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Documents for "Money, Banking, and Investment":
amortization reduction, liquidation, or satisfaction of a debt. The term amortization may also refer to the sum used for that purpose. The term is commonly used in ascertaining the investment value of securities. Thus, if a security is bought at more than its face value (i.e., at a...
arbitrage see foreign exchange.
Bank of England central bank and note-issuing institution of Great Britain. Popularly known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, its main office stands on the street of that name in London.
The bank has eight...
banking primarily the business of dealing in money and instruments of credit. Banks were traditionally differentiated from other financial institutions by their principal functions of accepting...
bill of exchange see draft.
bimetallism in economic history, monetary system in which two commodities, usually gold and silver, were used as a standard and coined without limit at a ratio fixed by legislation that also designated both...
bond in finance, usually a formal certificate of indebtedness issued in writing by governments or business corporations in return for loans. It bears interest and promises to pay a certain sum of money...
bourse term applied to a European stock exchange. The first international bourse was established in Antwerp in the 16th cent. The Paris bourse, dating from 1720 but completely reorganized in 1999, consists of the main exchange, equivalent to the...
building and loan association see savings and loan association.
call in finance, see: puts and calls.
central bank financial institution designed to regulate and control the money supply of a nation, with the goal of fostering economic growth without inflation. Although central banking systems have varying...
check or cheque, bill of exchange (see draft ) drawn upon a bank or trust company or broker connected with a clearinghouse (see clearing ). Upon presentation of a check, the bank or other drawee pays cash to the bearer or to a specified person. Payment is made from those funds of the maker or drawer that are in a primary demand...
clearing in banking, the periodic settling of bankers' claims against each other, for which local banks establish clearinghouse associations. Clearinghouses are said to have existed in Florence by AD 800...
closed-end investment company see mutual fund.
coin piece of metal, usually a disk of gold, silver, nickel, bronze, copper, aluminum, or a combination of such metals, stamped by authority of a government as a guarantee of its real or exchange value...
collateral something of value given or pledged as security for payment of a loan. Collateral consists usually of financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, and negotiable paper, rather than physical...
commercial paper type of short-term negotiable instrument, usually an unsecured promissory note, that calls for the payment of money at a specified date. Because it is not backed by collateral, commercial paper is...
commodity market organized traders' exchange in which standardized, graded products are bought and sold. Worldwide, there are 48 major commodity exchanges that trade over 96 commodities, ranging from wheat and...
corner securing of all or nearly all the supply of any commodity or stock so that its buyers are forced to pay exorbitant prices. Corners may be planned deliberately or may be brought about...
counterfeiting manufacturing spurious coins, paper money, or evidences of governmental obligation (e.g., bonds) in the semblance of the true. There must be sufficient resemblance to the genuine article to deceive...
credit granting of goods, services, or money in return for a promise of future payment. Most credit is accompanied by an interest charge, which usually makes the future payment greater than an immediate payment would have been. The credit system is founded upon the lender's confidence in the borrower or in his collateral and general possessions. Credit may be classified according to the industry using it, its quality or liquidity, or the length of time for which it is extended. Basically there are two kinds,...
credit card device used to obtain consumer credit at the time of purchasing an article or service. Credit cards may be issued by a business, such as a department store or an oil company, to make it easier for...
credit union cooperative financial institution that makes low-interest personal loans to its members. It is usually composed of persons from the same occupational group or the same local community. Funds for...
credit, letter of commercial instrument through which a bank or other financial institution instructs a correspondent institution to advance a specified sum of money to the bearer. The document is called a circular...
currency see money.
debenture document acknowledging indebtedness. In Great Britain a debenture is practically the same as a bond , and debenture stock is similar to preferred stock. In the United States the term is usually employed for a corporation certificate without special security, such as a mortgage, to back it up...
debit card card that allows the cost of goods or services that are purchased to be deducted directly from the purchaser's checking account. They can also be used at automated teller machines for withdrawing cash from the user's checking account. Increasingly common in the 1990s as an alternative to credit cards , debit cards have been promoted as safer than cash and more convenient than personal checks. By 1998 more than 73 million debit cards had been issued, with a sales volume of $134.7 million...
debt obligation in services, money, or goods owed by one party, the debtor, to another, the creditor. When contested, debts are collected by a civil suit upon which the judge renders a judgment, and an...
debt, public indebtedness of a central government expressed in money terms, often referred to as national debt. The debt is computed differently by nearly every nation. Some authorities exclude all government...
demonetization governmental withdrawal of the monetary quality from particular coinage or precious metal. By demonetization former money is no longer legal tender, although in certain cases it may still be used...
devaluation decreasing the value of one nation's currency relative to gold or the currencies of other nations. It is usually undertaken as a means of correcting a deficit in the balance of payments.
Although devaluation occurs in terms of all other currencies, it is best illustrated in the case of only one other currency. For example, if the United States is losing money in its trade with...
discount in banking and investment, fee for lending money, which the banker deducts from the loan when it is given. Thus, with a $1,000 loan at a 6% discount, the borrower receives $940 and repays $1,000...
dividend that part of the net earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its stockholders. Dividend disbursements are based on a percentage of the par value of the stock or are a certain sum per share...
Dow Jones Average indicators used to measure and report value changes in representative stock groupings on the New York stock exchange. There are four different averages—industrial stocks, transportation stocks, utility stocks, and a composite average of all three. The index was started in 1884 by Charles Dow (1851-1902) and...
draft in banking, order by one party to another party to pay a stated sum to the person or firm in whose favor the draft is made. It is similar in form to the ordinary bank check. Often the drawer and the drawee of a draft are the same person. A sight draft is payable immediately on presentation to the drawee; a time draft is payable at a fixed date in the future. A draft...
euro see European Monetary System.
European Currency Unit see European Monetary System.
Federal Reserve System central banking system of the United States. Established in 1913, it began to operate in Nov., 1914. Its setup, although somewhat altered since its establishment, particularly by the Banking Act of...
fiat money inconvertible money that is made legal tender by the decree, or fiat, of the government but that is not covered by a specie reserve. It is commonly understood to be of paper, although it may also...
finance theory and practice of conducting large public and private dealings in money. Important institutions of private finance include those that deal with insurance , banking , stocks (see stock ), bonds, and other securities. With the development of the national state, public finance—the management of the revenues, expenditures, and debts of the state—has been of great political, as well...
foreign exchange methods and instruments used to adjust the payment of debts between two nations that employ different currency systems. A nation's balance of payments has an important effect on the exchange rate of its currency. Bills of exchange, drafts, checks, and telegraphic orders are the principal means of payment in international transactions. The rate of...
futures market a commodity exchange where contracts for the future delivery of grain, livestock, and precious metals are bought and sold. Speculation in futures serves to protect both the developers and the users...
gold standard see bimetallism ; international monetary system ; money.
hedge fund in finance, a highly speculative, largely unregulated investment device. Originating in the 1950s, the funds "hedge" by offsetting "short" positions (borrowing a security and then selling it at a higher price before repaying the lender) against "long" positions (borrowing money to speculate on undervalued stocks ; see hedging ; speculation ). Aggressive hedge funds work with highly leveraged securities , often purchased with less than 5% of actual investor capital, with banks covering the balance. Hedge funds can produce extremely high returns on investment;
participation is limited to wealthy...
hedging in commerce, method by which traders use two counterbalancing investment strategies so as to minimize any losses caused by price fluctuations. It is generally used by traders on the commodities market. Typically, hedging involves a trader contracting to buy or sell one particular good at the time of the contract and also to buy or sell the same (or similar) commodity at a later date. In a simple...
Individual Retirement Account (IRA), tax-sheltered retirement plan, originally created (1974) to assist individuals not covered by company pensions. Under the U.S. tax law of 1981, IRA provisions were liberalized to allow...
insider trading stock market transactions made with knowledge of nonpublic information about corporate activity. In the United States, it has been illegal since 1934. The Securities and Exchange Commission regards...
interest charge for the use of credit or money, usually figured as a percentage of the principal and computed annually. Simple interest is computed annually on the principal. Compound interest, paid by some...
international gold standard see international monetary system.
international monetary system rules and procedures by which different national currencies are exchanged for each other in world trade. Such a system is necessary to define a common standard of value for the world's currencies. ...
junk bond a bond that involves greater than usual risk as an investment and pays a relatively high rate of interest, typically issued by a company lacking an established earnings history or having a questionable...
letter of credit see credit, letter of.
leveraged buyout the takeover of a company, financed by borrowed funds. Often, the target company's assets are used as security for the loans acquired to finance the purchase. The acquiring company or group then...
loan in business, sum of money borrowed at a particular interest rate. More generally, it refers to anything given on condition of its return or repayment of its equivalent. A loan may be acknowledged...
margin requirement that part of a security's price that a buyer must pay for in cash. The balance of the price is met by the broker, who, in effect, is supplying a client with a loan. The smaller the margin, the...
mint place where legal coinage is manufactured. The name is derived from the temple of Juno Moneta, Rome, where silver coins were made as early as 269 BC Mints existed earlier elsewhere, as in Lydia and...
monetary agreement attempt by two (bilateral) or more (multilateral) nations to regulate and coordinate their financial relations by treaty. The objectives are usually to promote trade by facilitating payment of...
money term that actually refers to two concepts: the abstract unit of account in terms of which the value of goods, services, and obligations can be compared; and anything that is widely established as a...
money-market fund type of mutual fund that invests in high-yielding, short-term money-market instruments, such as U.S. government securities, commercial paper , and certificates of deposit.
Returns of money-market funds usually parallel the movement of short-term interest rates. Some funds buy only U.S. government securities, such as Treasury bills, while...
mutual fund in finance, investment company or trust that has a very fluid capital stock. It is unique in that at any time it can sell or redeem any of its outstanding shares at net asset value (i.e., the price...
national bank in the United States, financial institution of a class authorized by Congress in acts of 1863 and 1864. The acts were intended to provide a way of marketing the large bond issues made necessary by...
national debt see debt, public.
negotiable instrument bill of exchange, check, promissory note, or other written contract for payment that may serve as a substitute for money. It is simple in form and easy to transfer. Transfer of a negotiable...
note in business: see promissory note.
open-end investment company see mutual fund.
over-the-counter method of buying and selling securities outside the organized stock exchange. Unlike an organized stock exchange , the over-the-counter market is composed of dealers who negotiate most transactions by telephone and computer. For the most part, dealers purchase stocks for their own account and sell them to...
panic crisis in financial and economic conditions, marked by public loss of confidence in the financial structure. Panics are characterized by a general rush of investors to convert their assets into...
program trading a form of securities trading, also known as index arbitrage. Program traders exploit the price discrepancies between indexes of stocks and futures contracts by using sophisticated computer models...
promissory note unconditional written promise to pay a certain sum of money at a definite time to bearer or to a specified person on his order. Promissory notes are generally used as evidence of debt. The holder...
puts and calls in securities trading. A call is a contract that gives the holder the right to purchase a given stock at a specific price within a designated period of time. It is the opposite of a put, which is a...
savings and loan association type of financial institution that was originally created to accept savings from private investors and to provide home mortgage services for the public.
savings bank financial institution that, until recently, performed only the following functions: receiving savings deposits of individuals, investing them, and providing a modest return to its depositors in the...
scrip temporary substitute for money, securities, or other valuable claims. Business enterprises and municipalities have at times, especially when short of cash, paid employees in scrip, and communities...
securities in finance, instruments giving to their legal holders rights to money or other property. Securities include stocks, bonds, notes, mortgages, bills of lading, and bills of exchange. See speculation...
securities trading financial activity involving transactions of property such as stocks, bonds, commodities, and currency (see securities ). Although the trading of stocks and bonds dates back several centuries in many Western nations, the development of the securities industry since World War II has been sweeping. The advent of new...
share in finance: see stock.
Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), type of international monetary reserve currency established (1968) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Created in response to worries concerning the limitations of gold and dollars as the sole means of settling international accounts, SDRs are designed to augment international liquidity by...
speculation practice of engaging in business in order to make quick profits from fluctuations in prices, as opposed to the practice of investing in a productive enterprise in order to share in its earnings...
stock in finance, instrument certifying to shares in the ownership of a corporation. Bonds are similar evidences of shares in a loan to a corporation. Stock yields no dividends until claims of...
stock exchange organized market for the trading of stocks and bonds (see bond ; stock ). Such markets were originally open to all, but at present only members of the owning association may buy and sell directly. Members, or stock brokers , buy and sell for themselves or for others, charging commissions for their services. A stock may be bought or sold only if it is listed on an exchange, and it may not be listed unless it meets...
taxation system used by governments to obtain money from people and organizations. The revenue collected is used by the government to support itself and to provide public services. Aside from being...
usury see interest.
Documents for "Economics: Terms and Concepts":
absentee ownership system under which a person (or a corporation) controls and derives income from land in a region where he does not reside. Abuses existed in absenteeism in pre-Revolutionary France, in 19th-century...
affluent society term coined by John Kenneth Galbraith in The Affluent Society (1958) to describe the United States after World War II. An affluent society, as the term was used ironically by Galbraith, is rich in private resources but poor in public ones because of a...
balance of payments balance between all payments out of a country within a given period and all payments into the country, an outgrowth of the mercantilist theory of balance of trade. Balance of payments includes all payments between a country and its trading partners and is made up of the balance of trade, private foreign loans and their interest, loans and grants by...
balance of trade relation between the merchandise exports and imports of a country. The concept first became important in the 16th and 17th cent. with the growth of mercantilism. Mercantilist theorists believed that a country should have an excess of exports over imports (i.e., a favorable balance of trade) to bring money, which they confused with wealth, into the country...
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel see under Nobel Prize.
Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel YearRecipient(s) 1969 Ragnar Frisch Jan Tinbergen 1970 Paul A. Samuelson 1971 Simon Kuznets 1972 Sir John R. Hicks Kenneth...
barter see exchange.
bonus extra amount in money, bonds, or goods over what is normally due. The term is applied especially to payments to employees either for production in excess of the normal (wage incentive) or as a...
bounty amount paid by a government for the achievement of certain economic or other goals. It often takes the form of a premium paid for the increased production or export of certain goods. The bounty was...
boycott concerted economic or social ostracism of an individual, group, or nation to express disapproval or coerce change. The practice was named (1880) after Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott, an English...
budget inclusive list of proposed expenditures and expected receipts of any person, enterprise, or government for a specified period, usually one year. Budget estimates are based on the expenditures and...
business cycles fluctuations in economic activity characterized by periods of rising and falling fiscal health. During a business cycle, an economy grows, reaches a peak, and then begins a downturn followed by a...
capital in economics, the elements of production from which an income is derived, usually defined with the exception of land and labor. As originally used in business, capital denoted interest-bearing...
capitalism economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. Capitalism is grounded in the...
cartel national or international organization of manufacturers or traders allied by agreement to fix prices, limit supply, divide markets, or to fix quotas for sales, manufacture, or division of profits...
combination in business: see trust.
commerce traffic in goods, usually thought of as trade between states or nations. Engaged in by all peoples from the earliest times, it has been carried on in some areas and by some peoples more than...
commercial revolution in European history, a fundamental change in the quantity and scope of commerce. In the later Middle Ages steady economic expansion had seen the rise of towns and the advent of private banking, a...
competition in economics, rivalry in supplying or acquiring an economic service or good. Sellers compete with other sellers, and buyers with other buyers. In its perfect form, there is competition among many...
Consumer Price Index see cost of living.
consumption in economics, direct utilization of goods and services by consumers, not including the use of means of production, such as machinery and factories (see capital ). Consumption can be divided into public and private sectors. Consumption is also viewed as a basically subjective phenomenon, with individual utility, or satisfaction, assuming primary importance...
corporative state economic system inaugurated by the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy. It was adapted in modified form under other European dictatorships, among them Adolf Hitler's National Socialist...
cost of living amount of money needed to buy the goods and services necessary to maintain a specified standard of living. The cost of living is closely tied to rates of inflation and deflation. In estimating such costs, food, clothing, rent, fuel, lighting, and furnishings as well as expenses for communication, education, recreation, transportation, and medical services are...
crisis, economic see depression.
deflation see inflation.
demand and supply see supply and demand.
depreciation in accounting , reduction in the value of fixed or capital assets, as by use, damage, weathering, or obsolescence. It can be estimated according to a number of methods. In the straight-line method, depreciation...
depression in economics, period of economic crisis in commerce, finance, and industry, characterized by falling prices, restriction of credit, low output and investment, numerous bankruptcies, and a high...
diminishing returns, law of in economics, law stating that if one factor of production is increased while the others remain constant, the overall returns will relatively decrease after a certain point.
Thus, for example, if...
distribution in economics, the allocation of a society's total wealth among various economic groups. Distribution, in that sense, does not refer to the physical marketing or circulation of goods, which is part of the process of exchange, but to the relative well-being and economic wealth of persons and groups. By classifying people according to their share of the...
division of labor in economics, the specialization of the functions and roles involved in production. Division of labor is closely tied with the standardization of production, the introduction and perfection of...
dumping selling goods at less than the normal price, usually as exports in international trade. It may be done by a producer, a group of producers, or a nation. Dumping is usually done to drive competitors...
e-commerce commerce conducted over the Internet , most often via the World Wide Web. E-commerce can apply to purchases made through the Web or to business-to-business activities such as inventory transfers....
econometrics technique of economic analysis that expresses economic theory in terms of mathematical relationships and then tests it empirically through statistical research. Econometrics attempts to develop...
economic planning control and direction of economic activity by a central public authority. In its modern usage, economic planning tends to be pitted against the laissez-faire philosophy which developed in the 18th cent. Proponents of laissez faire believed that an economy works best when there is little government interference. The contemporary economic model of...
economics study of how human beings allocate scarce resources to produce various commodities and how those commodities are distributed for consumption among the people in society (see distribution ). The essence of economics lies in the fact that resources are scarce, or at least limited, and that not all human needs and desires can be met. How to distribute these resources in the most...
efficiency 1 In business and industry, see industrial management ; productivity. 2 In physics, see machine ; work.entrepreneur [Fr.,=one who undertakes], person who assumes the organization, management, and risks of a business enterprise. It was first used as a technical economic term by the 18th-century economist Richard...
exchange mutual transfer of goods, money, services, or their equivalents; also the marketplace where such transfer occurs, such as a stock exchange or a commodity exchange. In early human society, exchange of unessential articles, such as jewelry, was common, but no group could afford to rely on another group for the necessities of life...
fee in property law: see property ; tenure.
free enterprise system see capitalism.
free silver in U.S. history, term designating the political movement for the unlimited coinage of silver.
free trade in modern usage, trade or commerce carried on without such restrictions as import duties, export bounties, domestic production subsidies, trade quotas, or import licenses. The basic argument for...
Gresham's law see under Gresham, Sir Thomas.
gross domestic product see gross national product.
gross national product (GNP), in economics, a quantitative measure of a nation's total economic activity, generally assessed yearly or quarterly. The GNP equals the gross domestic product plus income earned by domestic residents through foreign investments minus the income earned by foreign investors in the domestic market. Gross domestic product, often confused with GNP, is...
holding company see corporation.
incorporation see corporation.
index number in econometrics, a figure reflecting a change in value or quantity as compared with a standard or base. The base usually equals 100 and the index number is usually expressed as a percentage. For...
industrial management term applied to highly organized modern methods of carrying on industrial, especially manufacturing, operations.
industrial policy government-sponsored economic program in which the public and private sectors coordinate their efforts to develop new technologies and industries. Government provides the financial support and...
inflation in economics, persistent and relatively large increase in the general price level of goods and services. Its opposite is deflation, a process of generally declining prices. The U.S. Bureau of Labor...
installment buying and selling buying and selling of goods on credit, with the stipulation that payments shall be made at specified intervals in set amounts. The goods may be used by the buyer before or upon first payment, but...
joint stock company see chartered companies.
labor, division of see division of labor.
laissez-faire [Fr.,=leave alone], in economics and politics, doctrine that an economic system functions best when there is no interference by government. It is based on the belief that the natural economic order...
management see industrial management.
Manchester school group of English political economists of the 19th cent., so called because they met at Manchester. Their most outstanding leaders were Richard Cobden and John Bright.
Their chief tenet was that the...
market research organized use of sample surveys, polls , focus groups, and other techniques to study market characteristics (e.g., ages and incomes of consumers; consumer attitudes) and improve the efficiency of sales and distribution. Development of...
marketing in economics, that part of the process of production and exchange that is concerned with the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. In popular usage it is defined as the distribution...
mass production see production.
mercantilism economic system of the major trading nations during the 16th, 17th, and 18th cent., based on the premise that national wealth and power were best served by increasing exports and collecting...
merger in corporate business, fusion of two or more corporations by the transfer of all property to a single corporation. The remaining corporation continues in existence, having absorbed the other(s)...
monopoly market condition in which there is only one seller of a certain commodity; by virtue of the long-run control over supply, such a seller is able to exert nearly total control over prices. In a pure...
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences see Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel under Nobel Prize.
oligopoly see monopoly.
personal property see property.
personnel management see industrial management.
price amount of money for which a unit of goods or services is exchanged. Price is equivalent to market value and may or may not measure the intrinsic value of the goods or services to the buyer or...
privatization see nationalization.
production in economics, all those activities that have to do with the creation of commodities, by imparting to raw materials utility, added value, or the ability to satisfy human wants. The farmer who grows...
productivity in economics, the output of any aspect of production per unit of input. It is a measure of the output of a worker, machine, or an entire national economy in the creation of goods and services to...
profit in economics, return on capital, also called earnings, minus the costs of maintaining land, labor, and capital. It is also known as net income. Economic theorists generally make a distinction...
profit sharing arrangement by which employees receive, in addition to their wages, a share of the net profits of a business. The purpose is to give them an incentive to increase their output through enhanced...
property rights to the enjoyment of things of economic value, whether the enjoyment is exclusive or shared, present or prospective. The rightful possession of such rights is called ownership.
Ownership necessarily is supported by correlative rights to exclude others from enjoyment. By extension of usage, the things in which one has property rights are called one's property; thus the...
protection practice of regulating imports and exports with the purpose of shielding domestic industries from foreign competition. To accomplish that end, certain imports may be excluded entirely, import...
public ownership government ownership of lands, streets, public buildings, utilities, and other business enterprises. The theory that all land and its resources belong ultimately to the people and therefore to the...
rationing allotment of scarce supplies, usually by governmental decree, to provide equitable distribution. It may be employed also to conserve economic resources and to reinforce price and production...
real estate see property.
real property see property.
rebate partial refund of the total price paid for goods or services. In the United States, rebates were historically given by railroads to favored shippers as a return on transportation charges. The...
recession see depression.
reciprocal trade agreement international commercial treaty in which two or more nations grant equally advantageous trade concessions to each other. It usually refers to treaties dealing with tariffs. For example, one nation...
rent control in economics and law, government regulation of rent to prevent unreasonable or excessive increases. In the United States, the federal government imposed rent control (and other price controls)...
revenue see finance.
scientific management see industrial management.
sinking fund sum set apart periodically from the income of a government or a business and allowed to accumulate in order ultimately to pay off a debt. A preferred investment for a sinking fund is the purchase...
stagflation in economics, a word coined in the 1970s to describe a combination of a stagnant economy and severe inflation. Previously, these two conditions had not existed at the same time because lowered demand,...
standard of living level of consumption that an individual, group, or nation has achieved. The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what constitutes a high...
subsidy financial assistance granted by a government or philanthropic foundation to a person or association for the purpose of promoting an enterprise considered beneficial to the public welfare.
Subsidies...
supply and demand in classical economics, factors that are said to determine price, by correlating the amount of a given commodity producers hope to sell at a certain price (supply), and the amount of that commodity...
supply-side economics economic theory that concentrates on influencing the supply of labor and goods as a path to economic health, rather than approaching the issue through such macroeconomic concerns as gross national...
telemarketing the practice of selling goods or services to customers by means of the telephone or of surveying consumer preferences in telephone conversations. Telemarketing firms use trained staff and...
trade traffic in goods. Conducted by gift, barter, or sale, trade is one of the most widespread of all social institutions.
trade association group of business people in the same trade or industry organized for the advancement of common interests. The trade association differs from the chamber of commerce in that membership is by industry rather than by locality. The common interests binding the members of the trade association may include credit, public relations, relations with employees, sales...
utility in economics: see value.
value in economics, worth of a commodity in terms of other commodities, or in terms of money (see price ). Value depends on both desirability and scarcity. The marginal theory of value, pioneered in the late 19th cent. by Leon Walras , Stanley Jevons , and Carl Menger , has been highly influential in economics. It takes account of both scarcity and desirability by holding that the total value of a good depends on the utility rendered by the last unit consumed. It...
wage and price controls economic policy measure in which the government places a ceiling on wages and prices to curb inflation. Also known as incomes policy, such programs have generally been avoided in the United States...
wages payment received by an employee in exchange for labor. It may be in goods or services but is customarily in money. The term in a broad sense refers to what is received in any way for labor, but...
Documents for "Business Leaders":
Agnelli family of Italian industrialists.
Agnelli, Gianni see under Agnelli , family.
Agnelli, Giovanni see under Agnelli , family.
Agnelli, Umberto see under Agnelli , family.
Ames, Oakes 1804-73, American manufacturer, railroad promoter, and politician, b. Easton, Mass. With his brother Oliver he managed the family's well-known shovel factory at Easton. The business grew under...
Astor, John Jacob 1763-1848, American merchant, b. Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of 16 he went to England, and five years later, in 1784, he arrived in Baltimore, penniless.
He later went to New...
Astor, John Jacob 1822-90, American financier, b. New York City, educated at Columbia and Göttingen universities and at Harvard law school; son of William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875). He served in the Peninsular...
Astor, John Jacob 1864-1912, American financier, b. Rhinebeck, N. Y.; son of William Backhouse Astor (1829-92). He served in the Spanish-American War. Drowned in the Titanic disaster, he left two sons, Vincent, the...
Astor, William Backhouse 1792-1875, American financier, b. New York City; son of John Jacob Astor (1763-1848). Educated in Germany, he was associated with his father in business after 1818. Later called the landlord of New York, he also inherited money from his uncle Henry Astor and left an...
Astor, William Backhouse 1829-92, American financier and sportsman, b. New York City. The son of William Backhouse Astor (1792-1875), he was a retiring man, notable principally for his wealth and for his marriage to Caroline Schermerhorn. With the assistance of Ward McAlister, she became famous as the Mrs. Astor of...
Astor, William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount 1848-1919, American-British financier, b. New York City, educated in Germany and in Italy and at the Columbia law school; son of John Jacob Astor (1822-90). He served as a state assemblyman and senator, but his political career was halted by his failure to win an election to the U.S. Congress. He was then appointed minister to Italy...
Bache, Richard 1737-1811, American merchant, b. Yorkshire, England. He came to New York City in 1765 to join an older brother in the mercantile business. Bache soon moved to Philadelphia in the interest of the...
Baker, George Fisher 1840-1931, American financier and philanthropist, b. Troy, N.Y. Baker was one of the founders of the First National Bank of New York in 1863 and became (1877) its president and then (1909) chairman...
Brady, Diamond Jim (James Buchanan Brady), 1856-1917, American financier and philanthropist, b. New York City. He was a bellboy and messenger and then worked for the New York Central RR in various capacities. He...
Brown, Moses 1738-1836, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. Providence, R.I. He was associated with his brothers John, Joseph, and Nicholas in the family's mercantile activities before establishing...
Brown, Nicholas 1769-1841, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. Providence, R.I., grad. Rhode Island College (renamed Brown Univ. in 1804 for him), 1786. He extended the internationally known mercantile business of his father, Nicholas Brown. Later his own firm, Brown and Ives, came to control most of the waterpower on the...
Buffett, Warren Edward 1930-, American financial executive, b. Omaha, Nebr., studied at Wharton School of Finance (1947-49), grad. Univ. of Nebraska (B.S., 1950), Columbia Univ. (M.S., 1951).
After working as an...
Carlson, Chester Floyd 1906-68, American inventor; b. Seattle, Wash. A patent lawyer, he invented (1938) xerography , a method of electrostatic printing. For the next two decades he struggled to find a company that would produce his copying machine, finally finding the Haloid Co., which first marketed a Xerox...
Carnegie, Andrew 1835-1919, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Dunfermline, Scotland. His father, a weaver, found it increasingly difficult to get work in Scottish factories and in 1848 brought his...
Carnegie, Dale 1888-1955, American lecturer and writer on self-improvement, b. Maryville, Mo., as Dale Carnagey; grad. State Normal School Number Two, Warrensburg, Mo. (1908). After stints as a salesman and...
Chrysler, Walter Percy 1875-1940, American industrialist, founder of the Chrysler Corp. (now part of DaimlerChrysler A.G.), b. Wamego, Kans. He began as a machinist's apprentice and rose within the industry to become...
Cook, Thomas 1808-92, English travel agent. In Leicester in 1841 he founded the travel agency that bears his name. The idea of the guided tour met with quick success, and by 1852 Cook had moved his office to...
Cooke, Jay 1821-1905, American financier, b. Sandusky, Ohio. He founded Jay Cooke & Company, which marketed the huge Civil War loans of the federal government. He later turned to railroad bonds and in 1870...
Cooper, Peter 1791-1883, American inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, b. New York City. After achieving success in the glue business, Cooper, with two partners, erected (1829) the Canton Iron Works in...
Cudahy, Michael 1841-1910, American meat packer, b. Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. He went (1849) to Milwaukee and after 1856 worked for meatpacking firms. In the 1870s he introduced refrigeration into the meatpacking...
Cunard, Sir Samuel 1787-1865, Canadian pioneer of regular transatlantic steam navigation, b. Halifax, N.S. The son of a United Empire Loyalist, he became a leading businessman of Nova Scotia and engaged in banking,...
Dale, David 1739-1806, Scottish cotton manufacturer and philanthropist. In 1785 he built New Lanark, a cotton mill and model community that provided his employees with good housing and schools. He was...
Daly, Marcus 1841-1900, American copper magnate, b. Ireland. He went to New York City at 15 and later moved to California, where he worked as a miner. He was employed by the "silver kings," J. G. Fair and J. W. Mackay, at the Comstock Lode. In 1876 he was sent by a large company to investigate the silver mines at Butte, Mont. Discovering that there was rich copper beneath the silver,...
De Pauw, Washington Charles 1822-87, American manufacturer, b. Salem, Ind. At first successful at banking, he later established a plate-glass works at New Albany, Ind., which became one of the largest plants in the country...
Deere, John 1804-86, American industrialist, manufacturer of agricultural implements, b. Rutland, Vt. He was one of the pioneers of the steel plow industry. A blacksmith by trade, he established (1837) a shop at Grand Detour, Ill. There he was associated with Leonard Andrus in making (1837) the first Grand Detour steel plow. In 1843, Deere...
Deming, William Edwards 1900-1993, American statistician and quality-control expert, b. Sioux City, Iowa. Deming used statistics to examine industrial production processes for flaws and believed that improving product...
Derby, Elias Hasket 1739-99, American merchant, b. Salem, Mass. He inherited the considerable wealth and maritime business that his father, Richard Derby (1712-83), also of Salem, had acquired in trade with Spain and...
Drake, Edwin Laurentine 1819-80, American oil well driller, b. Greene co., N.Y. In 1858 he was employed to conduct drilling operations and on Aug. 27, 1859, he struck oil near Titusville, Pa., at a depth of 69 ft (21.1...
Drew, Daniel 1797-1879, American railroad speculator, b. Carmel, N.Y. He became a cattle dealer in early life and by 1834 was successful enough to engage in the steamboat business on the Hudson, which he...
Drexel, Anthony Joseph 1826-93, American banker and philanthropist, b. Philadelphia. He entered (1838) at an early age the well-known banking firm of Drexel and Company, founded by his father, Francis Martin Drexel, an...
Du Pont family notable in U.S. industrial history. The Du Pont family's importance began when Eleuthère Irénée Du Pont established a gunpowder mill on the Brandywine River in N Delaware.
Development, expansion, and family control of E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company were long the family's chief concerns, and its...
Du Pont, Eleuthère Irénée 1772-1834, American gunpowder manufacturer, b. Paris, France; son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours. At the age of 17, Irénée entered the royal gunpowderworks, where Lavoisier taught him the trade. After Lavoisier was forced to leave the plant, Irénée began managing (1791) his father's printing house, where the Du Ponts published counterrevolutionary pamphlets. When the...
Du Pont, Pierre Samuel 1870-1954, American industrialist, b. Wilmington, Del., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1890. Du Pont worked as a chemist with the family's company, helping to develop smokeless...
Duke, James Buchanan 1856-1925, American industrialist, processor of tobacco products, b. near Durham, N.C. The Civil War left the Duke family poor, but James and his brother, Benjamin, helped their father in building...
Durant, Thomas Clark 1820-85, American railroad builder, chief figure in the construction of the Union Pacific RR, b. Lee, Mass. He was successful in building railroads in the Midwest, and, after the Union Pacific was...
Eastman, George 1854-1932, American inventor, industrialist, and philanthropist, b. Waterville, N.Y. By mass production of his photographic inventions, Eastman enormously stimulated the development of photography...
Elkann, John Philip see under Agnelli , family.
Fair, James Graham 1831-94, American financier, b. near Belfast, Ireland. He emigrated to America as a child, grew up on an Illinois farm, and went to the West in 1851 in search of gold. In partnership with J. W...
Fargo, William George 1818-81, American pioneer expressman, b. Pompey, N.Y. He had been successively a postrider, freight agent, messenger, and resident agent (1843) for an express company in Buffalo, N.Y., when in...
Field, Cyrus West 1819-92, American merchant, promoter of the first Atlantic cable, b. Stockbridge, Mass.; brother of David Dudley Field and Stephen J. Field. As head of a paper business, he accumulated a modest fortune, and in 1853 he retired. In 1854 he conceived the idea of the cable. He secured a charter, organized the English and American...
Field, Marshall 1834-1906, American merchant, b. Conway, Mass. In 1856, after five years' apprenticeship in a general store in Pittsfield, Mass., he went to Chicago and became a clerk for Cooley, Wadsworth & Co.,...
Filene, Edward Albert 1860-1937, American merchant, b. Salem, Mass. As president of the Boston firm of William Filene's Sons he pioneered in scientific and ingenious methods of retail distribution—the "bargain basement" was one of his innovations. He planned and helped organize the Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and served in World War I as chairman of the War Shipping...
Firestone, Harvey Samuel 1868-1938, American industrialist, manufacturer of rubber products, b. Columbiana co., Ohio. The son of a prosperous farmer, Harvey Firestone began to manufacture rubber tires in 1896. He organized...
Fish, Stuyvesant 1851-1923, American railroad executive, b. New York City; son of Hamilton Fish (1808-93). He became (1877) a director of the Illinois Central RR, and as its president (1887-1907) he built the...
Fisk, James 1834-72, American financial speculator, b. Pownal, Vt. In his youth he worked for a circus and as a wagon peddler of merchandise. During the Civil War he became wealthy purchasing cotton in...
Flagler, Henry Morrison 1830-1913, American financier and real-estate developer, b. Hopewell, near Canandaigua, N.Y. As a youth he struck out for himself in Ohio. After trying the grain and salt business, he joined John D. Rockefeller in oil refining. The firm of Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler became the Standard Oil Company in 1870, and Flagler was connected with it until 1911, resigning as vice president, however, in 1908. He...
Ford, Bill see under Ford, Henry.
Ford, Edsel Bryant see under Ford, Henry.
Ford, Henry 1863-1947, American industrialist, pioneer automobile manufacturer, b. Dearborn, Mich.
Ford, Henry, 2d see under Ford, Henry.
Ford, William Clay, Jr. see Bill Ford under Ford, Henry.
Frick, Henry Clay 1849-1919, American industrialist, b. Westmoreland co., Pa. He worked on his father's farm, was a store clerk, and did bookkeeping before he and several associates organized (1871) Frick & Company...
Gary, Elbert Henry 1846-1927, American lawyer and industrialist, b. near Wheaton, Ill., grad. Union College of Law, Chicago, 1868. Rising rapidly as a corporation lawyer, he became mayor of Wheaton and served two...
Gates, Bill (William Henry Gates 3d), 1955-, American business executive, b. Seattle, Wash. At the age of 19, Gates founded (1974) the Microsoft Corp., a computer software firm, with Paul Allen.
They began by...
Gates, John Warne 1855-1911, American financier and promoter, known as Bet-a-Million Gates, b. near Chicago. He discovered a market for wire fencing on the Western plains, began the manufacture of fencing in St...
Getty, Jean Paul 1892-1976, American business executive, one of the richest men in the world during his life, b. Minneapolis, Minn. He inherited his father's oil business, George F. Getty, Inc., becoming its...
Giannini, A. P. (Amadeo Peter Giannini) , 1870-1949, American banker and financier, b. San Jose, Calif. The son of Italian immigrants, he joined his stepfather in the produce business, becoming successful enough to retire in 1901. The...
Gimbel family of American merchants and philanthropists. Adam Gimbel, 1815-96, b. Bavaria, emigrated (1835) to the United States and traveled up and down the Mississippi River peddling notions. He set up (1842) a small business in Vincennes, Ind., and expanded it...
Goodnight, Charles 1836-1929, Texas cattleman, b. Macoupin co., Ill. He went to Texas in 1846, where he joined the Texas Rangers and became a noted scout and Indian fighter. He was later a pioneer in cattle ranching...
Gould, George Jay 1864-1923, U.S. railroad owner, b. New York City; son of Jay Gould. He was associated with his father, inherited all the holdings on Jay Gould's death, and adopted daring policies. To compete with...
Gould, Jay 1836-92, American speculator, b. Delaware co., N.Y. A country-store clerk and surveyor's assistant, he rose to control half the railroad mileage in the Southwest, New York City's elevated...
Grace, William Russell 1832-1904, American financier, b. Queenstown, Ireland. He was in business in England and Peru before establishing (1865) W. R. Grace & Company in New York City. After Peru's defeat by Chile, Grace...
Green, Hetty 1835-1916, American financier, b. Henrietta Howland Robinson, New Bedford, Mass. She inherited a large fortune from her father and invested it so shrewdly that she was considered the greatest woman...
Gregg, William 1800-1867, American industrialist, known as the "father of Southern cotton manufacture," b. Monongalia co., Va. (now W.Va.). He devoted his life to building up Southern industry.
His views were expressed in Essays on Domestic Industry (1845), a collection of articles published first in the Charleston Courier. At a time when limited-liability corporations were very unpopular in the South, Gregg convinced the South Carolina legislature to grant him a charter for the formation (1846) of Graniteville, the...
Gresham, Sir Thomas 1519?-1579, English merchant and financier. As the royal financial agent in Antwerp after 1551 he proved himself very able, though his methods were frequently more effective than ethical. After...
Guggenheim family of American industrialists and philanthropists. Meyer Guggenheim, 1828-1905, b. Aargau canton, Switzerland, emigrated (1847) to the United States, prospered as a retail merchant in Philadelphia, and in time built up a flourishing business importing Swiss...
Hammer, Armand 1898-1990, American business executive, b. New York City. He began in his father's pharmaceutical business and then expanded it into the Soviet Union. He returned (1930) to New York, where he...
Harriman, Edward Henry 1848-1909, American railroad executive, b. Hempstead, N.Y.; father of William Averell Harriman. He became a stockbroker in New York City and soon entered the railroad field, where he attracted attention by able management of the Illinois Central RR, of which he became a director (1883) and...
Havemeyer, Henry Osborne 1847-1907, American industrialist, b. New York City. He inherited large family interests in sugar refining and, with his brother Theodore, expanded them. At his death his American Sugar Refining...
Hearst, George 1820-91, American mining magnate, U.S. Senator (1886-91), b. Franklin co., Mo. He went to California in 1850 and became a mining prospector and geologist. He successfully selected and invested in...
Heinze, Frederick Augustus 1869-1914, American copper magnate, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He went in 1889 to Butte, Mont., as engineer for a mining company. In 1893 he organized the Montana Ore Purchasing Company and challenged the...
Hill, James Jerome 1838-1916, American railroad builder, b. Ontario, Canada. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1856. He became a partner of Norman Kittson in a steamboat line and, with Kittson, Donald Alexander Smith...
Hopkins, Mark 1813-78, American railroad builder and merchant, b. Henderson, N.Y. A clerk in a village store and later a commission merchant in New York City, he was more than 35 years old when he went to...
Hughes, Howard Robard 1905-76, U.S. business executive, b. Houston. As a young man he inherited (1925) the patent rights to an oil tool drill, which, manufactured by the Hughes Tool Company, formed the basis of his...
Huntington, Collis Potter 1821-1900, American railroad builder, b. near Torrington, Conn. A storekeeper of Oneonta, N.Y., before he went West in the gold rush of 1849, he became a storekeeper in California, and by 1853 he...
Huntington, Henry Edwards 1850-1927, American financier, b. Oneonta, N.Y. He was prominent in railroad and other enterprises. Until the death of his uncle, Collis P. Huntington , the two were business associates. His estate at San Marino, near Pasadena, Calif., with botanical and other gardens, art collections, and library, together with a large endowment, was placed...
Iacocca, Lee (Lido Anthony Iacocca) , 1924-, American business executive, b. Allentown, Pa. In 1946 he joined the Ford Motor Company, where he rose to president (1970-78). He left the company after a dispute with Henry Ford II and...
Insull, Samuel 1859-1938, American public utilities financier, b. London. He arrived in the United States in 1881 and was employed by Thomas A. Edison as a private secretary. He later became prominent in the management of the Edison industrial holdings. By 1907 he overcame competing public utilities companies in Chicago and soon controlled the...
Jobs, Steven Paul 1955-, American businessman, b. San Francisco. Working with Stephen Wozniak, Jobs helped launch the personal-computer revolution by introducing the first Apple computer in 1976. Jobs later...
Judah, Theodore Dehone 1826-63, American railroad builder, b. Bridgeport, Conn. He built the Niagara Gorge RR and did canal work before going (1854) to lay out a railroad near Sacramento, Calif. There he promoted the...
Kahn, Otto Hermann kän , 1867-1934, American banker and patron of the arts, born and educated in Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1893 and in 1897 joined the banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company in New York...
Kaiser, Henry John 1882-1967, American industrialist, b. Sprout Brook, N.Y. He organized his first construction company in 1913, soon entered the road-paving business, and by 1930 was a leader in the field. In 1931...
Keith, Minor Cooper 1848-1929, American magnate, a founder of the United Fruit Company, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. In the face of incredible hardships he built (1871-90) a railroad from the port of Limón, which he founded on...
Kennedy, Joseph Patrick 1888-1969, U.S. ambassador to Great Britain (1937-40), b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1912, father of John F. Kennedy , Robert F. Kennedy , and Edward M. Kennedy (see separate entries). He engaged in banking, shipbuilding, investment banking, and motion-picture distribution before he served (1934-35) as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
He...
Kroc, Ray (Raymond Albert Kroc), 1902-84, American fast-food restauranteur and franchiser, b. Chicago. Kroc held several jobs before becoming (1937) the distributor for a blender that simultaneously prepared...
Krupp family of German armament manufacturers. The family settled in Essen in the 16th cent. The core of the great Krupp industrial empire was started by Friedrich Krupp, 1787-1826, who built a small steel plant c.1810. His son, Alfred Krupp, 1812-87, known as the "Cannon King," introduced new methods for producing large quantities of cast steel. After the Franco-Prussian War he specialized more and more in armaments and acquired mines all over Germany. Under his son, Friedrich Alfred Krupp (Fritz Krupp), 1854-1902, who was interested in the financial rather than the
technical aspects of the enterprise, the Krupp family vastly extended its operations. His daughter, Bertha Krupp (after...
Lamont, Thomas William 1870-1948, American banker, b. Claverack, N.Y., grad. Harvard, 1892. Lamont entered (1903) the banking business in New York City and by 1911 was a partner of J. P. Morgan & Company. In the 1920s...
Land, Edwin Herbert 1909-91, American inventor and photographic pioneer. While at Harvard, Land became interested in the properties and manipulation of polarized light. He left Harvard and, in 1932, created Polaroid J...
Lauder, Estée 1908?-2004, American cosmetics company founder, b. Corona, Queens, N.Y., as Josephine Esther Mentzer. The daughter of immigrants, she married Joseph Lauter (later changed to Lauder) in 1930, and...
Levitt, William Jaird 1907-94, American builder, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. After studying at New York Univ., he (and his brother) joined his father's construction company; it became (1929) Levitt & Sons, Inc., and he served as...
Loeb, James 1867-1933, American banker and philanthropist, b. New York City; son of Solomon Loeb. He entered (1888) Kuhn, Loeb and Company and retired from business at 34. Most of the rest of his life was...
Loeb, Solomon 1828-1903, American banker, b. Germany. After he came (1849) to the United States, he settled in Cincinnati and became wealthy as a dry-goods merchant. He moved (1865) to New York City and with...
Lowell, Francis Cabot 1775-1817, pioneer American cotton manufacturer, b. Newburyport, Mass.; son of John Lowell (1743-1802). A merchant in Boston, he traveled (1810) to England, where he studied closely the new machinery used in the textile industry of Lancashire. Upon his return, with the aid of Paul Moody,...
Mackay, John William 1831-1902, American financier, b. Dublin, Ireland. He immigrated to the United States in 1840. In 1859 he joined the rush to Nevada, where silver had been discovered. He and J. G. Fair, later...
McCoy, Joseph Geating 1837-1915, American cattle-trade pioneer, b. Sangamon co., Ill. He selected Abilene, Kans., as the site for a railroad shipping center for the marketing of Western cattle.
In 1867 he purchased a...
McCulloch, Hugh 1808-95, American financier and public official, b. Kennebunk, Maine. Educated at Bowdoin College, he studied law in Boston and practiced two years at Fort Wayne, Ind., before turning to banking...
Mellon, Andrew William 1855-1937, American financier, industrialist, and public official, b. Pittsburgh. He studied at the Western Univ. of Pennsylvania (now the Univ. of Pittsburgh), but he left college to organize a...
Meyer, Eugene 1875-1959, American financier and newspaper publisher, b. Los Angeles. He was a successful broker and a director of many corporations. In 1917 he was appointed to guide American war production and...
Milken, Michael Robert 1946-, American financial executive, b. Van Nuys, Calif. Nicknamed the "junk bond king," he was an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., where he transformed corporate takeovers and financing by the use of high-yield junk bonds. At the height of his success in the 1980s, Milken's personal wealth was legend; according to the government, Drexel paid Milken $296 million in 1986 and $550 million in 1987. In 1989 a federal...
Morgan American family of financiers and philanthropists.
Morgan, George 1743-1810, American merchant, Indian agent, and land speculator, b. Philadelphia. In 1765 he went as his firm's representative to engage in the fur trade in Illinois, but the venture failed...
Morgan, John Pierpont see Morgan , family.
Morgan, Junius Spencer see Morgan , family.
Morita, Akio 1921-99, Japanese business executive, b. Nagoya, Japan. The eldest son of a successful sake brewer, Morita joined Masaru Ibuka to found Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering in 1946. To pursue...
Newberry, Walter Loomis 1804-68, American merchant and banker, b. East Windsor (in the section now South Windsor), Conn. In 1822 he entered the shipping business with his brother Oliver in Buffalo, and in 1826 they went...
Norman, Montagu Collet, 1st Baron Norman of St. Clere 1871-1950, English financier. He was governor of the Bank of England from 1920 to 1944, a tenure of office that broke all tradition. He long favored the gold standard, first supporting its...
Nuffield, William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount 1877-1963, English automobile manufacturer and philanthropist. Beginning his career as the proprietor of a bicycle shop, he later became a manufacturer of motorcycles and, in 1912, of automobiles...
Onassis, Aristotle Socrates 1906?-75, Greek shipowner and financier, b. Turkey. Leaving Turkey after the Turkish defeat of Greek forces at Smyrna (1922), he revived the family tobacco business in Argentina. In 1925 he...
Paterson, William 1658-1719, British financier. By the time of the Glorious Revolution (1688-89, which he supported), he had acquired considerable wealth and influence through foreign trade. In 1691, he was the chief projector of the plan to establish the Bank of England , which finally came into being in 1694. Paterson served as a director from 1694 to 1695. In 1695, he proposed to the Scottish Parliament the famous but ill-fated Darién Scheme. Subsequently he devoted several years to carrying out that plan and accompanied the expedition of 1698 to Darién. Paterson advised William III on economic, financial, and state affairs, and he...
Patiño, Simón Ituri 1868-1947, Bolivian capitalist. He owned rich tin mines in Bolivia and invested his enormous fortune, thought to have been among the world's largest, in other financial enterprises. Called the Tin...
Peabody, George pē´bädē, -bedē , 1795-1869, American financier and philanthropist, b. South Danvers (now Peabody), Mass. At the age of 11 he was apprenticed to a grocer, and later (1814) he became a partner in a dry-goods firm in...
Peabody, George Foster 1852-1938, American banker and philanthropist, b. Columbus, Ga. Successful early in life as a banker and organizer of railroads and utility companies, he retired (1906) from business to devote...
Pollock, Oliver 1737-1823, American merchant, b. Ireland. He arrived in America at the age of 23 and became a successful merchant. After moving to New Orleans, Pollock speculated advantageously in land and in the...
Pratt, Daniel 1799-1873, American industrialist, b. Temple, N.H. He moved to Georgia at the age of 20, and after he had become a partner in a cotton gin he went (1833) to Alabama, where he founded (1835)...
Pullman, George Mortimer 1831-97, American industrialist and developer of the railroad sleeping car, b. Brocton, N.Y. As a young man he became a cabinetmaker, and after he moved (1858) to Chicago he began converting (1859)...
Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon 1890-1973, American war hero and airline executive, b. Columbus, Ohio. He became a car racing driver at 16 and set numerous speed records. In World War I he volunteered for the air service and...
Rockefeller, John Davison 1839-1937, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Richford, N.Y. He moved (1853) with his family to a farm near Cleveland and at age 16 went to work as a bookkeeper. Frugal and industrious,...
Rockefeller, William 1841-1922, American financier, b. Tioga co., N.Y.; brother of John D. Rockefeller. He joined (1865) his brother in the oil-refining business. William was a successful stock market manipulator and...
Rosenwald, Julius 1862-1932, American merchant and philanthropist, b. Springfield, Ill. He was president (1910-25), and later chairman of the board, of the mail-order house of Sears, Roebuck & Company. He...
Rothschild prominent family of European bankers. The first important member was Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1743-1812), son of a money changer in the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt, Germany. His first names are...
Rothschild, Nathan Meyer 1777-1836, British banker, b. Frankfurt, Germany; of the famous Rothschild family. He went to England in 1797, was naturalized in 1804, and opened a business house in London in 1805. He acted as agent of the British government in supplying subsidies to the powers opposing...
Sage, Russell 1815-1906, American financier, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He was successful in the grocery business in Troy, N.Y. Active in public affairs, he became (1845) alderman of Troy and served (1853-56) as a Whig...
Sarnoff, David 1891-1971, American pioneer in radio and television, b. Russia. Emigrating to the United States in 1900, he worked for the Marconi Wireless Company, winning recognition as the narrator of the news...
Schiff, Jacob Henry 1847-1920, American banker and philanthropist, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in 1865 and became a partner in a brokerage house in New York City. At the age of 38 he was...
Schwab, Charles Michael 1862-1939, American steel magnate, b. Williamsburg, Pa. He started as a stake driver in Andrew Carnegie's steelworks and rose to become (1897) president of the Carnegie Steel Company and then the...
Scott, Thomas Alexander 1823-81, American railroad president, b. Fort Loudon, Pa. He was employed by the Pennsylvania RR as a station agent in 1850 and rose to become general superintendent (1858) and first vice president...
Scranton, George Whitefield 1811-61, American manufacturer, b. Madison, Conn. With his brother Selden he bought (1839) the lease and stock of the ironworks of Oxford Furnace, near Washington, N.J. The next year, with several...
Slater, Samuel 1768-1835, American pioneer in the cotton textile industry, b. Derbyshire, England. As an apprentice and later a mill supervisor, he gained a thorough knowledge of all the cotton-manufacturing...
Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr. 1875-1966, American businessman and philanthropist, b. New Haven, Conn., grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1895. He began his career as a draftsman for the Hyatt Roller Bearing Company,...
Soros, George 1930-, American stock trader and philanthropist, b. Budapest, Hungary, as George Schwartz. He studied under Sir Karl Popper at the London School of Economics (grad. 1952). He emigrated from Hungary to Great Britain (1947) and then to the United States (1956). Soros mostly worked as a financial analyst, and in 1969 he...
Stanford, Leland 1824-93, American railroad builder, politician, and philanthropist, b. Watervliet, N.Y. After practicing law in Wisconsin, he went (1852) to California, where he became a successful merchant. He...
Starrett, Paul 1866-1957, American builder, b. Lawrence, Kans. After serving (1903-22) as president of the George A. Fuller Company in Chicago, he opened and headed the construction firm of Starrett Brothers,...
Stetson, John Batterson 1830-1906, American hat manufacturer, b. Orange, N.J. Stetson, who had learned hatmaking, traveled to the West in the 1860s to improve his health. He returned to Philadelphia and began...
Stewart, Alexander Turney 1803-76, American merchant, b. Lisburn, Co. Antrim, Ireland. Arriving in New York c.1820, he started in business in 1823 by selling Irish laces. In 1846 he established a wholesale and retail...
Stinnes, Hugo 1870-1924, German industrialist. The son of a Westphalian mine owner, he founded his own company in 1892 and rapidly expanded his interests to build a huge "vertical trust" controlling mines, foundries, shipping, paper mills, and other industries. He owned vast tracts of land in South America, including the largest oil concession in Argentina. He controlled part of...
Straus family of American merchants, public officials, and philanthropists. Isidor Straus, 1845-1912, b. Rhenish Bavaria, emigrated (1854) with his brothers to the United States in order to join their father, Lazarus Straus, who had already settled in Talbotton, Ga. The family moved...
Tabor, Horace Austin Warner 1830-99, American prospector, known as Silver Dollar Tabor, b. Holland, Vt. From the Matchless Mine at Leadville, Colo., he gained tremendous wealth by mining silver, and he spent money lavishly...
Tata Parsi family of Indian industrialists, centered at Mumbai. The Tata enterprises, which encompass vast holdings in iron and steel, motor vehicles, power utilities, financial services, computer...
Taylor, Frederick Winslow 1856-1915, American industrial engineer, b. Germantown, Pa., grad. Stevens Institute of Technology, 1883. He was called the father of scientific management. His management methods for shops,...
Trippe, Juan Terry 1899-1981, pioneering American aviation executive, b. Sea Bright, N.J. A U.S. Navy pilot (1917-18), he graduated (1921) from Yale, and worked briefly on Wall Street.
Fascinated with aviation,...
Trump, Donald John 1946-, American business executive, b. New York City. After attending the Wharton business school, he joined the family real estate business. A self-promoting and flamboyant dealmaker, he was able...
Turner, Ted (Robert Edward Turner 3d), 1938-, American television network executive, b. Cincinnati. After inheriting his father's billboard company, he founded (1976) a television station, WTBS, and built it...
Vanderbilt, Cornelius 1794-1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of the ferry lines and...
Villard, Henry 1835-1900, American journalist and financier, b. Germany. His first name was originally Hilgard. He attended universities in Germany, and after he reached (1853) the United States he did newspaper...
Walker, Madam C. J. 1867-1919, African-American entrepeneur, b. Delta, La., as Sarah Breedlove. Thought to be America's first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7, working at 10,...
Walton, Sam (Samuel Moore Walton), 1918-92, American retailing executive, b. Kingfisher, Okla. After 17 years of operating franchise retail stores, he opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Ark.,...
Wanamaker, John 1838-1922, American merchant, b. Philadelphia. He went into the men's clothing business in Philadelphia with Nathan Brown, his brother-in-law, in 1861. The firm was Wanamaker and Brown until the...
Watson, Thomas John 1874-1956, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Campbell, N.Y. After rising from clerk to sales executive in the National Cash Register Co. (1898-1913), he became (1914) president of the...
Watson, Thomas John, Jr. 1914-93, American industrialist, b. Dayton, Ohio. The son of Thomas John Watson , Sr., the founder of the International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), he joined the family business following his graduation from Brown Univ. in 1937. Except for service as a pilot in the Army Air...
Weill, Sanford I. 1933-, American business executive, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. A graduate of Cornell Univ. (1955), he went to work for a New York brokerage house, and in 1960 helped found a small brokerage firm that grew...
Welch, Jack (John Francis Welch, Jr.), 1935-, American business executive, b. Salem, Mass., grad. Univ. of Massachusetts (1957); Univ. of Illinois (M.S., 1958; Ph.D., chemical engineering, 1960).
He joined...
Wells, Henry 1805-78, American pioneer expressman, b. Thetford, Vt. As a child he moved with his family to central New York state. In 1843 he established express service between New York City and Buffalo and...
Welser German family of wealthy merchants and bankers at Augsburg. It reached the height of its prosperity under Bartholomäus Welser, 1488-1561, who had advanced large sums to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Unable to repay his debts, Charles granted (1528) virtual sovereignty over present Venezuela to his creditor, who sent out...
Whitney, Asa 1797-1872, American merchant and transcontinental railroad projector, b. North Groton, Conn. He entered the mercantile business in New York City, acted as a foreign buyer for several years, and...
Whitney, William Collins 1841-1904, American financier and political leader, b. Conway, Mass. After attending (1863-64) Harvard law school, he moved to New York City, became successful as a corporation lawyer, and was...
Willing, Thomas 1731-1821, American merchant and financier, b. Philadelphia. He studied law in London. Returning to Philadelphia in 1749, he entered his father's business and later established with Robert Morris (1734-1806) a prominent importing and exporting firm in Philadelphia. He was elected mayor of Philadelphia in 1763 and was (1767-77) a justice of the Pennsylvania court. As a member (1775-76) of...
Wistar, Isaac Jones 1827-1905, American financier, b. Philadelphia; great-nephew of Caspar Wistar. His early manhood was spent adventurously in the West as a muleteer, trapper, and gold miner. In the Civil War he was...
Woolworth, Frank Winfield 1852-1919, American merchant, b. Rodman, N.Y. He established in 1879 a five-cent store at Utica, N.Y., which failed, and the same year he started a successful five-and-ten-cent store at Lancaster,...
Yale, Elihu 1649-1721, English merchant, b. Boston. The family moved to England c.1652, and Yale was educated in London. He went to Madras (now Chennai) in the service of the British East India Company c.1670...
Yerkes, Charles Tyson 1837-1905, American financier, b. Philadelphia. He began his business career as a clerk in a Philadelphia grain commission house. He became a broker in 1858 and prospered, but in 1871 he was...
Zaharoff, Sir Basil (Basileios Zacharias) , 1850-1936, international financier and munitions manufacturer, b. Anatolia, Turkey, probably of Greek-Russian parents, educated in England. His name is best known in connection with the...