Forex

Forex is a trading 'method' also known as FX or and foreign market exchange. Those involved in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to create a balance as some are going to gain money and others are going to lose money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock market found in any country, but on a much larger, grand scale, that involves people, currencies and trades from around the world, in just about any country. Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. The trading on the forex market is one that you have to watch closely or if you are investing huge amounts of money, you could lose large amounts of money. The main trading areas for forex, happens in Tokyo, in London and in New York, but there are also many other locations around the world where forex trading does take place. The most heavily traded currencies are those that include (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, the Swiss franc, the British pound sterling, the Japanese yen, the Eurozone eruo, and the United States dollar. You can trade any one currency against another and you can trade from that currency to another currency to build up additional money and interest daily. The areas where forex trading is taking place will open and close, and the next will open and close. This is seen also in the stock exchanges from around the world, as different time zones are processing order and trading during different time frames. The results of any forex trading in one country could have results and differences in what happens in additional forex markets as the countries take turns opening and closing with the time zones. Exchange rates are going to vary from forex trade to forex trade, and if you are a broker, or if you are learning about the forex markets you want to know what the rates are on a given day before making any trades. The stock market Is generally based on products, prices, and other factors within businesses that will change the price of stocks. If someone knows what is going to happened before the general public, it is often known as inside trading, using business secrets to buy stocks and make money - which by the way is illegal. There is very little, if any at all inside information in the forex trading markets. The monetary trades, buys and sells are all a part of the forex market but very little is based on business secrets, but more on the value of the economy, the currency and such of a country at that time. Every currency that is traded on the forex market does have a three letter code associated with that currency so there is no misunderstanding about which currency or which country one is investing with at the time. The eruo is the EUR and the US dollar is known as the USD. The British pound is the GBP and the Japanese yen is known as the JPY. If you are interested in contacting a broker and becoming involved in the forex markets you can find many online where you can review the company information and transactions before processing and becoming involved in the forex markets. Forex trading is a ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign-exchange market. The actors in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to strike a balance, because some go to raise money and others are losing money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock in each country, but on a much larger, big, that people, currencies and trade from around the world in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. Trading on the forex market is one that you have to be closely monitored, or if you are investing enormous sums of money, you can lose a lot of money. The main trading for forex, happens in Tokyo, London and New York, but there are also many other places around the world where forex trading is taking place.The most commonly traded currencies are those that are (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, British pound, Japanese yen, the euro eruo and the United States dollar. You can trade one currency against another, and you can trade from that currency into another currency for additional money and interest daily.The areas where forex trading is taking place, opens and closes, and the next open and close. This is also reflected in the stock exchanges from around the world, the different time zones to ensure the processing of and trade in different periods. The results of the forex trading in one country can see the results and the differences in what happens, additional forex markets as the countries that open and close with the time zones. Exchange rates, according to Forex trading Forex trading, and if you are a broker, or if you learn about the forex markets you want to know what the prices are on a given day, before they act.The stock market is usually on the basis of products, prices and other factors in the businesses, the price of the shares. If anyone knows what will happen before the general public, it is often so-called insider trading, using business secrets to buy stocks and make money - which by the way is illegal. There is very little, if at all inside information in the forex markets. The monetary trade, buys and sells are all a part of the forex market but very little on business secrets, but more on the value of the economy, currency and one country at this time.Each currency in the Forex market has a three letter code associated with that currency so there is no misunderstanding about the currency or the country in which you are concerned with investment in time. The eruo is the EUR and U.S. dollar is known as the USD. The British pound is the GBP and the Japanese yen is known as the JPY. If you are interested in contacting a broker and becoming involved in the forex markets you can find many online where you can find information and transactions before processing and the entry into the Forex market.Forex trading is a ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign-exchange market. The actors in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to strike a balance, because some go to raise money and others are losing money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock in each country, but on a much larger, big, that people, currencies and trade from around the world in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. Trading on the forex market is one that you have to be closely monitored, or if you are investing enormous sums of money, you can lose a lot of money. The main trading for forex, happens in Tokyo, London and New York, but there are also many other places around the world where forex trading is taking place.The most commonly traded currencies are those that are (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, British pound, Japanese yen, the euro eruo and the United States dollar. You can trade one currency against another, and you can trade from that currency into another currency for additional money and interest daily.The areas where forex trading is taking place, opens and closes, and the next open and close. This is also reflected in the stock exchanges from around the world, the different time zones to ensure the processing of and trade in different periods. The results of the forex trading in one country can see the results and the differences in what happens, additional forex markets as the countries that open and close with the time zones. Exchange rates, according to Forex trading Forex trading, and if you are a broker, or if you learn about the forex markets you want to know what the prices are on a given day, before they act.Forex is a trading ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign market exchange. Those involved in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to create a balance as some are going to gain money and others are going to lose money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock market found in any country, but on a much larger, grand scale, that involves people, currencies and trades from around the world, in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. The trading on the forex market is one that you have to watch closely or if you are investing huge amounts of money, you could lose large amounts of money. The main trading areas for forex, happens in Tokyo, in London and in New York, but there are also many other locations around the world where forex trading does take place.The most heavily traded currencies are those that include (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, the Swiss franc, the British pound sterling, the Japanese yen, the Eurozone eruo, and the United States dollar. You can trade any one currency against another and you can trade from that currency to another currency to build up additional money and interest daily.

Insurance

Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium. An insurer is a company selling the insurance. The insurance rate is a factor used to determine the amount, called the premium, to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.Principles of insurance1. A large number of homogeneous exposure units. The vast majority of insurance policies are provided for individual members of very large classes. Automobile insurance, for example, covered about 175 million automobiles in the United States in 2004.[2] The existence of a large number of homogeneous exposure units allows insurers to benefit from the so-called “law of large numbers,” which in effect states that as the number of exposure units increases, the actual results are increasingly likely to become close to expected results. There are exceptions to this criterion. Lloyd's of London is famous for insuring the life or health of actors, actresses and sports figures. Satellite Launch insurance covers events that are infrequent. Large commercial property policies may insure exceptional properties for which there are no ‘homogeneous’ exposure units. Despite failing on this criterion, many exposures like these are generally considered to be insurable.2. Definite Loss. The event that gives rise to the loss that is subject to insurance should, at least in principle, take place at a known time, in a known place, and from a known cause. The classic example is death of an insured person on a life insurance policy. Fire, automobile accidents, and worker injuries may all easily meet this criterion. Other types of losses may only be definite in theory. Occupational disease, for instance, may involve prolonged exposure to injurious conditions where no specific time, place or cause is identifiable. Ideally, the time, place and cause of a loss should be clear enough that a reasonable person, with sufficient information, could objectively verify all three elements.3. Accidental Loss. The event that constitutes the trigger of a claim should be fortuitous, or at least outside the control of the beneficiary of the insurance. The loss should be ‘pure,’ in the sense that it results from an event for which there is only the opportunity for cost. Events that contain speculative elements, such as ordinary business risks, are generally not considered insurable.4. Large Loss. The size of the loss must be meaningful from the perspective of the insured. Insurance premiums need to cover both the expected cost of losses, plus the cost of issuing and administering the policy, adjusting losses, and supplying the capital needed to reasonably assure that the insurer will be able to pay claims. For small losses these latter costs may be several times the size of the expected cost of losses. There is little point in paying such costs unless the protection offered has real value to a buyer.5. Affordable Premium. If the likelihood of an insured event is so high, or the cost of the event so large, that the resulting premium is large relative to the amount of protection offered, it is not likely that anyone will buy insurance, even if on offer. Further, as the accounting profession formally recognizes in financial accounting standards, the premium cannot be so large that there is not a reasonable chance of a significant loss to the insurer. If there is no such chance of loss, the transaction may have the form of insurance, but not the substance. (See the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board standard number 113)6. Calculable Loss. There are two elements that must be at least estimable, if not formally calculable: the probability of loss, and the attendant cost. Probability of loss is generally an empirical exercise, while cost has more to do with the ability of a reasonable person in possession of a copy of the insurance policy and a proof of loss associated with a claim presented under that policy to make a reasonably definite and objective evaluation of the amount of the loss recoverable as a result of the claim.7. Limited risk of catastrophically large losses. The essential risk is often aggregation. If the same event can cause losses to numerous policyholders of the same insurer, the ability of that insurer to issue policies becomes constrained, not by factors surrounding the individual characteristics of a given policyholder, but by the factors surrounding the sum of all policyholders so exposed. Typically, insurers prefer to limit their exposure to a loss from a single event to some small portion of their capital base, on the order of 5 percent. Where the loss can be aggregated, or an individual policy could produce exceptionally large claims, the capital constraint will restrict an insurer's appetite for additional policyholders. The classic example is earthquake insurance, where the ability of an underwriter to issue a new policy depends on the number and size of the policies that it has already underwritten. Wind insurance in hurricane zones, particularly along coast lines, is another example of this phenomenon. In extreme cases, the aggregation can affect the entire industry, since the combined capital of insurers and reinsurers can be small compared to the needs of potential policyholders in areas exposed to aggregation risk. In commercial fire insurance it is possible to find single properties whose total exposed value is well in excess of any individual insurer’s capital constraint. Such properties are generally shared among several insurers, or are insured by a single insurer who syndicates the risk into the reinsurance market.IndemnificationThe technical definition of "indemnity" means to make whole again. There are two types of insurance contracts; 1) an "indemnity" policy and 2) a "pay on behalf" or "on behalf of"[3] policy. The difference is significant on paper, but rarely material in practice.An "indemnity" policy will never pay claims until the insured has paid out of pocket to some third party; for example, a visitor to your home slips on a floor that you left wet and sues you for $10,000 and wins. Under an "indemnity" policy the homeowner would have to come up with the $10,000 to pay for the visitor's fall and then would be "indemnified" by the insurance carrier for the out of pocket costs (the $10,000)[4].Under the same situation, a "pay on behalf" policy, the insurance carrier would pay the claim and the insured (the homeowner) would not be out of pocket for anything. Most modern liability insurance is written on the basis of "pay on behalf" language[5].An entity seeking to transfer risk (an individual, corporation, or association of any type, etc.) becomes the 'insured' party once risk is assumed by an 'insurer', the insuring party, by means of a contract, called an insurance 'policy'. Generally, an insurance contract includes, at a minimum, the following elements: the parties (the insurer, the insured, the beneficiaries), the premium, the period of coverage, the particular loss event covered, the amount of coverage (i.e., the amount to be paid to the insured or beneficiary in the event of a loss), and exclusions (events not covered). An insured is thus said to be "indemnified" against the loss events covered in the policy.When insured parties experience a loss for a specified peril, the coverage entitles the policyholder to make a 'claim' against the insurer for the covered amount of loss as specified by the policy. The fee paid by the insured to the insurer for assuming the risk is called the 'premium'. Insurance premiums from many insureds are used to fund accounts reserved for later payment of claims—in theory for a relatively few claimants—and for overhead costs. So long as an insurer maintains adequate funds set aside for anticipated losses (i.e., reserves), the remaining margin is an insurer's profit.Insurers' business modelProfit = earned premium + investment income - incurred loss - underwriting expenses.Insurers make money in two ways: (1) through underwriting, the process by which insurers select the risks to insure and decide how much in premiums to charge for accepting those risks and (2) by investing the premiums they collect from insured parties.The most complicated aspect of the insurance business is the underwriting of policies. Using a wide assortment of data, insurers predict the likelihood that a claim will be made against their policies and price products accordingly. To this end, insurers use actuarial science to quantify the risks they are willing to assume and the premium they will charge to assume them. Data is analyzed to fairly accurately project the rate of future claims based on a given risk. Actuarial science uses statistics and probability to analyze the risks associated with the range of perils covered, and these scientific principles are used to determine an insurer's overall exposure. Upon termination of a given policy, the amount of premium collected and the investment gains thereon minus the amount paid out in claims is the insurer's underwriting profit on that policy. Of course, from the insurer's perspective, some policies are winners (i.e., the insurer pays out less in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income) and some are losers (i.e., the insurer pays out more in claims and expenses than it receives in premiums and investment income).An insurer's underwriting performance is measured in its combined ratio. The loss ratio (incurred losses and loss-adjustment expenses divided by net earned premium) is added to the expense ratio (underwriting expenses divided by net premium written) to determine the company's combined ratio. The combined ratio is a reflection of the company's overall underwriting profitability. A combined ratio of less than 100 percent indicates underwriting profitability, while anything over 100 indicates an underwriting loss.Insurance companies also earn investment profits on “float”. “Float” or available reserve is the amount of money, at hand at any given moment, that an insurer has collected in insurance premiums but has not been paid out in claims. Insurers start investing insurance premiums as soon as they are collected and continue to earn interest on them until claims are paid out.In the United States, the underwriting loss of property and casualty insurance companies was $142.3 billion in the five years ending 2003. But overall profit for the same period was $68.4 billion, as the result of float. Some insurance industry insiders, most notably Hank Greenberg, do not believe that it is forever possible to sustain a profit from float without an underwriting profit as well, but this opinion is not universally held. Naturally, the “float” method is difficult to carry out in an economically depressed period. Bear markets do cause insurers to shift away from investments and to toughen up their underwriting standards. So a poor economy generally means high insurance premiums. This tendency to swing between profitable and unprofitable periods over time is commonly known as the "underwriting" or insurance cycle. [6]Property and casualty insurers currently make the most money from their auto insurance line of business. Generally better statistics are available on auto losses and underwriting on this line of business has benefited greatly from advances in computing. Additionally, property losses in the US, due to natural catastrophes, have exacerbated this trend.Finally, claims and loss handling is the materialized utility of insurance. In managing the claims-handling function, insurers seek to balance the elements of customer satisfaction, administrative handling expenses, and claims overpayment leakages. As part of this balancing act, fraudulent insurance practices are a major business risk that must be managed and overcome.History of insuranceIn some sense we can say that insurance appears simultaneously with the appearance of human society. We know of two types of economies in human societies: money economies (with markets, money, financial instruments and so on) and non-money or natural economies (without money, markets, financial instruments and so on). The second type is a more ancient form than the first. In such an economy and community, we can see insurance in the form of people helping each other. For example, if a house burns down, the members of the community help build a new one. Should the same thing happen to one's neighbour, the other neighbours must help. Otherwise, neighbours will not receive help in the future. This type of insurance has survived to the present day in some countries where modern money economy with its financial instruments is not widespread (for example countries in the territory of the former Soviet Union).Turning to insurance in the modern sense (i.e., insurance in a modern money economy, in which insurance is part of the financial sphere), early methods of transferring or distributing risk were practised by Chinese and Babylonian traders as long ago as the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, respectively. Chinese merchants travelling treacherous river rapids would redistribute their wares across many vessels to limit the loss due to any single vessel's capsizing. The Babylonians developed a system which was recorded in the famous Code of Hammurabi, c. 1750 BC, and practised by early Mediterranean sailing merchants. If a merchant received a loan to fund his shipment, he would pay the lender an additional sum in exchange for the lender's guarantee to cancel the loan should the shipment be stolen.Achaemenian monarchs of Iran were the first to insure their people and made it official by registering the insuring process in governmental notary offices. The insurance tradition was performed each year in Norouz (beginning of the Iranian New Year); the heads of different ethnic groups as well as others willing to take part, presented gifts to the monarch. The most important gift was presented during a special ceremony. When a gift was worth more than 10,000 Derrik (Achaemenian gold coin) the issue was registered in a special office. This was advantageous to those who presented such special gifts. For others, the presents were fairly assessed by the confidants of the court. Then the assessment was registered in special offices.The purpose of registering was that whenever the person who presented the gift registered by the court was in trouble, the monarch and the court would help him. Jahez, a historian and writer, writes in one of his books on ancient Iran: "[W]henever the owner of the present is in trouble or wants to construct a building, set up a feast, have his children married, etc. the one in charge of this in the court would check the registration. If the registered amount exceeded 10,000 Derrik, he or she would receive an amount of twice as much."[1]A thousand years later, the inhabitants of Rhodes invented the concept of the 'general average'. Merchants whose goods were being shipped together would pay a proportionally divided premium which would be used to reimburse any merchant whose goods were jettisoned during storm or sinkage.The Greeks and Romans introduced the origins of health and life insurance c. 600 AD when they organized guilds called "benevolent societies" which cared for the families and paid funeral expenses of members upon death. Guilds in the Middle Ages served a similar purpose. The Talmud deals with several aspects of insuring goods. Before insurance was established in the late 17th century, "friendly societies" existed in England, in which people donated amounts of money to a general sum that could be used for emergencies.Separate insurance contracts (i.e., insurance policies not bundled with loans or other kinds of contracts) were invented in Genoa in the 14th century, as were insurance pools backed by pledges of landed estates. These new insurance contracts allowed insurance to be separated from investment, a separation of roles that first proved useful in marine insurance. Insurance became far more sophisticated in post-Renaissance Europe, and specialized varieties developed.Toward the end of the seventeenth century, London's growing importance as a centre for trade increased demand for marine insurance. In the late 1680s, Edward Lloyd opened a coffee house that became a popular haunt of ship owners, merchants, and ships’ captains, and thereby a reliable source of the latest shipping news. It became the meeting place for parties wishing to insure cargoes and ships, and those willing to underwrite such ventures. Today, Lloyd's of London remains the leading market (note that it is not an insurance company) for marine and other specialist types of insurance, but it works rather differently than the more familiar kinds of insurance.Insurance as we know it today can be traced to the Great Fire of London, which in 1666 devoured 13,200 houses. In the aftermath of this disaster, Nicholas Barbon opened an office to insure buildings. In 1680, he established England's first fire insurance company, "The Fire Office," to insure brick and frame homes.The first insurance company in the United States underwrote fire insurance and was formed in Charles Town (modern-day Charleston), South Carolina, in 1732. Benjamin Franklin helped to popularize and make standard the practice of insurance, particularly against fire in the form of perpetual insurance. In 1752, he founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin's company was the first to make contributions toward fire prevention. Not only did his company warn against certain fire hazards, it refused to insure certain buildings where the risk of fire was too great, such as all wooden houses. In the United States, regulation of the insurance industry is highly Balkanized, with primary responsibility assumed by individual state insurance departments. Whereas insurance markets have become centralized nationally and internationally, state insurance commissioners operate individually, though at times in concert through a national insurance commissioners' organization. In recent years, some have called for a dual state and federal regulatory system (commonly referred to as the Optional Federal Charter (OFC)) for insurance similar to that which oversees state banks and national banks.

Health Insurance

HistoryAccident insurance was first offered in the United States by the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts. This firm, founded in 1850, offered insurance against injuries arising from railroad and steamboat accidents. Sixty organizations were offering accident insurance in the US by 1866, but the industry consolidated rapidly soon thereafter. While there were earlier experiments, the origins of sickness coverage in the US effectively date from 1890. The first employer-sponsored group disability policy was issued in 1911.Before the development of medical expense insurance, patients were expected to pay all other health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the business model. During the middle to late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures, and also most prescription drugs, but this was not always the case.Hospital and medical expense policies were introduced during the first half of the 20th century. During the 1920s, individual hospitals began offering services to individuals on a pre-paid basis, eventually leading to the development of organizations.The predecessors of today's(HMOs) originated in 1929, through the 1930s and on during World War II.Public health care coveragePublic programs provide the primary source of coverage for most seniors and for low-income children and families who meet certain eligibility requirements. The primary public programs are Medicare, a federal social insurance program for seniors and certain disabled individuals; Medicaid, funded jointly by the federal government and states but administered at the state level, which covers certain very low income children and their families; and, also a federal-state partnership that serves certain children and families who do not qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private coverage. Other public programs include military health benefits provided through and the and benefits provided through the Some states have additional programs for low-income individuals.MedicareIn the United States, Medicare is a federal social insurance program that provides health insurance to elderly workers and their dependents, individuals who become totally and permanently disabled, and end stage (ESRD) patients. Some health care economists (Uwe Reinhardt of and Stuart Butler among others) assert that the third-party payment feature of this program has had the of distorting the price of medical procedures. As a result, the Health Care Financing Administration has set up a list of procedures and corresponding prices under the Recent research has found that the health trends of previously uninsured adults, especially those with chronic health problems, improves once they enter the Medicare program.Medicare Advantageexpand the health care options for Medicare beneficiaries. The option for Medicare Advantage plans is a result of the with the intent to better control the rapid growth in Medicare spending, as well as to provide Medicare beneficiaries more choices.Medicare Part D (Prescription Drugs)provides a private insurance option to allow Medicare beneficiaries to purchase subsidized coverage for the costs of It was enacted as part of to 2003 (MMA) and went into effect on January 1, 2006.MedicailMedicaid was instituted for the very poor in 1965. Despite its establishment, the percentage of US residents who lack any form of health insurance has increased since 1994. It has been reported that the number of physicians accepting Medicaid has decreased in recent years due to relatively high administrative costs and low reimbursements.Medicaid is a social welfare or program rather than a social insurance program.State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)The State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is a joint state/federal program to provide health insurance to children in families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance. The statutory authority for SCHIP is under title XXI o SCHIP programs are run by the individual states according to requirements set by the federal and may be structured as independent programs separate from Medicaid (separate child health programs), as expansions of their Medicaid programs (SCHIP Medicaid expansion programs), or combine these approaches (SCHIP combination programs). States receive enhanced federal funds for their SCHIP programs at a rate above the regular Medicaid match.Military health benefitsHealth benefits are provided to active duty service members, retired service members and their dependents by the Department of Defense Military Health System (MHS). The MHS consists of a direct care network of Military Treatment Facilities and a purchased care network known as Additionally, veterans may also be eligible for benefits through theIndian health serviceThe (IHS) provides medical assistance to eligible American Indians at IHS facilities, and helps pay the cost of some services provided by non-IHS health care providers.State risk poolsIn 1976, some states began providing guaranteed-issuance risk pools, which enable individuals who are medically uninsurable through private health insurance to purchase a state-sponsored health insurance plan, usually at higher cost. Minnesota was the first to offer such a plan; 34 states now offer them. Plans vary greatly from state to state, both in their costs and benefits to consumers and in their methods of funding and operations. They serve a very small portion of the uninsurable market—about 182,000 people in the US as of 2004.In best cases, they allow people with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease or other chronic illnesses to be able to switch jobs or seek self-employment without fear of being without health care benefits.However, the plans are expensive, with premiums that can be double the average policy, and the pools currently cover only 1 in 25 of the so-called "uninsurable" population.Efforts to pass a national pool have as yet been unsuccessful, but some federal tax money has been awarded to states to innovate and improve their plans.Private health care coveragePrivate health insurance may be purchased on a group basis (e.g., by a firm to cover its employees) or purchased by individual consumers. Most Americans with private health insurance receive it through an employer-sponsored program. According to the some 60% of Americans are covered through an employer, while about 9% purchase health insurance directly.The US has a joint federal/state system for regulating insurance, with the federal government ceding primary responsibility to the states under the States regulate the content of health insurance policies and often require coverage of specific types of medical services or health care provider.State mandates generally do not apply to the health plans offered by large employers, due to the preemption clause Employer-sponsoredEmployer-sponsored health insurance is paid for by businesses on behalf of their employees as part of an package. Most private health coverage in the US is employment based. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, nearly 100% of large firms offer health insurance to their employees The employer typically makes a substantial contribution towards the cost of coverage. In 2008 the average employee contribution was 16% of the cost of single coverage and 27% of the cost of family coverage. These percentages have been stable since 1999. Health benefits provided by employers are also tax favored. Employee contributions can be made on a pre-tax basis if the employer offers the benefits through a section 125Costs for employer-paid health insurance are rising rapidly: since 2001, premiums for family coverage have increased 78%, while wages have risen 19% and inflation has risen 17%, according to a 2007 study by Employer costs have risen significantly per hour worked, and vary significantly. In particular, average employer costs for health benefits vary by firm size and occupation. The cost per hour of health benefits is generally higher for workers in higher-wage occupations, but represent a smaller percentage of payroll.The percentage of total compensation devoted to health benefits has been rising since the 1960s.Average premiums, including both the employer and employee portions, were $4,704 for single coverage and $12,680 for family coverage in 2008 However, in a 2007 analysis, the Employee Benefit Research Institute concluded that the availability of employment-based health benefits for active workers in the US is stable. The "take-up rate," or percentage of eligible workers participating in employer-sponsored plans, is falling. The percentage of workers actually covered has fallen somewhat, but not sharply. EBRI interviewed employers for the study, and found that others might follow if a major employer discontinued health benefits. Public policy changes could also result in a reduction in employer support for employment-based health benefits.Although much more likely to offer retiree health benefits than small firms, the percentage of large firms offering these benefits fell from 66% in 1988 to 34% in 2002.

Computer

Personal Computers, microcomputers were made possible by two technical innovations in the field of microelectronics: the integrated circuit, or IC, which was developed in 1959; and the microprocessor, which first appeared in 1971. The IC permitted the miniaturization of computer-memory circuits, and the microprocessor reduced the size of a computer's CPU to the size of a single silicon chip. The invention of the microprocessor, a machine which combines the equivalent of thousands of transistors on a single, tiny silicon chip, was developed by Ted Hoff at Intel Corporation in the Santa Clara Valley south of San Francisco, California, an area that was destined to become known to the world as Silicon Valley because of the microprocessor and computer industry that grew up there. Because a CPU calculates, performs logical operations, contains operating instructions, and manages data flows, the potential existed for developing a separate system that could function as a complete microcomputer.The first such desktop-size system specifically designed for personal use appeared in 1974; it was offered by Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (MITS). The owners of the system were then encouraged by the editor of a popular technology magazine to create and sell a mail-order computer kit through the magazine. The computer, which was called Altair, retailed for slightly less than $400.The demand for the microcomputer kit was immediate, unexpected, and totally overwhelming. Scores of small entrepreneurial companies responded to this demand by producing computers for the new market. The first major electronics firm to manufacture and sell personal computers, Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack), introduced its model in 1977. It quickly dominated the field, because of the combination of two attractive features: a keyboard and a cathode-ray display terminal (CRT). It was also popular because it could be programmed and the user was able to store information by means of cassette tape.Soon after Tandy's new model was introduced, two engineer-programmers—Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs—started a new computer manufacturing company named Apple Computers.In 1976, in what is now the Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created a homemade microprocessor computer board called Apple I. Working from Jobs’ parents’ garage, the two men began to manufacture and market the Apple I to local hobbyists and electronics enthusiasts. Early in 1977, Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computer, Inc., and in April of that year introduced the Apple II, the world’s first personal computer. Based on a board of their design, the Apple II, complete with keyboard and color graphics capability, retailed for $1290.Some of the new features they introduced into their own microcomputers were expanded memory, inexpensive disk-drive programs and data storage, and color graphics. Apple Computers went on to become the fastest-growing company in U.S. business history. Its rapid growth inspired a large number of similar microcomputer manufacturers to enter the field. Before the end of the decade, the market for personal computers had become clearly defined.In 1981, IBM introduced its own microcomputer model, the IBM PC. Although it did not make use of the most recent computer technology, the PC was a milestone in this burgeoning field. It proved that the microcomputer industry was more than a current fad, and that the microcomputer was in fact a necessary tool for the business community. The PC's use of a 16-bit microprocessor initiated the development of faster and more powerful micros, and its use of an operating system that was available to all other computer makers led to a de facto standardization of the industry.In the mid-1980s, a number of other developments were especially important for the growth of microcomputers. One of these was the introduction of a powerful 32-bit computer capable of running advanced multi-user operating systems at high speeds. This has dulled the distinction between microcomputers and minicomputers, placing enough computing power on an office desktop to serve all small businesses and most medium-size businesses.Another innovation was the introduction of simpler, "user-friendly" methods for controlling the operations of microcomputers. By substituting a graphical user interface (GUI) for the conventional operating system, computers such as the Apple Macintosh allow the user to select icons—graphic symbols of computer functions—from a display screen instead of requiring typed commands. Douglas Engelbart, invented an "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System": the prototype of the computer "mouse" whose convenience has revolutionized personal computing. New voice-controlled systems are now available, and users may eventually be able to use the words and syntax of spoken language to operate their microcomputers.

Forex In India

Forex in India. Online Forex TradingIn FOREX trading there are two common types of analysis that most traders utilize, they are fundamental and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis attempts to predict currency movement based off of political and economy indicators. Technical analysis uses historical economic information to predict changes in the FOREX market.Fundamental Analysis:Political and economic changes are the basis of fundamental analysis. These can frequently affect currency prices. Traders that take advantage of fundamental analysis will gather their information from a variety of news sources. They are looking for information about unemployment forecasts, political ideologies, economic policies, inflation and growth rates.Fundamental analysis will provide you with an overview of currency movements and a broad picture of the economic conditions. Most traders then will combine their fundamental analysis with technical analysis to plot actual entrance and exit points as well as confirming the information provided by their fundamental analysis.Interest Rates – can cause a currency to either strengthen or weaken depending on the direction of movement. In some cases high interest rates will attract foreign money, however high interest rates will frequently cause stock market investors to sell of their portfolios. They do this believing that the higher cost of borrowing money will adversely affect many companies. If enough investors sell of their holdings in can cause a downturn in the market and negatively affect the economy.Which of these two affects will take place depends on many complex factors, but there is usually an agreement among economic observers as to how the current change in interest rates will affect the general economy and the price of the currency.International Trade – If there is a trade deficit (more items imported than exported) it is usually considered a negative indicator. When there is a trade deficit it means that more money is leaving the country to buy foreign goods than is entering the country and this can have a devaluing effect on the currency. Usually though trade imbalances are already factored into the market consideration. If a country normally operates with a trade deficit then there should not be an affect on the currency price. The currency price will normally only be effected by trade differences when the deficit is greater than the market expected.Technical Analysis:The other common form of analysis is technical analysis. Technical Analysis is based on the following assumptions:1. Price movements are a result of combined market forces. Political events, economic conditions, seasonal fluctuations, supply and demand are all things that can effect currency prices. Technical analysts do not concern themselves with why the market moves, they are only interested in the movements themselves. 2. Currency prices on the FOREX market follow trends. Predictable consequences have been linked with many recognized market patterns.3. Historical trends can be used to predict current price movements. Data on the FOREX market has been collected for the last 100 years, over that time certain patterns have become emergent. Human psychology and the way people react to certain circumstances are the basis of these patterns.Most traders consider technical analysis to be of critical importance even though they may also use fundamental analysis to support and confirm the strategy suggested by technical analysis.Unlike fundamental analysis technical analysis can be applied to many different currencies and markets at the same time. Since fundamental analysis requires detailed knowledge of the economic and political conditions of a certain country it is nearly impossible for any single trader to perform proper fundamental analysis on more than a few countries.For the beginning trader the complexities of technical analysis may seem overwhelming and they may even wonder if it is actually necessary. If you wish to be successful at FOREX trading you must have a strategy. Any strategy can work but technical analysis has been proven as a reliable and effective method of predicting market changes. Many forces can affect currency prices though so technical analysis is no guarantee, most successful traders utilize a combination of technical and fundamental analysis.

NASA

Space race The worm logo used from 1975 to 1992.After the s launch of the world's first human-made) on October 4, 1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. The, alarmed by the perceived threat to U.S. security and technological leadership (known as the "), urged immediate and swift action; President and his advisors counseled more deliberate measures. Several months of debate produced an agreement that a new federal agency was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was also created at this time and many of DARPA's early space programs were soon transferred to NASA.officially Satellite 1958 Alpha, was the first Earth artificial satellite of the United States, having been launched at 10:48 pm EST on January 31, 1958. On July 29, 1958, President Eisenhower signed the establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. When it began operations on October 1, 1958, NASA consisted mainly of the four laboratories and some 80 employees of the government's 46-year-old research agency, the (NACA). A significant contributor to NASA's entry into the Space race was the technology from the, led by who became a of the United States after He is today regarded as the father of the United States space program. Elements of the (of which von Braun's team was a part) and the were incorporated into NASA.NASA's earliest programs involved research into and were conducted under the pressure of the competition between the U.S. and the (the) that existed during the, initiated in 1958, started NASA down the path of human space exploration with missions designed to discover simply if man could survive in Representatives from the U.S. Army (M.L. Raines, LTC, USA), Navy (P.L. Havenstein, CDR, USN) and Air Force (K.G. Lindell, COL, USAF) were selected/requested to provide assistance to the NASA Space Task Group through coordination with the existing U.S. defense research and defense contracting infrastructure, and technical assistance resulting from experimental aircraft (and the associated military test pilot pool) development in the 1950s. On May 5, 1961, astronaut—one of the seven astronauts selected as pilot for this mission—became the first American in space when he piloted on a 15-minute suborbital flight. became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962 during the 5 and a quarter-hour flight of After the Mercury project, was launched to conduct experiments and work out issues relating to a moon mission. The first Gemini flight with astronauts on board, was flown by and on March 23, 1965. Nine other missions followed, showing that long-duration human space flight was possible, proving that rendezvous and docking with another vehicle in space was possible, and gathering medical data on the effects of weightlessness on human beings.During this time NASA also began to explore the solar system with unmanned probes. As with the manned program, the Soviets had the first successes, such as the first photographs of the lunar far side, but NASA's was the first space probe to visit another planet, Venus, in 1962.Apollo programThe Apollo program was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. ended tragically when all the astronauts inside died due to fire in the command module during an experimental simulation. Because of this incident, there were a few unmanned tests before men boarded the spacecraft. and tested various components while orbiting the Moon, and returned photographs. On July 20, 1969, landed the first men on the moon, did not land on the Moon due to a malfunction, but did return photographs. The six missions that landed on the Moon returned a wealth of scientific data and almost 400 kilograms of lunar samples. Experiments included, and solar wind experiments.SkylabSkylab was the first the United States launched into orbit. The 75 station was in Earth orbit from 1973 to 1979, and was visited by crews three times, in 1973 and 1974. Skylab was originally intended to study gravitational anomalies in other solar systems, but the assignment was curtailed due to lack of funding and interest. It included a laboratory for studying the effects of, and a. A Space Shuttle was planned to dock with and elevate Skylab to a higher safe altitude, but Skylab reentered the atmosphere and was destroyed in 1979, before the first shuttle could be launched, landing over parts of Western Australia and the Indian Ocean, with some fragments being recovered.Apollo-SoyuzThe Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (or ASTP) was the first joint flight of the U.S. and. The mission took place in July 1975. For the United States of America, it was the last flight, as well as the last manned space launch until the flight of the first in April 1981.Shuttle eraThe became the major focus of NASA in the late 1970s and the 1980s. Planned to be a frequently launchable and mostly reusable vehicle, four space shuttles were built by 1985. The first to launch, , did so on April 12, 1981The shuttle was not all good news for NASA – flights were much more expensive than initially projected, and the public again lost interest as missions appeared to become mundane until the 1986 again highlighted the risks of space flight. Work began on as a focus for the manned space program, but within NASA there was argument that these projects came at the expense of more inspiring unmanned missions such as the probes.Nonetheless, the shuttle launched milestone projects like the (HST). The HST is a joint project between NASA and the (ESA), and its success has paved the way for greater collaboration between the agencies. The HST was created with a relatively small budget of $2 billion but has continued operation since 1990, delighting both scientists and the public. Some of its images, such as the groundbreaking, have become famous.In 1995 Russian-American interaction resumed with the missions. Once more an American vehicle docked with a Russian craft, this time a full-fledged space station. This cooperation continues to today, with Russia and America the two biggest partners in the largest space station ever built – the (ISS). The strength of their cooperation on this project was even more evident when NASA began relying on Russian launch vehicles to service the ISS during the two year grounding of the shuttle fleet following the 2003, which killed the crew of six Americans and one Israeli, caused a 29-month hiatus in space shuttle flights and triggered a serious re-examination of NASA's priorities. The U.S. government, various scientists, and the public all reconsidered the future of the space program.Costing over $100 billion, it has been difficult at times for NASA to justify the ISS The population at large has historically been hard to impress with details of scientific experiments in low earth orbit, preferring news of grand projects to exotic locations such as During much of the 1990s, NASA was faced with shrinking annual budgets due to Congressional belt-tightening in Washington, D.C. In response, NASA's ninth administrator, , pioneered the "faster, better, cheaper" approach that enabled NASA to cut costs while still delivering a wide variety of aerospace programs That method was criticized and re-evaluated following the twin losses of in 1999. Yet, NASA's shuttle program had made 116 successful launches as of December 2006.NASA's futureIt is the current that NASA, "execute a sustained and affordable human and robotic program of space exploration and develop, acquire, and use civil space systems to advance fundamental scientific knowledge of our Earth system, solar system, and universe NASA's ongoing investigations include in-depth surveys of and studies of the and the Other NASA spacecraft are presently en route to and. With missions to in planning stages, NASA's itinerary covers over half the solar system.An improved and larger planetary, is under construction and slated to launch in 2011, after a slight delay caused by hardware challenges, which has bumped it back from the October 2009 scheduled launch. The mission to Pluto was launched in 2006 and will fly by in 2015. The probe received a from in February 2007, examining some of Jupiter's inner moons and testing on-board instruments during the fly-by. On the horizon of NASA's plans is the as part of the to study the.Vision for space explorationOn January 14, 2004, ten days after the landing of the Mars Exploration Rover, US announced a new plan for NASA's future, dubbed the. According to this plan, will return to the by 2018, and set up outposts as a testbed and potential resource for future missions. The will be retired in 2010 and will replace it by 2015, capable of both docking with the (ISS) and leaving the Earth's orbit. The future of the ISS is somewhat uncertain – construction will be completed, but beyond that is less clear. Although the plan initially met with skepticism from Congress, in late 2004 Congress agreed to provide start-up funds for the first year's worth of the new space vision.Hoping to spur innovation from the private sector, NASA established a series of, technology prizes for non-government teams, in 2004. The Challenges include tasks that will be useful for implementing the Vision for Space Exploration, such as building more efficient astronaut gloves.

History Of Barak Obama

Barack Obama BiographyBarack Hussein Obama,Born: August 4, 1961 (Hawaii)Lives in: Chicago, IllinoisZodiac Sign: LeoHeight: 6′ 1″ (1.87m)Family: Married wife Michelle in 1992, 2 daughters Malia and SashaParents: Barack Obama, Sr. (from Kenya) and Ann Dunham (from Kansas)Religion: United Church of ChristDrives a: Ford Escape hybrid, Chrysler 300CEducation:– Graduated: Columbia University (1983) - Major: Political Science– Law Degree from Harvard (1991) - Major: J.D. - Magna Cum Laude– Attended: Occidental CollegeCareer:–U.S. President - inaugurated January 20, 2009 –U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2005-2008Government Committees:– Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee– Foreign Relations Committee– Veterans Affairs Committee– 2005 and 2006: served on the Environment and Public Works CommitteeRelated WorksBooks1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance2006 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream2006 It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane KatrinaRelated PeopleAbraham LincolRelated Sitein the news…May 21, 2009President Barack Obama spoke out on Thursday (May 21, 2009) about his hopes to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, and his efforts to remove many of the Bush presidency'santi-terrorismpolicies.Obama made his case after a recent Senate decision denied the funding needed to close the prison. The Senate—consisting largely of fellow Democrats—refused to provide any financing until Obama presents a detailed plan on what to do with the 240 terrorism suspects held there.Obama vowed to close the detention center, located at a U.S. Naval base in Cuba, within a year in an effort to repair America's tarnished image abroad. Seeking to calm fears that Guantanamo detainees could eventually be released on U.S. soil, Obama insisted anyone endangering national security would not be released. But he said some terrorism suspects could be tried in U.S. courts and be held in maximum-security U.S. prisons.May 18, 2009U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet on Monday (May 18, 2009) to discuss tensions in the Middle East. This is Netanyahu's first visit to Washington since taking office on March 31 of this year.A Netanyahu advisor says Iran's nuclear ambitions are on the top of the meeting's agenda. "There is a sense of urgency on our side," Israeli national security adviser, Uzi Arad said Sunday about Iran's current activities."The prime minister will emphatically emphasized the element of urgency."Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said this month that world powers should take action against Iran if it does not curb its nuclear activities by August. Obama says he hopes to persuade Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, to take a diplomatic approach to dealings with Iran. "I can make an argument to Israel as an ally that the approach we are taking is one that has to be given a chance and offers the prospect of security, not just for the United States but also for Israel, that is superior to other alternatives," Obama said. If diplomacy fails, Israeli leaders have not ruled out military strikes against Iran, which maintains it is enriching uranium for power generation. Any call by Netanyahu to put a time limit on diplomatic overtures toward Iran could pose a challenge to Obama's intentions to engage Tehran on issues ranging from its nuclear program to Afghanistan.Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Dunham’s mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G. I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.Meantime, Barack’s father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya pursue his dreams in Hawaii. At the time of his birth, Obama’s parents were students at the East–West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.Obama’s parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama’s father went to Harvard to pursue Ph. D. studies and then returned to Kenya.His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro–Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother (who died of ovarian cancer in 1995).He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African–American.In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.After working at Business International Corporation (a company that provided international business information to corporate clients) and NYPIRG, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city’s South Side.It was during this time that Obama, who said he "was not raised in a religious household," joined the Trinity United Church of Christ. He also visited relatives in Kenya, which included an emotional visit to the graves of his father and paternal grandfather.Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School. And he helped organize voter registration drives during 1992 presidential campaign.Obama published an autobiography in 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. And he won a Grammy for the audio version of the book.Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat. He was elected in 1996 from the south side neighborhood of Hyde Park.During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.In 2000, Obama made an unsuccessful Democratic primary run for the U. S. House of Representatives seat held by four-term incumbent candidate Bobby Rush.Following the 9/11 attacks, Obama was an early opponent of President push to war with Iraq. Obama was still a state senator when he spoke against a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq during a rally at Chicago’s Federal Plaza in October 2002."I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars," he said. "What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.""He's a bad guy," Obama said, referring to Iraqi dictator . "The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.""I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U. S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences," Obama continued. "I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda."The war with Iraq began in 2003 and Obama decided to run for the U.S. Senate open seat vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. In the 2004 Democratic primary, he won 52 percent of the vote, defeating multimillionaire businessman Blair Hull and Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes.That summer, he was invited to deliver the keynote speech in support of john kerry at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Obama emphasized the importance of unity, and made veiled jabs at the Bush administration and the diversionary use of wedge issues."We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states," he said. "We coach Little League in the blue states, and yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq, and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the Stars and Stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Mobile

HistoryIn 1908, for a wireless telephone was issued in to. He applied this patent to "cave radio" telephones and not directly to as the term is currently understood. Cells for mobile phone base stations were invented in 1947 by engineers at and further developed by Bell Labs during the 1960s. have a long and varied history going back to 's invention and shore-to-ship demonstration of radio telephony, through the with military use of radio telephony links and civil services in the 1950s, while hand-held cellular radio devices have been available since 1973. A patent for the first wireless phone as we know today was issued in of Euclid, Ohio on June 10, 1969.In 1945, the zero generation of mobile telephones was introduced. 0G mobile phones, such as, were not cellular, and so did not feature "" from one base station to the next and reuse of radio frequency channels] Like other technologies of the time, it involved a single, powerful base station covering a wide area, and each telephone would effectively monopolize a channel over that whole area while in use. The concepts of frequency reuse and handoff, as well as a number of other concepts that formed the basis of modern cell phone technology, are first described in, issued May 1, 1979 to Charles A. Gladden and Martin H. Parelman, both of and assigned by them to the United States Government.This is the first embodiment of all the concepts that formed the basis of the next major step in the Analog cellular telephone. Concepts covered in this patent (cited in at least 34 other patents) also were later extended to several satellite communication systems. Later updating of the cellular system to a digital system credits this patent.researcher and executive is widely considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for hand-held use in a non-vehicle setting. Cooper is the inventor named on "Radio telephone system" filed on with the and later issued as US Patent 3,906,166. Using a modern, if somewhat heavy portable handset, Cooper made the first call on a hand-held mobile phone.The first commercial citywide cellular network was launched in Japan by in 1979. Fully automatic cellular networks were first introduced in the early to mid 1980s (the generation). The (NMT) system went online in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in 1981.mobiles and modems used in Japan around 1997-2003In 1983 was the first approved mobile phone by in the United States. In 1984, developed modern commercial cellular technology (based, to a large extent, on the Gladden, Parelman Patent), which employed multiple, centrally controlled base stations (cell sites), each providing service to a small area (a cell). The cell sites would be set up such that cells partially overlapped. In a cellular system, a signal between a base station (cell site) and a terminal (phone) only need be strong enough to reach between the two, so the same channel can be used simultaneously for separate conversations in different cells.Cellular systems required several leaps of technology, including, which allowed a conversation to continue as a mobile phone traveled from cell to cell. This system included variable transmission power in both the base stations and the telephones (controlled by the base stations), which allowed range and cell size to vary. As the system expanded and neared capacity, the ability to reduce transmission power allowed new cells to be added, resulting in more, smaller cells and thus more capacity. The evidence of this growth can still be seen in the many older, tall cell site towers with no antennae on the upper parts of their towers. These sites originally created large cells, and so had their antennae mounted atop high towers; the towers were designed so that as the system expanded—and cell sizes shrank—the antennae could be lowered on their original masts to reduce range.mobile phoneThe first "modern" network technology on digital 2G (second generation) cellular technology was launched by (now part of in 1991 in on the GSM standard which also marked the introduction of competition in mobile telecoms when Radiolinja challenged incumbent (now part of who ran a 1G NMT network.The first data services appeared on mobile phones starting with person-to-person SMS text messaging in Finland in 1993. First trial payments using a mobile phone to pay for a Coca Cola vending machine were set in Finland in 1998. The first commercial payments were mobile parking trialled in Sweden but first commercially launched in Norway in 1999. The first commercial payment system to mimic banks and credit cards was launched in the Philippines in 1999 simultaneously by mobile operators Globe and Smart. The first content sold to mobile phones was the ringing tone, first launched in 1998 in Finland. The first full internet service on mobile phones was i-Mode introduced by NTT DoCoMo in Japan in 1999.In 2001 the first commercial launch of (Third Generation) was again in Japan by on the standard. Until the early 1990s, following introduction of the most mobile phones were too large to be carried in a jacket pocket, so they were typically installed in vehicles as With the of digital components and the development of more sophisticated batteries, mobile phones have become smaller and lighter.HandsetsA Nokia phone with box.A inside a mobile phoneThere are several categories of mobile phones, from basic phones to feature phones such as musicphones and cameraphones, to smartphones. The first smartphone was the in 1996 which incorporated PDA functionality to the basic mobile phone at the time. As miniaturisation and increased processing power of microchips has enabled ever more features to be added to phones, the concept of the smartphone has evolved, and what was a high-end smartphone five years ago, is a standard phone today. Several phone series have been introduced to address a given market segment, such as the RIM focusing on enterprise/corporate customer email needs; the SonyEricsson Walkman series of musicphones and Cybershot series of cameraphones; the NokiaN-Series of multimedia phones; and the Apple which provides full-featured web access and multimedia capabilities.Some phones includes The total value of mobile data services exceeds the value of paid services on the Internet, and was worth 31 billion dollars in 2006 (source Informa] The largest categories of mobile services are music, picture downloads, videogaming, adult entertainment, gambling, video/TV.ApplicationsMobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants 1997-2007The most commonly used data application on mobile phones is SMS text messaging, with 74% of all mobile phone users as active users (over 2.4 billion out of 3.3 billion total subscribers at the end of 2007). SMS text messaging was worth over 100 billion dollars in annual revenues in 2007 and the worldwide average of messaging use is 2.6 SMS sent per day per person across the whole mobile phone subscriber base. (source Informa 2007). The first SMS text message was sent from a computer to a mobile phone in 1992 in the UK, while the first person-to-person SMS from phone to phone was sent in Finland in 1993.The other non-SMS data services used by mobile phones were worth 31 Billion dollars in 2007, and were led by mobile music, downloadable logos and pictures, gaming, gambling, adult entertainment and advertising (source: Informa 2007). The first downloadable mobile content was sold to a mobile phone in Finland in 1998, when Radiolinja (now Elisa) introduced the downloadable ringing tone service. In 1999 Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo introduced its mobile internet service, i-Mode, which today is the world's largest mobile internet service and roughly the same size as Google in annual revenues.The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS, was launched in Finland in 2000. services are expanding with many organisations providing "on-demand" news services by SMS. Some also provide "instant" news pushed out by SMS. also facilitates and public journalism being explored by and and small independent news companies such as in Sri Lanka.Companies like are starting to offer mobile services such as job search and career advice. Consumer applications are on the rise and include everything from information guides on local activities and events to mobile coupons and discount offers one can use to save money on purchases. Even tools for creating websites for mobile phones are increasingly becoming available.Mobile payments were first trialled in Finland in 1998 when two Coca-Cola vending machines in Espoo were enabled to work with SMS payments. Eventually the idea spread and in 1999 the Philippines launched the first commercial mobile payments systems, on the mobile operators Globe and Smart. Today mobile payments ranging from to mobile credit cards to mobile commerce are very widely used in Asia and Africa, and in selected European markets. For example in the Philippines it is not unusual to have one's entire paycheck paid to the mobile account. In Kenya the limit of money transfers from one account to another is one million US dollars. In India paying utility bills with mobile gains a 5% discount. In Estonia the government found criminals collecting cash parking fees, so the government declared that only mobile payments via SMS were valid for parking and today all parking fees in Estonia are handled via mobile and the crime involved in the activity has vanished.Mobile Applications are developed using the Six M's (previously Five M's) service-development theory created by the author Tomi Ahonen with Joe Barrett of Nokia and Paul Golding of Motorola. The Six M's are Movement (location), Moment (time), Me (personalization), Multi-user (community), Money (payments) and Machines (automation). The Six M's / Five M's theory is widely referenced in the telecoms applications literature and used by most major industry players. The first book to discuss the theory was Services for UMTS by Ahonen & Barrett in 2002.

Forex Trading

Forex is a trading 'method' also known as FX or and foreign market exchange. Those involved in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to create a balance as some are going to gain money and others are going to lose money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock market found in any country, but on a much larger, grand scale, that involves people, currencies and trades from around the world, in just about any country. Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. The trading on the forex market is one that you have to watch closely or if you are investing huge amounts of money, you could lose large amounts of money. The main trading areas for forex, happens in Tokyo, in London and in New York, but there are also many other locations around the world where forex trading does take place. The most heavily traded currencies are those that include (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, the Swiss franc, the British pound sterling, the Japanese yen, the Eurozone eruo, and the United States dollar. You can trade any one currency against another and you can trade from that currency to another currency to build up additional money and interest daily. The areas where forex trading is taking place will open and close, and the next will open and close. This is seen also in the stock exchanges from around the world, as different time zones are processing order and trading during different time frames. The results of any forex trading in one country could have results and differences in what happens in additional forex markets as the countries take turns opening and closing with the time zones. Exchange rates are going to vary from forex trade to forex trade, and if you are a broker, or if you are learning about the forex markets you want to know what the rates are on a given day before making any trades. The stock market Is generally based on products, prices, and other factors within businesses that will change the price of stocks. If someone knows what is going to happened before the general public, it is often known as inside trading, using business secrets to buy stocks and make money - which by the way is illegal. There is very little, if any at all inside information in the forex trading markets. The monetary trades, buys and sells are all a part of the forex market but very little is based on business secrets, but more on the value of the economy, the currency and such of a country at that time. Every currency that is traded on the forex market does have a three letter code associated with that currency so there is no misunderstanding about which currency or which country one is investing with at the time. The eruo is the EUR and the US dollar is known as the USD. The British pound is the GBP and the Japanese yen is known as the JPY. If you are interested in contacting a broker and becoming involved in the forex markets you can find many online where you can review the company information and transactions before processing and becoming involved in the forex markets. Forex trading is a ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign-exchange market. The actors in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to strike a balance, because some go to raise money and others are losing money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock in each country, but on a much larger, big, that people, currencies and trade from around the world in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. Trading on the forex market is one that you have to be closely monitored, or if you are investing enormous sums of money, you can lose a lot of money. The main trading for forex, happens in Tokyo, London and New York, but there are also many other places around the world where forex trading is taking place.The most commonly traded currencies are those that are (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, British pound, Japanese yen, the euro eruo and the United States dollar. You can trade one currency against another, and you can trade from that currency into another currency for additional money and interest daily.The areas where forex trading is taking place, opens and closes, and the next open and close. This is also reflected in the stock exchanges from around the world, the different time zones to ensure the processing of and trade in different periods. The results of the forex trading in one country can see the results and the differences in what happens, additional forex markets as the countries that open and close with the time zones. Exchange rates, according to Forex trading Forex trading, and if you are a broker, or if you learn about the forex markets you want to know what the prices are on a given day, before they act.The stock market is usually on the basis of products, prices and other factors in the businesses, the price of the shares. If anyone knows what will happen before the general public, it is often so-called insider trading, using business secrets to buy stocks and make money - which by the way is illegal. There is very little, if at all inside information in the forex markets. The monetary trade, buys and sells are all a part of the forex market but very little on business secrets, but more on the value of the economy, currency and one country at this time.Each currency in the Forex market has a three letter code associated with that currency so there is no misunderstanding about the currency or the country in which you are concerned with investment in time. The eruo is the EUR and U.S. dollar is known as the USD. The British pound is the GBP and the Japanese yen is known as the JPY. If you are interested in contacting a broker and becoming involved in the forex markets you can find many online where you can find information and transactions before processing and the entry into the Forex market.Forex trading is a ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign-exchange market. The actors in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to strike a balance, because some go to raise money and others are losing money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock in each country, but on a much larger, big, that people, currencies and trade from around the world in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. Trading on the forex market is one that you have to be closely monitored, or if you are investing enormous sums of money, you can lose a lot of money. The main trading for forex, happens in Tokyo, London and New York, but there are also many other places around the world where forex trading is taking place.The most commonly traded currencies are those that are (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, Swiss franc, British pound, Japanese yen, the euro eruo and the United States dollar. You can trade one currency against another, and you can trade from that currency into another currency for additional money and interest daily.The areas where forex trading is taking place, opens and closes, and the next open and close. This is also reflected in the stock exchanges from around the world, the different time zones to ensure the processing of and trade in different periods. The results of the forex trading in one country can see the results and the differences in what happens, additional forex markets as the countries that open and close with the time zones. Exchange rates, according to Forex trading Forex trading, and if you are a broker, or if you learn about the forex markets you want to know what the prices are on a given day, before they act.Forex is a trading ‘method’ also known as FX or and foreign market exchange. Those involved in the foreign exchange markets are some of the largest companies and banks from around the world, trading in currencies from various countries to create a balance as some are going to gain money and others are going to lose money. The basics of forex are similar to that of the stock market found in any country, but on a much larger, grand scale, that involves people, currencies and trades from around the world, in just about any country.Different currency rates happen and change every day. What the value of the dollar may be one day could be higher or lower the next. The trading on the forex market is one that you have to watch closely or if you are investing huge amounts of money, you could lose large amounts of money. The main trading areas for forex, happens in Tokyo, in London and in New York, but there are also many other locations around the world where forex trading does take place.The most heavily traded currencies are those that include (in no particular order) the Australian dollar, the Swiss franc, the British pound sterling, the Japanese yen, the Eurozone eruo, and the United States dollar. You can trade any one currency against another and you can trade from that currency to another currency to build up additional money and interest daily.

Forex History

.In 1967, a Chicago bank refused a college professor by the name of Milton Friedman a loan in pound sterling because he had intended to use the funds to short the British currency. Friedman, ho had perceived sterling to be priced too high against the dollar, wanted to sell the currency, then later buy it back to repay the bank after the currency declined, thus pocketing a quick profit. The bank's refusal to grant the loan was due to the Bretton Woods Agreement, established twenty years earlier, which fixed national currencies against the dollar, and set the dollar at a rate of per ounce of gold.The Bretton Woods Agreement, set up in 1944, aimed at installing international monetary stability by preventing money from fleeing across nations, and restricting speculation in the world currencies Prior to the Agreement, the gold exchange standard--prevailing between 1876 and World War I--dominated the international economic system. Under the gold. exchange, currencies gained a new phase of stability as they were backed by the price of gold. It abolished the age-old practice used by kings and rulers of arbitrarily debasing money and triggering inflation. But the gold exchange standard didn't lack faults. As an economy strengthened, it would import heavily from abroad until it ran down its gold reserves required to back its money. As a result, money supply would shrink, interest rates rose and economic activity slowed to the extent of recession. Ultimately, prices of goods had hit bottom, appearing attractive to other nations, which would rush into buying sprees that injected the economy with gold until it increased its money supply, and drive down interest rates and recreate wealth into the economy. Such boom-bust patterns prevailed throughout the gold standard until the outbreak of World War I interrupted trade flows and the free movement of gold.After the Wars, the Bretton Woods Agreement was founded, where participating countries agreed to try and maintain the value of their currency with a narrow margin against the dollar and a corresponding rate of gold as needed. Countries were prohibited from devaluing their currencies to their trade advantage and were only allowed to do so for devaluations of less than 10%. Into the 1950s, the ever-expanding volume of international trade led to massive movements of capital generated by post-war construction. That destabilized foreign exchange rates as set up in Bretton Woods.The Agreement was finally abandoned in 1971, and the US dollar would no longer be convertible into gold. By 1973, currencies of major industrialized nations became more freely floating, controlled mainly by the forces of supply and demand which acted in the foreign exchange market. Prices were floated daily, with volumes, speed and price volatility all increasing throughout the 1970s, giving rise to new financial instruments, market deregulation and trade liberalization.In the 1980s, cross-border capital movements accelerated with the advent of computers and technology, extending market continuum through Asian, European and American time zones. Transactions in foreign exchange rocketed from about billion a day in the 1980s, to more than .5 trillion a day two decades later.HOW TO EARN MONEY WITH FOREXSince it might be a bit complicated for a beginner to figure out how to make money in Forex, we offer you this example:You believe that the Euro to US Dollar (EURUSD) rate will increase. In your account you have 2000 USD (eGlobal-standard). At a price of 1.2750 you buy 150,000 Euro for 150,000*1.2750 = 191,250 USD.This is possible because of the credit, which allows you to make transactions worth 100 times more than funds you have in your account (in this specific case, the maximum sum available for transactions is 2000*100 = 200,000 USD).After a period of time, the exchange rate increases. You sell 150,000 Euro at the rate of 1.2850 and get 150,000*1.2850 = 192,750 USD.Thus, after buying at a low rate and selling at a high rate, the difference 192,750 - 191,250 = 1500 $ is your gain. You have earned 75% of initial funds in your account, while the rate increased by 0.8%.Another way of making a profit on Forex is based on the decrease of the quotation rate of the EURUSD currency pair:Having created a real account with 200 USD in it (eGlobal-mini), you determine the upper and lower limits on the Euro to Dollar chart and sell 15,000 Euro (0.15 lot) at the upper limit for a price of 1.2850 (bid price) USD for 1 Euro, which equals 19,275 USD (15,000 Euro multiplied by the rate of 1.2850).You have funds in USD in your account, but you can sell Euro using the automatic borrowing system. Hence, the company lends you 15,000 Euro free of charge, which you can sell by sending a selling request. Due to the leverage, the actual deposit is 100 times less than the sum sold: 15,000/100 = 150 euro. At a rate of 1.2850 this equals 192,75 USD. This very sum is going to be a deposit for a credit (marginal) transaction for your account. The maximum possible deposit in this case equals 200 USD.Then during the day the price drops to the lower limit and you decide to buy 15,000 Euro at a price of 1.2750 (ask price) USD for 1 Euro, which equals 19,125 USD. The 15,000 Euro that you have bought are written off your account towards the repayment of the company loan, while the difference is left in your account.Thus, due to the fall in the exchange rate you earn the difference between sold and bought, which is 19,275 - 19,125 = 150 USD. You managed to earn 75% (150 dollars) of your initial sum of 200 USD due to a rate decrease by 0.8% (from 1.2850 to 1.2750) in only one day.The company takes a commission in the form of the difference between the ask and bid prices or spread, which in this example is 3 USD (spread of EuroDollar pair equals 0.0002 or 2 pips). More detailed information on terminology is in the .In these examples, the spread is not taken into consideration while calculating percentages of rate changes because of its non-essential influence on the results. In the case of mircoForex or eGlobal-standard the calculations are similar with a difference only in account currency US cents for micro, USD for mini & standard. The consecutive use of the transactions shown gives the income of 75%+75% = 150%. In actual practice a much greater return may be achieved by using corresponding money management methods. Risk management methods also play an important role in trade.

Online Money Making

A successful website for making online moneyA website with lots of visitor everyday is certainly desirable. Such sites can easily be monetized by using affiliate programs or pay per click advertisements. Then you’ll be able to enjoy an extra source of making online money. In this article you will be able to build a successful website from scratches.I start assuming you have nothing needed to build up a website. Follow the procedure below and own a successful website to make money online.Step 1. Decide your site themeThink about what you are passionate about or hot topic right now. It is better to chose a theme that you know more and can perform better. If you are aware of any current hot topic it can work better since many people might be searching for information about the hot topic.Step 2. Decide your website nameThe name of your website should be related to the theme you’ve decided and better if it contains the keywords of your theme. Try to make your domain name as short, meaningful and easy to remember as possible. I recommend you to take help or Google Keyword Tool to find appropriate popular keywords. You can find many domain name suggestion tools to decide your website name so that you will rank higher in search engines.Step 3. Register you domain nameYou can find many domain registrars that register your domain for &7 to $15 for global domains such as .com, .net, org. You can find cheap domain name like .info for about $1.5 and some other like .TV are bit expensive. If you can not pay for domain name or wish to obtain a free global domain name then I suggest you to participate. There you can post and reply in forum to earn ddpoints and later exchange that ddpoint into your requested domain name. It took 20 days for me to collect 3000 ddpoint to exchange my domain name. You can get .info domain name for about 1500 ddpoints. There are some other forums too that give away free domain names (not subdomain). I mentioned ddboard because I successfully used it.Step 4. Obtain hosting for your site.Now, you need some space on the server computer in internet where you could store your website files so that people can access it. There are many free and premium hosting available. When you choose a hosting provider consider the space provided, bandwidth, supporting features such as php, mysql, POP, SMTP, domain support and most important of all uptime/downtime. If you wish to obtain a best free hosting I recommend you. They provide you premium like free hosting but you need to post 5 genuine posting in their forum and remain active to continue hosting with them. I suggest remaining active in forum which is much necessary for promoting your site too! After you obtain a hosting, point your domain name to the hosting by updating name servers in domain manager.Step 5. Install Content Management System in your hostingAfter you’ve got your domain name pointing to your hosting, you need some CMS (Content Management System) that makes you able to publish your content without you coding anything. If you can write codes and develop your system its good. If you wish to use CMS, I would refer to use Joomla 1.5. It is free, powerful, flexible and search engine friendly system where you can create sections, categories and publish your contents dynamically. You can find many professional and free themes for your site, plug-in and components that is good for personal or business sites. You can download latest version of Joomla and its extensions from .Step 6. Fill your site with great contentNow, your site is up and running. Its time to fill it up with some great content related to your theme. Write useful, short, clear and interesting stuffs and publish them on your site. Update your site or add more contents on it in regular basis. Though it is most favored your original contents for your site, If you don’t know how to write or wish to use free articles you can Careful, choose most interesting and most matching to your site theme.Step 7. Perform Search Engine Optimization and promote your siteYour next step now is to perform Search Engine Optimization. This step makes your website more visible to the search engines and listed on their search result pages. Perform a search on Google with SEO keyword, you’ll be presented with lot of information about SEO. Continue optimizing your site. Promote your site as much as possible using free as well as paid advertisements. Submit your URL and sitemap to all of the major search engines. Among paid advertisement Google adword is one of the best method to drive genuine traffic to your site. Use forums, message boards, emails, tell your friends. Include your site domain name in signature of your e-mail and forums. Use yahooAnswers, stumbleUpon, link referral and all other means from where you and promote your website.Step 8. Enjoy!Don’t get hurried! Keep on promoting your site and updating it with more and more contents. You’ll find your site gradually rising up. Your site starts getting good number visitors everyday. Don’t you think about making money from your site now? Contact free discussion and help.Keywords:website, build successful website, how to build website, domain name, global domain name, free global domain name, free domain name, free hosting, best free hosting, CMS, Joomla 1.5, making money, make money onlineDescription:Proven 8 steps guide to build successful website from scratch. Learn from my experiences, completely free professional dynamic website with free domain name, premium like best free hosting, free Joomla 1.5 CMS. Your website will certainly help you make money online or promote your business!

World Economics

The world economy can be evaluated in various ways, depending on the model used, and this valuation can then be represented in various ways (for example, in 2006). It is inseparable from the, and is therefore somewhat of a misnomer, since, while definitions and representations of the "world economy" vary widely, they must at a minimum exclude any consideration of resources or value based outside of the For example, while attempts could be made to calculate the value of currently unexploited mining opportunities in unclaimed territory in, the same opportunities on would not be considered a part of the world economy – even if currently exploited in some way – and could be considered of latent value only in the same way as uncreated, such as a previously unconceived invention.Beyond the minimum standard of concerning value in production, use, and exchange on the planet Earth, definitions, representations, models, and valuations of the world economy vary widely.It is common to limit questions of the world economy exclusively to, and the world economy is typically judged in monetary terms, even in cases in which there is no efficient market to help valuate certain goods or services, or in cases in which a lack of independent research or government cooperation makes establishing figures difficult. Typical examples are and other, which by any standard are a part of the world economy, but for which there is by definition no legal market of any kind.However, even in cases in which there is a clear and efficient market to establish a monetary value, economists do not typically use the current or official exchange rate to translate the monetary units of this market into a single unit for the world economy, since exchange rates typically do not closely reflect worldwide value, for example in cases where the volume or price of transactions is closely regulated by the government. Rather, market valuations in a local currency are typically translated to a single monetary unit using the idea of .This is the method used below, which is used for estimating worldwide economic activity in terms of. However, the world economy can be evaluated and expressed in many more ways. It is unclear, for example, how many of the world's have most of their economic activity reflected in these valuations.Economy – overview2007–2008Current account balance 2006Global output) (GWP) rose by 3.2% in 2008, led by China (9%, equal to 21% of global growth), the US (1.1%, or 12% of growth), the European Union (0.9%, for a 10.5% share of growth) and India (7.3%, equal to 5.6% of the total rise). The 12 largest economies (the US, Japan, China, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Canada and India) contributed just over half of all economic growth in 2008. in the wealthy, or “advanced” economies, slowed by two-thirds, from 2.7% in 2007 to just 0.9% in 2008. Emerging Asia slowed from 9.8% to 6.8%; Emerging Europe from 5.4% to 2.9%; the Commonwealth of Independent States from 8.6% to 5.5%; the (non-OECD) Western Hemisphere from 5.7% to 4.2%; the Middle East from 6.3% to 5.9%; and Africa from 6.2% to 5.2%. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows goods, funds, and technology. Central governments are losing decision making powers and enhancing their international collective power thanks to strong economic bodies of which they democratically chose to become part, notably the EU. The introduction of the euro as the common currency of much of Western Europe in January 1999, while paving the way for an integrated economic powerhouse, poses economic risks because of varying levels of income and cultural and political differences among the participating nations.Internally, the central government often finds its control over resources slipping as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in many of the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in the former Yugoslavia, in India, in Iraq, in Indonesia, and in Canada.IndustriesIndustrial production growth rate: 3% (2002 est.)EnergyYearly electricity - production: 15,850,000 GWh (2003 est.), 14,850,000 GWh (2001 est.)Yearly electricity - consumption: 14,280,000 GWh (2003 est.), 13,930,000 GWh (2001 est.)- production: 79.65 million bbl/day (2003 est.), 75.46 million barrel/day (12,000,000 m³/d) (2001)Oil - consumption: 80.1 million bbl/day (2003 est.), 76.21 million barrel/day (12,120,000 m³/d) (2001)Oil - proved reserves: 1.025 trillion barrel (163 km³) (2001 est.)- production: 2,569 km³ (2001 est.)Natural gas - consumption: 2,556 km³ (2001 est.) James OakleyShot the economy then spat on its dead body Natural gas - proved reserves: 161,200 km³Cross-borderYearly exports: $6.6 trillion (f.o.b., 2002 est.)Exports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and servicesExports - partners: US 17.4%, Germany 7.6%, UK 5.4%, France 5.1%, Japan 4.8%, China 4% (2002)Yearly imports: $6.6 trillion (f.o.b., 2002 est.)Imports - commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and servicesImports - partners: US 11.2%, Germany 9.2%, China 7%, Japan 6.8%, France 4.7%, UK 4% (2002)Debt - external: $2 trillion for less developed countries (2002 est.)Gift economyYearly economic aid - recipient: (ODA) $50 billion...CommunicationsTelephones - main lines in use: 843,923,500 (2007)4,263,367,600 (2008)Telephones - mobile cellular: 3,300,000,000 (Nov. 2007)(ISPs): 10,350 (2000 est.)users: 1,311,050,595 (January 18, 2008 est.), 1,091,730,861 (December 30, 2006 est.), 604,111,719 (2002 est.)