the already have renewable energy contributing more than 20 percent of energy supply. National renewable energy markets are projected to continue to grow strongly in the coming decade, for example, in Denmark the government decided to switch the total energy supply to 100% renewable energy by 2050. While many renewable energy projects are large-scale, renewable technologies are also suited to rural and remote areas and developing countries, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity. Renewable energy systems are becoming more efficient and cheaper. Their share of energy consumption is increasing. Growth in consumption of coal and oil could end by 2020 due to increased uptake of renewables, in its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal resources, rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency, and technological diversification of energy sources, would result in significant energy security and economic benefits. New government spending, regulation and policies helped the industry weather the financial crisis better than many other sectors. As of 2011, small solar PV systems provide electricity to a few million households, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that renewable energy has the ability to lift the poorest nations to new levels of prosperity. At the national level, at least 30 nations around the already have renewable energy contributing more than 20% of energy supply. Some countries have much higher long-term policy targets of up to 100% renewables, outside Europe, a diverse group of 20 or more other countries target renewable energy shares in the 2020–2030 time frame that range from 10% to 50%
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Sustainable energy
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Sustainable energy is energy that is consumed at insignificant rates compared to its supply and with manageable collateral effects, especially environmental effects. Another common definition of energy is an energy system that serves the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The organizing principle for sustainability is sustainable development, which includes the four interconnected domains, ecology, economics, politics, sustainability science is the study of sustainable development and environmental science. Costs have fallen dramatically in recent years, and continue to fall, most of these technologies are either economically competitive or close to being so. Increasingly, effective government policies support investor confidence and these markets are expanding, considerable progress is being made in the energy transition from fossil fuels to ecologically sustainable systems, to the point where many studies support 100% renewable energy. Energy efficiency and renewable energy are said to be the pillars of sustainable energy. In the broader context of development, there are three pillars, ecology, economy and society. Sustainable Energy has two key components, renewable energy and energy efficiency. And, The solution will lie in finding sustainable energy sources, – Sustainable Energy by J. W. Tester, et al. from MIT Press. – Invest, a green technology non-profit organization, Energy which is replenishable within a human lifetime and causes no long-term damage to the environment. Sustainable energy can produce some pollution of the environment, as long as it is not sufficient to prohibit use of the source for an indefinite amount of time. Sustainable energy is also distinct from low-carbon energy, which is only in the sense that it does not add to the CO2 in the atmosphere. Green Energy is energy that can be extracted, generated, and/or consumed without any significant negative impact to the environment, the planet has a natural capability to recover which means pollution that does not go beyond that capability can still be termed green. Green power is a subset of renewable energy and represents those renewable energy resources and technologies that provide the highest environmental benefit. The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency defines green power as electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, biomass, customers often buy green power for avoided environmental impacts and its greenhouse gas reduction benefits. The International Energy Agency states that, Conceptually, one can define three generations of technologies, reaching back more than 100 years. First-generation technologies emerged from the revolution at the end of the 19th century and include hydropower, biomass combustion and geothermal power. Some of these technologies are still in widespread use, second-generation technologies include solar heating and cooling, wind power, modern forms of bioenergy and solar photovoltaics. These are now entering markets as a result of research, development, many of the technologies reflect significant advancements in materials
31.
Jakarta
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Jakarta /dʒəˈkɑːrtə/, officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta, is the capital and most populous city of the Republic of Indonesia. Located on the northwest coast of the worlds most populous island of Java, Jakarta is the economic, cultural and political centre. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek, is the second largest in the world, established in the fourth century, the city became an important trading port for the Kingdom of Sunda. It was the de facto capital of the Dutch East Indies, today, the city has continued as the capital of Indonesia since the countrys independence was declared in 1945. Jakarta is listed as a city in the 2012 Globalization and World Cities Study Group. Based on the global metro monitor by the Brookings Institution, in 2014, Jakarta has grown more rapidly than Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, and Bangkok. Jakarta has been home to multiple settlements along with their names, Sunda Kelapa, Jayakarta, Batavia, Djakarta. Its current name derives from the word Jayakarta, the origins of this word can be traced to the Old Javanese and ultimately to the Sanskrit language. Jayakarta translates as victorious deed, complete act, or complete victory, Jakarta is nicknamed the Big Durian, the thorny strongly-odored fruit native to the region, as the city is seen as the Indonesian equivalent of the US city of New York. In the colonial era, the city was known as Koningin van het Oosten, initially in the 17th century for the urban beauty of downtown Batavias canals, mansions. After expanding to the south in the 19th century, this came to be more associated with the suburbs, with their wide lanes, many green spaces. The area in and around modern Jakarta was part of the fourth century Sundanese kingdom of Tarumanagara, following the decline of Tarumanagara, its territories, including the Jakarta area, became part of the Hindu Kingdom of Sunda. From 7th to early 13th century port of Sunda was within the sphere of influence of the Srivijaya maritime empire. According to the Chinese source, Chu-fan-chi, written circa 1225, Chou Ju-kua reported in the early 13th century Srivijaya still ruled Sumatra, the source reports the port of Sunda as strategic and thriving, pepper from Sunda being among the best in quality. The people worked in agriculture and their houses were built on wooden piles, the harbour area became known as Sunda Kelapa and by the fourteenth century, it was a major trading port for Sunda kingdom. The first European fleet, four Portuguese ships from Malacca, arrived in 1513 when the Portuguese were looking for a route for spices, in 1527, Fatahillah, a Javanese general from Demak attacked and conquered Sunda Kelapa, driving out the Portuguese. Sunda Kelapa was renamed Jayakarta, and became a fiefdom of the Sultanate of Banten which became a major Southeast Asia trading centre, through the relationship with Prince Jayawikarta from the Sultanate of Banten, Dutch ships arrived in Jayakarta in 1596. In 1602, the English East India Companys first voyage, commanded by Sir James Lancaster, arrived in Aceh and this site became the centre of English trade in Indonesia until 1682
32.
International Monetary Fund
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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
33.
PNC Financial Services
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PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $366 billion, as well as deposits of approximately $249 billion. PNC is the fifth largest bank by number of offices, sixth largest by deposits, ninth largest by total assets. PNC Financial Services traces its history to the Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company which was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 10,1845. Due to the recovery from the Great Fire of Pittsburgh, PNC was not fully operational until January 28,1852. The bank was renamed The Pittsburgh Trust Company in 1853, in 1858, the company located its corporate offices at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in Pittsburgh where they remain to this day. The bank changed its name to First National Bank of Pittsburgh in 1863 and it received charter number forty-eight on August 5,1863, with other later banks receiving charters sooner due to paperwork problems and the fact that the bank was already in business. By 1959, after a series of mergers, the bank had evolved into the Pittsburgh National Bank, another branch of the current bank, the Philadelphia based Provident National Corporation, dates back to the mid-19th century. In 1982, Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation merged into a new entity named PNC Financial Corporation and it was the largest bank merger in American history at the time. Between 1991 and 1996, PNC purchased more than ten smaller banks, in 2005, PNC acquired Washington, D. C. based Riggs Bank. PNC completed the acquisition of Maryland-based Mercantile Bankshares on March 2,2007, on June 7,2007, PNC announced the acquisition of Yardville National Bancorp, a small commercial bank centered in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The transaction was completed in March 2008, the transaction was also completed in 2008. On October 24,2008, during the crisis of 2007-2008. The announcement came hours after PNC sold preferred stock to the United States Treasury as part of the $700 billion bailout plan and it also greatly expanded PNCs presence in the Midwest as well as entering the Florida market. PNC then had its footprint stretch from New York City to St. Louis, with branches as far south as Miami, marie, Michigan on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. PNC completed the conversion of the National City branches on June 14,2010, National City’s lack of pricing guidelines resulted in black borrowers being charged an average of $159 more in extra upfront fees or higher interest than white borrowers. Black borrowers also paid an average of $228 more annually over the life of the loan than white borrowers, hispanics paid $125 more upfront and $154 more annually than white borrowers. Under the terms of the settlement, PNC was required to pay victims $35 million, in 2011, PNC bought BankAtlantics Tampa Bay Area branches. Also in 2011, PNC acquired 27 branches in the northern Atlanta suburbs with $240 million in deposits, in 2012, PNC acquired RBC Bank from Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion
34.
Logan Circle, Washington, D.C.
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Logan Circle is a traffic circle, neighborhood, and historic district in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D. C. The primarily residential neighborhood includes two districts, properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and sites designated D. C. It is the major circle downtown that remains entirely residential. During the Civil War, present-day Logan Circle was home to Camp Barker, former barracks converted into a camp for newly freed slaves from nearby Virginia. In the 1870s, streets, elm trees, and other amenities were installed by Washington Mayor Alexander Robey Shepherd, streetcar tracks were laid into what was then a very swampy area north of downtown Washington, to encourage development of the original Washington City Plan. At the center of the circle stands Major General John A. Logan, a statue of Logan sculpted by Franklin Simmons. On April 9,1901, the 25 feet monument was dedicated by President William McKinley, Senator Chauncey Depew, and General Grenville M. Dodge. Further north, 14th and U became synonymous with a large African American community, later known as Shaw, encompassing parts of Logan Circle, during this period, the original Victorian homes in the area were subdivided into apartments, hostels, and rooming houses. The end of segregation saw a period of middle class flight from the area, punctuated by the 1968 Washington, D. C. riots, which devastated the 14th Street commercial corridor. During this period, property values in the increased, while issues of homelessness in the area came to the forefront, 14th Street. It also became a haven for theater companies, during the 2000s, the area gentrified and housing costs sharply increased after derelict buildings were torn down or remodeled. The traffic circle is the intersection of 13th Street, P Street, Rhode Island Avenue, the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 30,1972. The Second Empire-style building is a designated National Historic Site and houses the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Museum, the 14th Street streetcar line, installed by the Capital Traction Company in the 1880s. The oldest house of worship in the Fourteenth Street Historic District is Luther Place Memorial Church, built 1870–1873, an ELCA Lutheran church situated on the north side of Thomas Circle. Originally known as Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church of Washington, D. C. the building was renamed in 1884 after a statue of Martin Luther was installed on the churchs property. Luther Place Memorial Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16,1973, the Gladstone and Hawarden, designed by architect George S. Cooper in 1900, are early examples of Washington, D. C. s middle class apartment houses. Named for Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and his estate Hawarden Castle, they are the first documented twin apartment buildings in Washington, the Gladstone and Hawarden were added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 7,1994. The District of Columbia Inventory of Historic Sites includes several properties in Logan Circle which are not listed on the National Register of Historic Places
35.
Joseph Stiglitz
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Joseph Eugene Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and he is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and is a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. In 2000, Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a tank on international development based at Columbia University. He has been a member of the Columbia faculty since 2001 and he was the founding chair of the universitys Committee on Global Thought. He also chairs the University of Manchesters Brooks World Poverty Institute and he is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. In 2009, the President of the United Nations General Assembly Miguel dEscoto Brockmann, Commission on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, where he oversaw suggested proposals and commissioned a report on reforming the international monetary and financial system. From 2011 to 2014, Stiglitz was president of the International Economic Association and he presided over the organization of the IEA triennial world congress held near the Dead Sea in Jordan in June 2014. Based on academic citations, Stiglitz is the 4th most influential economist in the world today, Stiglitzs work focuses on income distribution from a Georgist perspective, asset risk management, corporate governance, and international trade. Stiglitz was born in a Jewish family in Gary, Indiana, to Charlotte, a schoolteacher, and Nathaniel David Stiglitz, Stiglitz graduated from Amherst College in 1964, where he was a highly active member of the debate team and president of the student government. During his senior year at Amherst College, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from 1965 to 1966, he moved to the University of Chicago to do research under Hirofumi Uzawa who had received an NSF grant. He studied for his PhD from MIT from 1966 to 1967, Stiglitz stated that the particular style of MIT economics suited him well – simple and concrete models, directed at answering important and relevant questions. In subsequent years, he held positions at Yale, Stanford, Oxford. He also gives classes for a program between Sciences Po Paris and École Polytechnique in Economics and Public Policy. He has chaired The Brooks World Poverty Institute at the University of Manchester since 2005, Stiglitz is widely considered a New-Keynesian economist, although at least one economics journalist says his work cannot be so clearly categorised. In addition to making numerous contributions to microeconomics, Stiglitz has played a number of policy roles. He served in the Clinton administration as the chair of the Presidents Council of Economic Advisors and he was fired by the World Bank for expressing dissent with its policies. He was an author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is also a member of the committee of the Fundacion IDEAS
36.
US Treasury Department
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The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue, the Department is administered by the Secretary of the Treasury, who is a member of the Cabinet. On February 13,2017, the Senate confirmed Steven Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury, the first Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton, who was sworn into office on September 11,1789. Hamilton was asked by President George Washington to serve after first having asked Robert Morris, Hamilton almost single-handedly worked out the nations early financial system, and for several years was a major presence in Washingtons administration as well. His portrait is on the obverse of the U. S. ten-dollar bill while the Treasury Department building is shown on the reverse. Besides the Secretary, one of the best-known Treasury officials is the Treasurer of the United States whose signature, along with the Treasury Secretarys, the Treasury prints and mints all paper currency and coins in circulation through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the United States Mint. The Department also collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, the Congress had no power to levy and collect taxes, nor was there a tangible basis for securing funds from foreign investors or governments. The delegates resolved to issue paper money in the form of bills of credit, the Congress stipulated that each of the colonies contribute to the Continental governments funds. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4,1776, despite the infusion of foreign and domestic loans to pay for a war of independence, the United Colonies were unable to establish a well-organized agency for financial administration. Michael Hillegas was first called Treasurer of the United States on May 14,1777, the Treasury Office was reorganized three times between 1778 and 1781. The $241.5 million of paper Continental Dollars devalued rapidly, by May 1781, the dollar collapsed at a rate of from 500 to 1000 to 1 against hard currency. Protests against the worthless money swept the colonies and angry Americans coined the expression not worth a Continental, Robert Morris was designated Superintendent of Finance in 1781 and restored stability to the nations finances. Morris, a colonial merchant, was nicknamed the Financier because of his reputation for procuring funds or goods on a moments notice. His staff included a Comptroller, a Treasurer, a Register, and auditors, who managed the finances through 1784. The Treasury Board of three Commissioners continued to oversee the finances of the confederation of former colonies until September 1789, the First Congress of the United States was called to convene in New York on March 4,1789, marking the beginning of government under the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton took the oath of office as the first Secretary of the Treasury on September 11,1789, Hamilton had served as George Washingtons aide-de-camp during the Revolution, and was of great importance in the ratification of the Constitution. Because of his financial and managerial acumen, Hamilton was a choice for solving the problem of the new nations heavy war debt. Hamiltons first official act was to submit a report to Congress in which he laid the foundation for the financial health
37.
Free market
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Another view considers systems with significant market power, inequality of bargaining power, or information asymmetry to be less than free. It is a result of a need being, then the need being met, prices for goods and services are set freely by the forces of supply and demand and are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by government policy. Others believe regulation might be part of a market, if the regulation is necessary to control significant market power, inequality of bargaining power. The latter view implies a free market is not necessarily deregulated, although some of those with the former belief speak of free markets, friedrich Hayek argued in The Pure Theory of Capital that the goal is the preservation of the unique information contained in the price itself. The definition of free market has been disputed and made complex by collectivist political philosophers, during the marginal revolution, subjective value theory was rediscovered. Various forms of socialism based on free markets have existed since the 19th century, early notable socialist proponents of free markets include Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Benjamin Tucker, and the Ricardian socialists. These economists believed that free markets and voluntary exchange could not exist within the exploitative conditions of capitalism. Advocates of free-market socialism such as Jaroslav Vanek argue that free markets are not possible under conditions of private ownership of productive property. Socialists also point out that free market capitalism leads to excessive disparities in the distribution of income, corporate monopolies run rampant in free markets, with endless agency over the consumer. Thus, free market capitalism desires government regulation of markets to prevent social instability and this implies that economic rents, i. e. profits generated from lack of perfect competition, must be reduced or eliminated as much as possible through free competition. Economic theory suggests the returns to land and other resources are economic rents that cannot be reduced in such a way because of their perfect inelastic supply. Some economic thinkers emphasize the need to share those rents as a requirement for a well functioning market. It is suggested this would eliminate the need for regular taxes that have a negative effect on trade as well as release land. Two features that improve the competition and free market mechanisms, winston Churchill supported this view by his statement Land is the mother of all monopoly. The American economist and social philosopher Henry George, the most famous proponent of this thesis, followers of his ideas are often called Georgists or Geoists and Geolibertarians. Léon Walras, one of the founders of the neoclassical economics who helped formulate the general theory, had a very similar view. He argued that competition could only be realized under conditions of state ownership of natural resources. Additionally, income taxes could be eliminated because the state would receive income to public services through owning such resources and enterprises
38.
Capital market
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A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt or equity-backed securities are bought and sold. Capital markets are defined as markets in money is provided for periods longer than a year. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers to those who can put it to productive use. There are many thousands of systems, most serving only small parts of the overall capital markets. Entities hosting the systems include stock exchanges, investment banks, physically the systems are hosted all over the world, though they tend to be concentrated in financial centres like London, New York, and Hong Kong. A capital market can be either a primary market or a secondary market, in primary markets, new stock or bond issues are sold to investors, often via a mechanism known as underwriting. The main entities seeking to raise funds on the primary capital markets are governments. Governments issue only bonds, whereas companies often issue either equity or bonds, the main entities purchasing the bonds or stock include pension funds, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, and less commonly wealthy individuals and investment banks trading on their own behalf. In the secondary markets, existing securities are sold and bought among investors or traders, usually on an exchange, over-the-counter, or elsewhere. The existence of secondary markets increases the willingness of investors in primary markets, a second important division falls between the stock markets and the bond markets. The money markets are used for the raising of short term finance, whereas the capital markets are used for the raising of long term finance, such as the purchase of shares, or for loans that are not expected to be fully paid back for at least a year. Funds borrowed from the markets are typically used for general operating expenses. For example, a company may have inbound payments from customers that have not yet cleared, when a company borrows from the primary capital markets, often the purpose is to invest in additional physical capital goods, which will be used to help increase its income. It can take months or years before the investment generates sufficient return to pay back its cost. Together, money markets and capital markets form the financial markets as the term is narrowly understood, the capital market is concerned with long term finance. In the widest sense, it consists of a series of channels through which the savings of the community are available for industrial and commercial enterprises. Regular bank lending is not usually classed as a market transaction. A key difference is that with a bank loan, the lending is not securitised
39.
Interest rate
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An interest rate, is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited or borrowed. The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency. It is defined as the proportion of an amount loaned which a lender charges as interest to the borrower and it is the rate a bank or other lender charges to borrow its money, or the rate a bank pays its savers for keeping money in an account. Annual interest rate is the rate over a period of one year, other interest rates apply over different periods, such as a month or a day, but they are usually annualised. A company borrows capital from a bank to buy assets for its business, in return, the bank charges the company interest. Base rate usually refers to the rate offered on overnight deposits by the central bank or other monetary authority. Annual percentage rate and effective annual rate or annual equivalent rate are used to help consumers compare products with different payment structures on a common basis, a discount rate is applied to calculate present value. Interest rate targets are a tool of monetary policy and are taken into account when dealing with variables like investment, inflation. The central banks of countries tend to reduce interest rates when they wish to increase investment. In the past two centuries, interest rates have been variously set either by national governments or central banks, during an attempt to tackle spiraling hyperinflation in 2007, the Central Bank of Zimbabwe increased interest rates for borrowing to 800%. Possibly before modern capital markets, there have been some accounts that savings deposits could achieve a return of at least 25%. Political short-term gain, Lowering interest rates can give the economy a short-run boost, under normal conditions, most economists think a cut in interest rates will only give a short term gain in economic activity that will soon be offset by inflation. The quick boost can influence elections, Most economists advocate independent central banks to limit the influence of politics on interest rates. Deferred consumption, When money is loaned the lender delays spending the money on consumption goods, since according to time preference theory people prefer goods now to goods later, in a free market there will be a positive interest rate. Inflationary expectations, Most economies generally exhibit inflation, meaning a given amount of money buys fewer goods in the future than it will now, the borrower needs to compensate the lender for this. Alternative investments, The lender has a choice between using his money in different investments, if he chooses one, he forgoes the returns from all the others. Different investments effectively compete for funds, risks of investment, There is always a risk that the borrower will go bankrupt, abscond, die, or otherwise default on the loan. This means that a lender generally charges a premium to ensure that, across his investments
