abu yahya's definitions
In economics, a policy in which the authorities insist on some permanent, precise guarantee of the value of the local currency to some other thing: a unit measure of gold, the US dollar, the euro, or the pound. Historically, the US dollar had a hard peg to gold from 1946 to 1971, while other currencies in the developed world had a hard peg to the US dollar. Since 1971, most of the world's money is in floating currency (whose relative value is set by the free market).
Nonetheless, advocates of hard pegs frequently downplay the ... difficulties of establishing greater nominal flexibility in fiscal spending and wages...
by abu yahya June 24, 2008
Get the hard peg mug.(FINANCE) a bond issued by the US Department of the Treasury. Unlike longer-term bonds, with regular scheduled interest payments, a T-bill is purely discounted. In other words, the lender--the person buying the bond--pays a price lower than the face value of the bond. When the bond matures (after, say, 91 days), then the buyer is paid the face value.
The yield on the T-bill is usually very low; for example, yesterday 13-week T-bill rates were 4.01%. Their price is set at auction.
The yield on the T-bill is usually very low; for example, yesterday 13-week T-bill rates were 4.01%. Their price is set at auction.
People usually suppose that the Federal Reserve System sets interest rates, but this only applies to the federal funds rate. The rates on other treasury securities, like T-bills, are set by auction.
by Abu Yahya May 14, 2010
Get the T-bill mug.The ability of an economic system to provide what people what, given their incomes. Given the fact that incomes and resources are both finite, efficiency will be of the utmost importance in determining if people's wants are satisfied by the workings of the economic system.
by abu yahya June 23, 2008
Get the economic efficiency mug.(FINANCE) a company that exists for the sole purpose of owning a controlling interest in the several branches of a bank.
Owing to the interplay of US federal and state banking laws, it is often necessary for a bank to incorporate itself as a separate and distinct company in different states, or for different business functions (e.g., capital management, underwriting/investment banking, savings banking, etc.).
One of the exasperating benefits that bank holding companies get is a further limitation of liability. Often, the structure of the bank holding company is such that one of the firms owned (like Washington Mutual Bank, Inc.) can be insolvent, without resulting in the liquidation of the holding company.
Owing to the interplay of US federal and state banking laws, it is often necessary for a bank to incorporate itself as a separate and distinct company in different states, or for different business functions (e.g., capital management, underwriting/investment banking, savings banking, etc.).
One of the exasperating benefits that bank holding companies get is a further limitation of liability. Often, the structure of the bank holding company is such that one of the firms owned (like Washington Mutual Bank, Inc.) can be insolvent, without resulting in the liquidation of the holding company.
Practically every financial intermediary in the USA is now owned by a bank holding company. They're totally insidious!
by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
Get the bank holding company mug.(IRANIAN HISTORY) Secret police of Iran during the reign of Shah Muhammad Reza (r.1941-1979); began operations in 1957, four years after Operation Ajax. Gen. Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf (father of Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was a US Army liaison who trained SAVAK in intelligence tactics; additional training was provided by the Israeli military.
General Teymur Bakhtia, the main Iranian military officer involved in Operation Ajax, was rewarded with command of SAVAK; he was dismissed in 1961 because he was believed to be organizing a coup. Subsequently, the Shah had his own secret service to spy on the secret service.
SAVAK's activities to include gathering intelligence and neutralizing the regime's opponents. An elaborate system was created to monitor all facets of political life. For example, a censorship office was established to monitor journalists, literary figures, and academics throughout the country; it took appropriate measures against those who fell out of line. Universities, labor unions, and peasant organizations, among others, were all subjected to intense surveillance by SAVAK agents and paid informants. The agency was also active abroad, especially in monitoring Iranian students who publicly opposed Pahlavi rule.
General Teymur Bakhtia, the main Iranian military officer involved in Operation Ajax, was rewarded with command of SAVAK; he was dismissed in 1961 because he was believed to be organizing a coup. Subsequently, the Shah had his own secret service to spy on the secret service.
SAVAK's activities to include gathering intelligence and neutralizing the regime's opponents. An elaborate system was created to monitor all facets of political life. For example, a censorship office was established to monitor journalists, literary figures, and academics throughout the country; it took appropriate measures against those who fell out of line. Universities, labor unions, and peasant organizations, among others, were all subjected to intense surveillance by SAVAK agents and paid informants. The agency was also active abroad, especially in monitoring Iranian students who publicly opposed Pahlavi rule.
SAVAK mostly concentrated on Tudeh and populist organizations until the late 1960's, since the clergy was mostly aligned with the monarchy until 1964, when the regime started to redistribute endowments of land held by the religious orders.
by Abu Yahya July 19, 2010
Get the SAVAK mug.a{n alleged} miracle that serves no purpose or is actively evil. For example, in the Apocryphal New Testament, in the book *Protevangelion*, XI. Mary's immaculate conception has caused immense turmoil for Joseph and Mary, not merely because Joseph assumes Mary has conceived with another mortal, but also because she does so far too soon. This is therefore resolved by more miracles, that fail to convince anyone (xi.19). In XIII., Joseph has to get a midwife, and finds that time has stopped (so he can find her quickly?). But in the following chapter, the midwife is useless and Mary delivers miraculously too. So there was no point at all to the miracle.
Other examples: a story in the Talmud of a slain holy man's blood, which bubbled miraculously on the spot where he was killed. Nebuchadnezzar is said to arrive there after his conquest of Jerusalem and demand to know why the blood bubbles. When he finds out, he believes he has to appease the spirit of the holy man and so he "sacrifices" 80,000 people on the spot where the blood bubbles. Wouldn't God stop the bubbling just to get Nebuchadnezzar to stop murdering people there?
Other examples: a story in the Talmud of a slain holy man's blood, which bubbled miraculously on the spot where he was killed. Nebuchadnezzar is said to arrive there after his conquest of Jerusalem and demand to know why the blood bubbles. When he finds out, he believes he has to appease the spirit of the holy man and so he "sacrifices" 80,000 people on the spot where the blood bubbles. Wouldn't God stop the bubbling just to get Nebuchadnezzar to stop murdering people there?
If Bush was a perverse miracle sent from God to punish our nation for its wickedness, then would it not have been more godlike to make us less wicked--instead?
by Abu Yahya February 15, 2009
Get the perverse miracle mug.phenomenon in which greater input of effort, money, etc. yields smaller results. Crucial part of the idea is that if you're using x to get y results (where y is the thing you want). then additional input a will yield additional results b, but not in the same proportion as before.
On average, before, you put in x to get y, so your yield was y/x. But if you increase x by amount a, then your results will be y + b, where
(y + b)/(x + a) < y/x
and this will only get worse.
Diminishing marginal returns (DMR) is used to explain why the supply curve in economics slopes upward, i.e., increasing the quantity supplied requires an increased price of most things.
Sometimes DMR is more than offset by "economies of scale," which allows more of a thing to be supplied more cheaply than a small amount.
On average, before, you put in x to get y, so your yield was y/x. But if you increase x by amount a, then your results will be y + b, where
(y + b)/(x + a) < y/x
and this will only get worse.
Diminishing marginal returns (DMR) is used to explain why the supply curve in economics slopes upward, i.e., increasing the quantity supplied requires an increased price of most things.
Sometimes DMR is more than offset by "economies of scale," which allows more of a thing to be supplied more cheaply than a small amount.
At first his flowers and treats swept her off her feet, but then he had to do more and more lavish things to please her. It was a classic case of diminishing marginal returns.
by Abu Yahya June 3, 2009
Get the diminishing marginal returns mug.