Bretton Woods system The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial and financial relations among the world's major industrial states in the mid-20th century. The Bretton Woods system was the first example of a fully negotiated monetary order intended to govern monetary relations among independent nation-states. The chief features of the Bretton Woods system were an obligation for each country to adopt a monetary policy that maintained the exchange rate by tying its currency to gold and the ability of the IMF to bridge temporary imbalances of payments. Also, there was a need to address the lack of cooperation among other countries and to prevent competitive devaluation of the currencies as well. Origins[edit] Interwar period[edit] A high level of agreement among the powerful (nations) that failed to coordinate exchange rates during the interwar period had exacerbated political tensions facilitated the decisions reached by the Bretton Woods Conference. "...
Department of Commerce International Monetary Fund Home Page Bitcoin Decentralized digital currency Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC[a] or XBT[b]; sign: ₿) is a protocol which implements a highly available, public, permanent, and decentralized ledger. In order to add to the ledger, a user must prove they control an entry in the ledger. The protocol specifies that the entry indicates an amount of a token, bitcoin with a minuscule b. The user can update the ledger, assigning some of their bitcoin to another entry in the ledger. The Library of Congress reports that, as of November 2021, nine countries have fully banned bitcoin use, and a further forty-two have implicitly banned it.[15] A few governments have used bitcoin in some capacity. Bitcoin has been described as an economic bubble by at least eight recipients of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.[17] Design Units and divisibility The unit of account of the bitcoin system is the bitcoin. Blockchain Data structure of blocks in the ledger Transactions Ownership Mining Supply Decentralization Wallets History
U.S. Department of Agriculture Agencies and Offices A list of all Agencies and Offices within USDA Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Commodity, credit, conservation, disaster, emergency assistance programs... Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services Dietary guidance, nutrition policy coordination, nutrition education... Food Safety Meat, poultry, and egg inspection, food recalls, food labeling, packaging... Marketing and Regulatory Programs Organic program, animal and plant health, grain inspection... Natural Resources and Environment Forestry, conservation, damage prevention, land management, sustainable land management... Research, Education and Economics U.S. food and fibers system, library, statistics, research, analysis, education... Rural Development Financial programs, water and sewer systems, housing, health clinics, economic development, loans, lending pools...
Data and Statistics World Economic Outlook Databases (WEO) Updated Download time series data for GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, payments balances, exports, imports, external debt, capital flows, commodity prices. More International Financial Statistics (IFS) More IMF Statistics Data Provides comprehensive access to IFS, BOPS, DOTS, GFS and free access to a range of additional IMF datasets. Data Portal Principal Global Indicators (PGI) A website that brings together data for the major economies available from international agencies covering the financial, governmental, external, and real sectors, and provides links to data in web sites of international and national agencies. More Global Housing Watch A website that tracks developments in housing markets around the world. More Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPS) More Coordinated Direct Investment Survey (CDIS) Updated The CDIS collects data and metadata on inward and outward direct investment positions cross-classified by counterpart economy. More More More More
Beyond Money: Notes on Neoliberalism and its Alternative In our modern world of reality television, smartphones, and Wal-Mart, it is easy for one to forget that there is a network of influences and power structures that direct the course of our daily lives as individuals and as a society. While one may worry that he or she will not catch the bus or that a thief might break into one’s car and steal the stereo, we pay little mind to what is needed to make the buses run or why an individual may turn to a life of thievery. Even major issues, such as the scare that the United States government might have shut down in the face of a debt crisis or the Occupy Wall Street protests, receive their time in the spotlight on major news networks and are then glossed over in a matter of weeks. To wit: when was the last time you thought about Darfur, or Goldman Sachs? However, there is something else about capitalism that most people do not know: there is an alternative. The Roots of Capitalism Shock and Awe A World without Money Then, what else is there?
Harvard - Online Data Sources Online Data Sources Political Governance Stability Corruption Freedom and human rights Social United Nations Population Health Ethnic groups Religion Quality of life Socio-economic Economic General Income Resources – natural, food, water, sanitation Economic freedom Development Global investment Security Armed conflict Military balance Conflict data Disaster security See also: Key to source classifications Political ( ^ ) Worldwide Governance Indicators – World Bank {ind} Indicators, reports, data, and comparisons over time and between countries available. Indicators available: Voice and Accountability Political Stability Government Effectiveness Regulatory Quality Rule of Law Control of Corruption Data format: Online search, table and charting interface 212 countries (includes all Muslim countries). Polity IV Datasets – Center for Systemic Peace {ind} Data format: Excel, SPSS
Money A sample picture of a fictional ATM card. The largest part of the world's money exists only as accounting numbers which are transferred between financial computers. Various plastic cards and other devices give individual consumers the power to electronically transfer such money to and from their bank accounts, without the use of currency. Money is any object or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a particular country or socio-economic context.[1][2][3] The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past, a standard of deferred payment.[4][5] Any kind of object or verifiable record that fulfills these functions can be considered money. The money supply of a country consists of currency (banknotes and coins) and usually includes bank money (the balance held in checking accounts and savings accounts). Etymology History Functions Types
Personal finance advice, ideas, tips and financial planning - Money Magazine on CNNMoney Give them the facts but not necessarily the figures -- that is, enough information to know where everyone stands but not so much that they think the bank of mom and dad is open for life. Mortgage rates continue to match or hit new record lows. Here's how you can benefit. Get a home in one of Money's Best Places to Live for as much as $94,000 off. Money can't buy you love, but what's wrong with a little window-shopping? Up until a few years ago, many advisors would have encouraged a client in his early 20s to adopt a very aggressive allocation strategy. It's still a tough job market, but these counties can make it a lot easier to find work and a great place to live. The Lime Truck's owner serves up California fusion in his old hometown, and is a driving force behind the O.C.' At the Newton Community Farm, locals come together to help harvest, weed - and even rebuild its farmstand after a fire. Luxe homes, great schools and exclusive communities.
The future of financial technology Technologies mentioned: Our online presence already serves to build quantifiable reputation systems. In a potential post-scarcity future, reputation might become the new currency, bringing unimaginable change to our current notions of value and currency. Reputation management, Post-scarcity economies, Reputation economies, Reputation quantification, Social graph quantification, Attention economies, Pervasive payment + identity systems, Whuffie Perhaps the technological artifact most closely associated to finance, currencies are undergoing considerable transformation. Cryptocurrencies, In-game currencies, Virtual currencies, Digital bartering systems, Brand-backed digital currencies, Government-backed digital currencies, Quantum currencies, Virtual economies Smartphones converge hundreds of distinct capacities while putting them at arms reach. Every individual joining a network increases the value of said network exponentially to existing members.
Paying with 'kisses' as Brazil’s social currencies spread 2 January 2013Last updated at 04:05 ET By Manuel Toledo BBC, Vitoria, Brazil Heraldo Rodrigues da Silva has taken two loans from a community bank Shopkeeper Heraldo Rodrigues da Silva, 55, owns a small store in Sao Benedito, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Vitoria, the capital of the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo. On the wall behind his counter, a sign announces that besides the real - Brazil's legal tender - he accepts the "bem", an alternative currency from a local community development bank, Banco Bem. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote The goal of...a social currency is to encourage people to use that money within their community and contribute to the development of the local economy” End QuoteLeonora MolManager, Banco Bem The bank was founded in 2005 by an association of seamstresses who decided to lend their profits to a group of furniture makers so that they too could start their own collective. "Trade has grown a lot recently. Buying locally Community confidence
Interest Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money,[1] or money earned by deposited funds.[2] When money is borrowed, interest is typically paid to the lender as a percentage of the principal, the amount owed to the lender. The percentage of the principal that is paid as a fee over a certain period of time (typically one month or year) is called the interest rate. Interest is compensation to the lender, for a) risk of principal loss, called credit risk; and b) forgoing other investments that could have been made with the loaned asset. History of interest[edit] The First Council of Nicaea, in 325, forbade clergy from engaging in usury[5] which was defined as lending on interest above 1 percent per month (12.7% APR). There was also the question of opportunity cost, in that the loaning party lost other possibilities of using the loaned money. Types of interest[edit]