(ECONOMICS) Bank for central banks. It takes deposits from central banks and provides financial services, including underwriting bills of exchange. It is based in Basle, Switzerland and was founded in May 1930, for the purpose of facilitating reparations payments by Germany to the Allies.
The BIS also provides a forum for international coordination of monetary policy, conducts financial research, and acts as an agent or trustee for international financial settlements. About 140 central banks and international financial institutions have deposits with the BIS. As of June 2010, currency deposits totaled approximately $303 billion dollars, or about four percent of world foreign exchange reserves.
The BIS also provides a forum for international coordination of monetary policy, conducts financial research, and acts as an agent or trustee for international financial settlements. About 140 central banks and international financial institutions have deposits with the BIS. As of June 2010, currency deposits totaled approximately $303 billion dollars, or about four percent of world foreign exchange reserves.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was created by the Dawes/Young Plan for coordinating the transfer of billions of Reichsmarks in reparations from Germany to the Allied powers after WW1. Almost at one, the BIS switched to managing international transactions of gold or hard currency. It also facilitated financial transactions between the Nazi regime and neutral countries during the War.
The BIS provides a very wide variety of specialized services, including underwriting and arbitration in fiduciary disputes.
The BIS provides a very wide variety of specialized services, including underwriting and arbitration in fiduciary disputes.
by Primus Intra Pares July 19, 2010
Get the Bank for International Settlements mug.(ECONOMICS) a shock to the industrial system caused by massive errors in investment decisions. In essence, financial crises are failures of the capital markets (stock exchanges, etc.) to do their job.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
While there is little evidence so far that the 2008 financial crisis was engineered by any one perpetrator, the very same economic elites who caused it are now poised to benefit from it by imposing "disaster capitalism."
by Primus Intra Pares July 11, 2010
Get the financial crisis mug.Tet Offensive
(VIETNAM HISTORY) Major effort by the National Liberation Front ("Viet Cong") and the PAVN to defeat the US-backed puppet regime in Saigon (the putative Republic of Vietnam"). The Tet Offensive began 31 January 1968 and was suppressed around 24 February.
In Saigon, NLF forces attacked the presidential palace, the airport, the ARVN headquarters, and US Embassy. The US and ARVN forces, who were caught off guard, quickly responded and within a week had recouped most of the lost territory. The NLF held out the longest in the pre-colonial capital of Hue, fighting back with great tenacity.
(VIETNAM HISTORY) Major effort by the National Liberation Front ("Viet Cong") and the PAVN to defeat the US-backed puppet regime in Saigon (the putative Republic of Vietnam"). The Tet Offensive began 31 January 1968 and was suppressed around 24 February.
In Saigon, NLF forces attacked the presidential palace, the airport, the ARVN headquarters, and US Embassy. The US and ARVN forces, who were caught off guard, quickly responded and within a week had recouped most of the lost territory. The NLF held out the longest in the pre-colonial capital of Hue, fighting back with great tenacity.
Prior to the Tet Offensive, the US military could claim it was well on its way to winning the war. Afterward, Gen. William Westmoreland admitted 200,000 more troops would be required to win the war, and US opposition to the war ballooned.
However, the NLF was nearly annihilated in the Offensive, with almost 60,000 killed.
However, the NLF was nearly annihilated in the Offensive, with almost 60,000 killed.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
Get the Tet Offensive mug.(US GOVERNMENT) Former agency of the US government responsible for the enforcement of immigration law, and the processing of visa/permit requests. After the attacks of 11 September 2001, Congress passed a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the INS was split up into its enforcement functions (which became part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its processing functions (Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS).
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
Because of its extraordinary power over the lives of millions of US nationals and residents, the Immigration and Naturalization Service gained lasting notoriety. Seven years after it was superseded by the CIS, most people associated visa regulations with the INS.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
by Primus Intra Pares June 17, 2010
Get the Immigration and Naturalization Service mug.(IRANIAN HISTORY) alternative spelling of Muhammad Mossadegh, democratically elected prime minister of Iran (1951-1953).
Because Iranian names are spelled with a modified version of the Arabic alphabet, there is some controversy over how to spell names like "Muhammad Mussadegh." Sometimes, for example, his name is spelled "Mohammed Mossadegh."
Muhammed Mussadegh struggled all his life to free Iran from colonial rule.
Muhammed Mussadegh struggled all his life to free Iran from colonial rule.
by Primus Intra Pares July 18, 2010
Get the Muhammad Mussadegh mug.(VIETNAMESE HISTORY) complex network of mountain roads and trails leading from the mountain highlands west of Hanoi to the Mekong river delta. This was used by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) between 1959 and 1975 to infiltrate the putative "Republic of Vietnam" (South Vietnam). The network had some 16,000 Km (10,000 miles) of roads.
The road was named for Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet Minh and Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV); construction began on his birthday (9 May 1959).
The road was built at enormous sacrifice by the Vietnamese and their allies in the Lao & Khmer peasantry. During most of the Second Indochina War, it was a primary target of US bombing raids. After creating a puppet state in Saigon, the US military sealed off the 17th parallel between the two sectors of Vietnam; so PAVN forces bypassed the DMZ and cut through Laos and Cambodia. The US military thus intervened militarily in Laos (against the pro-Communist Pathet Lao) and in Cambodia (against the Khmer Communist Party, or Khmer Rouge).
The road was named for Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet Minh and Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV); construction began on his birthday (9 May 1959).
The road was built at enormous sacrifice by the Vietnamese and their allies in the Lao & Khmer peasantry. During most of the Second Indochina War, it was a primary target of US bombing raids. After creating a puppet state in Saigon, the US military sealed off the 17th parallel between the two sectors of Vietnam; so PAVN forces bypassed the DMZ and cut through Laos and Cambodia. The US military thus intervened militarily in Laos (against the pro-Communist Pathet Lao) and in Cambodia (against the Khmer Communist Party, or Khmer Rouge).
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a constant target for B-52 bombers, but bombing failed to stop traffic on it. As a consequence, the US organized the ouster of the Cambodian monarchy in 1970, so it could use the puppet junta to get permission for invading Cambodia.
The USA dropped an astonishing volume of high explosives on Cambodia in the hopes of shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The National Liberation Front (NLF, or "Viet Cong") was supported by supplies from the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The USA dropped an astonishing volume of high explosives on Cambodia in the hopes of shutting down the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The National Liberation Front (NLF, or "Viet Cong") was supported by supplies from the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
by Primus Intra Pares July 24, 2010
Get the Ho Chi Minh Trail mug.(US GOVERNMENT) Agency in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Mostly a new entity, which is perhaps the single most conspicuous domestic policy failure of the US government since 2000.
The TSA's job is to inspect baggage carried on flights at 450 international airports in the USA. Implementing this mandate simply consisted of "federalizing" thousands of private-sector employees who had been woefully under-qualified. Initially, the DHS had been formed explicitly to break law enforcement unions (which contribute to fighting corruption in law enforcement, as well as protecting law enforcement officers' rights as employees). In the case of the TSA, this had disastrous consequences for the quality of air travel.
The TSA's job is to inspect baggage carried on flights at 450 international airports in the USA. Implementing this mandate simply consisted of "federalizing" thousands of private-sector employees who had been woefully under-qualified. Initially, the DHS had been formed explicitly to break law enforcement unions (which contribute to fighting corruption in law enforcement, as well as protecting law enforcement officers' rights as employees). In the case of the TSA, this had disastrous consequences for the quality of air travel.
The Transportation Security Administration has one mission, namely, to check passengers and luggage at 450 international airports across the USA. It does not inspect freight or border entries; that is done by Customs and Border Protection. For this function, it employs 45,000 screeners under lousy conditions with awful pay. And it spends more doing this one thing than Sweden spends on its entire military.
by Primus Intra Pares June 19, 2010
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