finance
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Related to finance: fiance
finance,
theory and practice of conducting large public and private dealings in money. Important institutions of private finance include those that deal with insuranceinsuranceor assurance,
device for indemnifying or guaranteeing an individual against loss. Reimbursement is made from a fund to which many individuals exposed to the same risk have contributed certain specified amounts, called premiums.
..... Click the link for more information. , bankingbanking,
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 deposits—subject to withdrawal or transfer by check—and of making loans.
..... Click the link for more information. , stocks (see stockstock,
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 bondholders have been met.
..... Click the link for more information. ), 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 as economic, importance. The most important source of government revenue is taxes, but sale of public properties and franchises, as well as the sale of interest-bearing bonds, also contribute. Since the Korean War, a large part of governmental expenditures has gone for various military and defense needs. Other important areas of governmental expenditure are health, education, and welfare (the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs); interest on the national debt; and public works. Important institutions of international finance are the International Bank for Reconstruction and DevelopmentInternational Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
(IBRD), independent specialized agency of the United Nations, with headquarters at Washington, D.C.; one of five closely associated development institutions (also including the International Center for Settlement of
..... Click the link for more information. and the International Monetary FundInternational Monetary Fund
(IMF), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945. It was planned at the Bretton Woods Conference (1944), and its headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Bibliography
See D. Allen, Finance (1983); D. Swain, Managing Public Money (1987); L. Harris et al., ed., New Perspectives on the Financial System (1988); N. Gianaris, Contemporary Public Finance (1989).
Finance
See also Money.
Boursethe Paris stock exchange. [Fr. Commerce: Misc.]
the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202]
London bankers’ row; named for 13th-century Italian moneylenders. [Br. Hist.: Plumb, 15]
nickname for the Bank of England. [Br. Culture: Misc.]
goddess of commerce. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 88]
D(avison) (1839–1937) multimillionaire oil tycoon and financier, [Am. Hist.: EB, VIII: 623]
location of Stock Exchange; by extension, financial world. [Br. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1079]
financial district. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 530]
finance
1. funds or the provision of funds
2. funds; financial condition