Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Calonne, Charles Alexandre de shärl älĕksäNˈdrə də kälōnˈ [key], 1734–1802, French statesman, controller general of finances (1783–87). Faced with a huge public debt and a steadily deter...

(Encyclopedia) rent, in law, periodic payment by a tenant for the use of another's property. In economics, its meaning is more complex, but since the word rent means any income or yield from an object capable of pro...

(Encyclopedia) Peter's pence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the annual voluntary laymen's contribution to the support of the pope. Formerly Peter's pence was a yearly tax of a penny levied by the Holy See on every h...

(Encyclopedia) De Morgan, William Frend, 1839–1917, English artist and novelist; son of Augustus De Morgan. A famous potter, he designed glass and tiles and rediscovered an old process of making colored lusterware...

(Encyclopedia) distribution, in economics, the allocation of a society's total wealth among various economic groups. Distribution, in that sense, does not refer to the physical marketing or circulation of goods, whi...

(Encyclopedia) sinking fund, sum set apart periodically from the income of a government or a business and allowed to accumulate in order ultimately to pay off a debt. A preferred investment for a sinking fund is the...

(Encyclopedia) standard of living, level of consumption that an individual, group, or nation has achieved. The evaluation of a standard of living is relative, depending upon the judgment of the observer as to what c...

(Encyclopedia) Alliance for Progress, Span. Alianza para el Progreso, U.S. assistance program for Latin America begun in 1961 during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. It was created principally to counter the appea...

(Encyclopedia) Catanzaro kätändzäˈrō [key], city, capital of Catanzaro prov. and of Calabria, S Italy, on a ...

(Encyclopedia) Messi, Lionel Andrés lyonālˈ ändrāsˈ māˈsē [key], 1987–, Argentinian-Spanish soccer player, b. Rosario, Argentina. He showed great talent early, and his family moved to Spain in 2000 when F...