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Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."

A business entity is not necessarily separate from the owner and the creditors can hold the owner liable for debts the business has acquired. The taxation system for businesses is different from that of the corporates. A business structure does not allow for corporate tax rates. The proprietor is personally taxed on all income from the business.

A distinction is made in law and public offices between the term business and a company such as a corporation or cooperative. Colloquially, the terms are used interchangeably. (Full article...)

Economics (/ˌɛkəˈnɒmɪks, ˌiːkə-/) is a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses what's viewed as basic elements in the economy, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyses the economy as a system where production, distribution, consumption, savings, and investment expenditure interact, and factors affecting it: factors of production, such as labour, capital, land, and enterprise, inflation, economic growth, and public policies that have impact on these elements. (Full article...)

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Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses during the widescreen boom in the 1950s, Panavision expanded its product lines to meet the demands of modern filmmakers. The company introduced its first products in 1954. Originally a provider of CinemaScope accessories, the company's line of anamorphic widescreen lenses soon became the industry leader. In 1972, Panavision helped revolutionize filmmaking with the lightweight Panaflex 35 mm movie camera. The company has introduced other groundbreaking cameras such as the Millennium XL (1999) and the digital video Genesis (2004).

Panavision operates exclusively as a rental facility—the company owns its entire inventory, unlike most of its competitors.

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The 1933 double eagle is a United States 20-dollar gold coin. Although 445,500 specimens of this Saint-Gaudens double eagle were minted in 1933 none were ever officially circulated and all but two were melted down. Supposedly, 20 found their way into the hands of collectors, but 19 of these were subsequently seized or voluntarily turned in to the Secret Service, who destroyed nine of them, making this one of the world's rarest coins. Five are still missing out of the 20.

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The Greater São Paulo has the largest gross metropolitan product in South America.

The economy of South America comprises approximately 434 million people living in the 12 sovereign states and three dependent territories of South America, which encompasses 6 percent of the world's population. South America ranks fifth in terms of nominal GDP by continent, behind North America and after Oceania.

South America has two major trade blocks: Mercosur and the Andean Community. Brazil is the largest economy in South America in terms of Nominal GDP, it has a vast and diverse economic landscape encompassing agriculture, manufacturing, services, and natural resources. Due to Brazil's major economy, it has a large influence over its neighbors, and even globally. Argentina which is South America's second largest economy, boasts a rich history of industrialization and a well-developed agricultural sector. Despite economic challenges and very high inflation, Argentina uses its abundant natural resources and skilled workforce to drive economic growth and innovation. Together, Brazil and Argentina serve as economic powerhouses and as such, are major influences to surrounding countries. Uruguay stands out as it boasts the highest GDP per capita in the region. Renowned for its stable political environment, strong social welfare system, and diversified economy, Uruguay has consistently ranked among the top nations in terms of human development and standard of living. Uruguay has a large agriculture sector and has made previous strategic investments in technology and innovation, Uruguay's economy thrives on both domestic consumption and international trade. Guyana ranks second which is attributed to its oil and gas sector. (Full article...)

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"In early September we wrote about the (ir)relevance of oil to equities and introduced the idea that the U.S. is a Plutonomy - a concept that generated great interest from our clients. As global strategists, this got us thinking about how to buy stocks based on this plutonomy thesis, and the subsequent thesis that it will gather strength and amass breadth. In researching this idea on a global level and looking for stock ideas we also chanced upon some interesting big picture implications. This process manifested itself with our own provocative thesis: that the so called “global imbalances” that worry so many of our equity clients who may subsequently put a lower multiple on equities due to these imbalances, is not as dangerous and hostile as one might think. Our economics team led by Lewis Alexander researches and writes about these issues regularly and they are the experts. But as we went about our business of finding stock ideas for our clients, we thought it important to highlight this provocative macro thesis that emerged, and if correct, could have major implications in terms of how equity investors assess the risk embedded in equity markets. Sometimes kicking the tires can tell you a lot about the car-business.

Well, here goes. Little of this note should tally with conventional thinking. Indeed, traditional thinking is likely to have issues with most of it. We will posit that: 1) the world is dividing into two blocs - the plutonomies, where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, and the rest. Plutonomies have occurred before in sixteenth century Spain, in seventeenth century Holland, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties in the U.S. What are the common drivers of Plutonomy? Disruptive technology-driven productivity gains, creative financial innovation, capitalist-friendly cooperative governments, an international dimension of immigrants and overseas conquests invigorating wealth creation, the rule of law, and patenting inventions. Often these wealth waves involve great complexity, exploited best by the rich and educated of the time."

—Ajay Kapur, Niall Macleod, Narendra Singh, Plutonomy: Buying, Explaining Global Imbalances, 2005

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... that businessman and activist Matthew Glover's charity challenged Pope Francis to become a vegan for Lent?
... that American business executive William M. Ellinghaus helped rescue New York City from bankruptcy in the late 1970s?
... that Eleanor Hadley, a 29-year-old doctoral candidate in economics, was recruited by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to implement antitrust policies in occupied Japan?
... that JetBlue's CEO, Robin Hayes, flew in an airplane for the first time aged 18?
... that food was left to rot outside after the supermarket Supie went out of business?
... that according to Jimmy Carter, "more of [Georgia's] business was probably conducted in the Henry Grady than in the state capitol"?

On this day in business history

May 4:

1925 - Maurice R. Greenberg, an American business executive and former chairman and CEO of AIG, was born on this day.

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General images

The following are images from various business-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Emil Jellinek-Mercedes (1853–1918), here at the steering wheel of his Phoenix Double-Phaeton (from Entrepreneurship)
Image 2Mexican Stock Exchange in Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City (from Business)
Image 3Student organizers from the Green Club at Newcomb College Institute formed a social entrepreneurship organization in 2010. (from Entrepreneurship)
Image 4In 2012, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer greets participants in an African Women's Entrepreneurship Program at the State Department in Washington, D.C. (from Entrepreneurship)
Image 5Chart of the South Sea Company's stock prices. The rapid inflation of the stock value in the 1710s led to the Bubble Act 1720, which restricted the establishment of companies without a royal charter. (from Corporation)
Image 6Dell Women's Entrepreneur Network event in New York City (from Entrepreneurship)
Image 7Lindley LJ was the leading expert on partnerships and company law in the Salomon v. Salomon & Co. case. The landmark case confirmed the distinct corporate identity of the company. (from Corporation)
Image 8Time required to start a business in 2017 (from Business)
Image 9Offices in the Los Angeles Downtown Financial District (from Business)
Image 101/8 share of the Stora Kopparberg mine, dated June 16, 1288 (from Corporation)
Image 11McDonald's Corporation is one of the most recognizable corporations in the world. (from Corporation)
Image 12"Jack and the Giant Joint-Stock", a cartoon in Town Talk (1858) satirizing the 'monster' joint-stock economy that came into being after the Joint Stock Companies Act 1844 (from Corporation)

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More did you know

...that William McChesney Martin, Jr. (pictured) was the longest-serving Chairman of the Federal Reserve serving from April 2, 1951 to January 31, 1970?

...that eleven of the twenty-nine winners of the John Bates Clark Medal, a biannual award given out by the American Economic Association, have gone on to later win the Nobel Prize in Economics?

...that Ingvar Kamprad, founder of the home furnishing retail chain store IKEA, drew some controversy in 1994 when it was revealed that Kamprad had joined Swedish fascist activist Per Engdahl's pro-Nazi group in 1942?

...that, according to historical legend, Laissez-faire stems from a meeting in about 1681 between the powerful French finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert and a group of French businessmen led by a certain M. Le Gendre?

...that Ransom E. Olds used the assembly line system to produce automobiles in 1901 before Henry Ford?

...that Antoine Augustin Cournot derived the first formula for the rule of supply and demand as a function of price and in fact was the first to draw supply and demand curves on a graph in his Researches on the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth?

...that the Toyota Production System (TPS) developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices, organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers?

More did you know facts