College Grant Money and Education Aid For Students

Money ... Money originated as commodity money, but nearly all contemporary money systems are based on fiat money... Fiat money is without intrinsic use value as a physical commodity, and derives its value by being declared by a government to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private"... The money supply of a country consists of currency (banknotes and coins) and bank money (the balance held in checking accounts and savings accounts)...

Fiat Money ... Fiat money originated in 11th century China, and its use became widespread during the Yuan and Ming dynasties... Characteristics The term fiat money has been defined variously as: any money declared by a government to be legal tender... state-issued money which is neither convertible by law to any other thing, nor fixed in value in terms of any objective standard...

Investment ... A thoroughly analyzed loan of money backed by collateral with greater immediate value than the loan amount may be considered an investment...

Insurance ... Insurance is a commercial enterprise and a major part of the financial services industry, but individual entities can also self-insure through saving money for possible future losses...

Business ... The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the singular usage to mean a particular organization; the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, "the music business" and compound forms such as agribusiness; and the broadest meaning, which encompasses all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services...

History Of Money ... Many items have been used as commodity money such as natural scarce precious metals, cowry shells, barley, beads etc., as well as many other things that are thought of as having value...

Health Insurance ... 1) a contract between an insurance provider (e.g. an insurance company or a government) and an individual or his sponsor (e.g...

Value Added Tax ... The "value added" to a product by a business is the sale price charged to its customer, minus the cost of materials and other taxable inputs. A VAT is like a sales tax in that ultimately only the end consumer is taxed...

Inflation Targeting ... Because interest rates and the inflation rate tend to be inversely related, the likely moves of the central bank to raise or lower interest rates become more transparent under the policy of inflation targeting. Examples: if inflation appears to be above the target, the bank is likely to raise interest rates...

Monetary Policy ... Overview Monetary policy rests on the relationship between the rates of interest in an economy, that is, the price at which money can be borrowed, and the total supply of money... Where currency is under a monopoly of issuance, or where there is a regulated system of issuing currency through banks which are tied to a central bank, the monetary authority has the ability to alter the money supply and thus influence the interest rate (to achieve policy goals)... A policy is referred to as contractionary if it reduces the size of the money supply or increases it only slowly, or if it raises the interest rate...

Consumption Tax ... In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Singapore this form of national tax is called a Goods and Services Tax (GST). In Canada it is also called Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) when combined with a provincial sales tax...

Payment Protection Insurance ... Credit insurance can be purchased to insure all kinds of consumer loans including car loans, loans from finance companies, and home mortgage borrowing. Credit card agreements may include a form of PPI cover as standard...

Standard Of Deferred Payment ... Functions of money Money is held to serve multiple distinguished but related functions, of which a "standard of deferred payment" is one... The most commonly distinguished functions of money are as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value, and, sometimes, a standard of deferred payment, summarized in a mnemonic rhyme of older economics texts: "Money is a matter of functions four, a medium, a measure, a standard, a store." However, many newer texts do not distinguish the function of a standard of deferred payment, subsuming it in other functions... Since the value of money – be it dollars, gold, or others – may fluctuate over time via inflation and deflation, the value of deferred payments (the real level of debt) likewise fluctuates...

Inheritance Tax ... In some jurisdictions the term used is death duty. For historical reasons that term is used colloquially (though not legally) in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth nations...

Local Currency ... A few such currencies, however, developed into monetary systems in their own right. The idea of using free banking to produce an alternative, community-level currency dates back at least as far as the German Credit Unions in the 1800s...

Demand Deposit ... Money Supply Demand deposits are usually considered part of the narrowly defined money supply, as they can be used, via checks and drafts, as a means of payment for goods and services and to settle debts... During times of financial crisis, bank customers will withdraw their funds in cash, leading to a drop in demand deposits and a shrinking of the money supply...

Currency ... However, nearly all contemporary money systems are based on fiat money – modern currency has value only by government order (fiat)... Originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt...