Portal:Business and economics
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 The word "economics" is from the Greek words οἶκος [oikos], meaning "family, household, estate," and νόμος [nomos], or "custom, law," and hence literally means "household management" or "management of the state." An economist is a person using economic concepts and data in the course of employment, or someone who has earned a university degree in the subject. The field may be divided in several different ways, most popularly microeconomics (at the level of individual choices) vs. macroeconomics (aggregate results), but also descriptive vs. normative, mainstream vs. heterodox, and by subfield. Economics has many direct applications in business, personal finance, and government. Theories and empirical techniques developed as a part of economics have, given that economics is fundamentally about human decision making, been applied to non-monetary choices in fields as diverse as criminal behavior, scientific research, death, politics, health, education, family, dating, etc. In economics, business is the social science of managing people to organize and maintain collective productivity toward accomplishing particular creative and productive goals, usually to generate revenue. 
The history of private equity and venture capital and the development of these asset classes has occurred through a series of boom and bust cycles since the middle of the 20th century. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks. Since the origins of the modern private equity industry in 1946, there have been four major epochs marked by three boom and bust cycles. The early history of private equity — from 1946 through 1981 — was characterized by relatively small volumes of private equity investment, rudimentary firm organizations and limited awareness of and familiarity with the private equity industry. The first boom and bust cycle — from 1982 through 1993 — was characterized by the dramatic surge in leveraged buyout activity financed by junk bonds and culminating in the massive buyout of RJR Nabisco before the near collapse of the leveraged buyout industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The second boom and bust cycle (from 1992 through 2002) emerged out of the ashes of the savings and loan crisis, the insider trading scandals, the real estate market collapse and the recession of the early 1990s. This period saw the emergence of more institutionalized private equity firms, ultimately culminating in the massive Dot-com bubble in 1999 and 2000. The third boom and bust cycle (from 2003 through 2007) came in the wake of the collapse of the Dot-com bubble—leveraged buyouts reach unparalleled size and the institutionalization of private equity firms is exemplified by the Blackstone Group's 2007 initial public offering. In its early years through roughly the year 2000, the history of the private equity and venture capital asset classes is best described through a narrative of developments in the United States as private equity in Europe consistently lagged behind the North American industry. With the second private equity boom in the mid-1990s and liberalization of regulation for institutional investors in Europe, the emergence of a mature European private equity market has occurred.
The economy of Kazakhstan is the largest economy in Central Asia. It possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves as well as minerals and metals. It also has considerable agricultural potential with its vast steppe lands accommodating both livestock and grain production, as well as developed space infrastructure, which took over all launches to the International Space Station from the Space Shuttle. The mountains in the south are important for apples and walnuts; both species grow wild there. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources and also on a relatively large machine building sector specializing in construction equipment, tractors, agricultural machinery, and some military items. The breakup of the USSR and the collapse of demand for Kazakhstan's traditional heavy industry products have resulted in a sharp contraction of the economy since 1991, with the steepest annual decline occurring in 1994. In 1995-97 the pace of the government program of economic reform and privatization quickened, resulting in a substantial shifting of assets into the private sector. The December 1996 signing of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium agreement to build a new pipeline from western Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field to the Black Sea increases prospects for substantially larger oil exports in several years. Kazakhstan's economy turned downward in 1998 with a 2.5% decline in GDP growth due to slumping oil prices and the August financial crisis in Russia. A bright spot in 1999 was the recovery of international petroleum prices, which, combined with a well-timed tenge devaluation and a bumper grain harvest, pulled the economy out of recession. Current GDP per capita shrank by 26% in the Nineties. However since 2000, Kazakhstan's economy grew sharply, aided by increased prices on world markets for Kazakhstan's leading exports--oil, metals and grain. GDP grew 9.6% in 2000, up from 1.7% in 1999. Since 2001, GDP has been among the highest in the world. In 2006, extremely high GDP growth had been sustained, and grew by 10.6%. Business with booming Russia and China, as well as neighboring Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) nations have helped to propel this amazing growth. The increased economic growth also led to a turn-around in government finances, with the budget moving from a cash deficit of 3.7% of GDP in 1999 to 0.1% surplus in 2000. Wikinews Economy and business portal
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| Index (USA) | Last | Change |
|---|---|---|
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 62.21 |
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60.41 |
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24.35 |
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7.25 |
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12.67 |
| Index (World) | Last | Change |
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793.62 |
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36.30 |
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42.32 |
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 53.80 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
234.03 |
|
|
|
59.28 |
- ... that at the time of her completion in 1918, American cargo ship West Lianga held the distinction of being both the fastest-launched and the fastest-constructed ocean-going ship in the world?
- ... that American Student Assistance is the oldest guarantor of student loans in the United States?
- ... that the Newfoundland Butter Company of Newfoundland manufactured only margarine, and was the first margarine manufacturing plant allowed in Canada?
- ... that The New York Times moved in 1858 to a building at 41 Park Row, making it the first newspaper in New York City housed in a building built specifically for its use?
- ... that all U.S. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Ronald Reagan ordered glassware from Fostoria Glass Company of Moundsville, West Virginia?
- ... that the Adriatic LNG terminal is the world's first offshore liquid natural gas terminal?F
"In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability. "
