Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) tax exemption, immunity from the requirement of paying taxes. Federal, state, and usually local law provide exemption from taxation for a wide variety of organizations, usually not-for-profit, such as...

(Encyclopedia) minimum wage, lowest wage legally permitted in an industry or in a government or other organization. The goal in establishing minimum wages has been to assure wage earners a standard of living above t...

(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) Fianna Fáil fēˈənə fäl [key], Irish political party, organized in 1926 by opponents of the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 establishing the Irish Free State and setting up Northern Ireland as part of...

(Encyclopedia) Ricardo, David, 1772–1823, British economist, of Dutch-Jewish parentage. At the age of 20 he entered business as a stockbroker and was so skillful in the management of his affairs that within five y...

(Encyclopedia) Makarenko, Anton Semyonovich, 1888–1939, Russian educator. In the 1920s, Makarenko organized the Gorky Colony, a home for children left homeless by the Russian Revolution of Oct., 1917. In 1931 beca...

(Encyclopedia) Hepburn, Mitchell Frederick, 1896–1953, Canadian political leader. A member of the House of Commons (1926–34), he was chosen (1930) leader of the Liberal party in Ontario and became (1934) premier...

(Encyclopedia) Skerrit, Roosevelt, 1972–, Dominican political leader. A member of the Dominica Labor party, he has served in parliament since 2000. He became DLP leader and prime minister in 2004 following the dea...

(Encyclopedia) Pinkerton, Allan, 1819–84, American detective, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, b. Glasgow, Scotland. A cooper by trade, he emigrated to the United States in 1842 and opened in We...

(Encyclopedia) Boyer, Jean Pierre zhäN pyĕr bwäyāˈ [key], 1776–1850, president of Haiti (1818–43). A free mulatto, he fought under Toussaint Louverture and then joined André Rigaud, also a mulatto, in the ...