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The eagle was an ancient Irish coin made from base metal, used around 1270 and so named from an impression of an eagle stamped on it.
The American eagle was a gold coin of 10 dollars authorised in 1792 and first issued in 1794. It was so called on account of the eagle stamped on the reverse. Eagles were not minted between 1805 and 1837 and in 1834 its weight was slightly reduced.
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The Early Closing Association was established in 1842 to abridge the hours of labour, and to abolish Sunday trading. In 1888 a bill raised by Sir John Lubbock calling for shops to close at 8 pm and 10 pm on Saturday's was rejected by the commons. In 1904 the Shop Hours Act provided for the early closing of shops by 'closing order' under the local authority.
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An earnest is a small sum of money or token given to bind a bargain between two parties.
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Easement is a privilege without profit, i.e. a right attached to one piece of land which allows the owner of the land to use the land of another in a particular manner.
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The East India Company was an incorporated company trading with India and the East Indies. East India Companies were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries by many European countries, the most important being the English East India Company with a close rival in the Dutch East India Company. The English company obtained from Queen Elizabeth I a charter in 1600 conferring the monopoly of trade with the East Indies. The British
East India Company ceased trading in 1858.
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Econometrics is the study of economic phenomena based on observed data. Its aim is sometimes described as the statistical verification of economic theories, in much the same way as experiments are used to verify theories in the natural sciences. However, this is only a partial analogy as the object of the economist's research is not always amenable to experiment. In addition, the results of econometric analysis are usually open to more than one interpretation. The main tool of the econometrician is regression analysis. This establishes the statistical relationship between two or more sets of economic data. These results can then be used for forecasting. To achieve this the economic theorist relates one economic variable (the dependent variable) to one or more other economic variables (the independent variables). The regression establishes the nature of the relationship by yielding coefficients of the relevant parameters.
One of the problems of econometrics is to ensure that data adequately reflects the underlying variable in question. For example, a monetarist will claim that the demand for money is determined by, amongst other things, the interest rate. The econometrician can regress some measure of the money stock on some particular interest rate, but must be aware that the data may not exactly represent the variables suggested by the theory.
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In economics, the economic cost is the total sacrifice involved in doing something. It will include the opportunity cost and therefore is greater than the accounting cost, which is restricted to the total outlay of money.
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Economics is a social science concerning behaviour in the fields of production, consumption, distribution, and exchange. Economists analyse the processes involved and investigate the consequences for the individual, such organizations as the firm, and society as a whole. There are many competing schools of thought in economics: the main division has been between the Classical and neoclassical schools. Adam Smith, the founder of the Classical school, emphasized primarily the concept of economic value and the distribution of wealth between the classes - workers, capitalists, and landlords. The Marxist school of thought is one of its offshoots. The neoclassical school, now the mainstream of western economic thought, emphasizes the role of allocating scarce resources between competing ends. The founders of this school, W S Jevons and M E L Walras, were known as Marginalists. Neoclassical economics is itself divided into two broad areas of research, microeconomics - analysing the relationship between individual economic units (the consumer, firm, etc.) - macroeconomics, which analyses the connection between economic aggregates, money, total employment, and government. Both fields place a heavy emphasis on the individual or household as the basic unit of analysis, rather than the classes.
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In economics, an economy of scale is the situation in which an equal proportional increase in all inputs leads to a more than proportional increase in output. This implies that (with given input prices) average costs fall with increased output.
Economies of scale may be internal to a firm or external. Internal economies of scale result from, for example, the division of labour or indivisibilities (minimum efficient size) of fixed or working capital. They commonly arise only over a certain range of output. Since it is large firms which tend to profit from economies of scale, this causes the emergence of oligopoly or monopoly, where a few firms or a single firm dominate the market. External economies of scale are of two kinds. Firstly, technological economies exist when an industry benefits from the shared experiences or facilities of its member firms. Secondly, financial advantages occur when there are industry-wide savings in the expenditure needed to create demand, carry out market research, or otherwise maintain profitability. Diseconomies of scale (in which output increases less than proportionately with inputs) may arise if an organization becomes too unwieldy or bureaucratic.
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In economics, the effective demand is the demand for goods and services for which money is available to convert them into actual purchases. In Keynesian theory it is often argued that in a recession or a depression there will be inadequate effective demand as unemployed workers demand goods but have no means to pay for them. Similarly, firms would demand labour if only there was someone to buy their goods. Pump priming can add to effective demand and move the economy towards full employment by means of the multiplier process.
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Efficiency wage theory is the theory that the productivity of a worker increases with the wages he is paid. It was first applied in the late 1950s to developing economies; in this context it became clear that higher wages enable poor workers to improve their diets and thus to become more productive. Recently, however, the argument has been applied in developed economies to explain involuntary unemployment. Higher wages raise morale and company loyalty, attract better quality workers, and result in less shirking. Thus, even in a recession, when some workers are being made redundant, firms will be unwilling to reduce wages levels to reflect the balance of supply and demand.
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The British government established an office called the Employment Exchange in 1909 for the purpose of introducing unemployed men to vacancies notified by employers. In 1912 the office took on the additional role of administering unemployment insurance. Today, the office is known as the Department of Employment and the Employment Exchanges are called Job Centres.
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Endowment assurance is an assurance policy that pays a specified amount of money on an agreed date or on the death of the life assured, whichever is the earlier. As these policies guarantee to make a payment (either to the policyholder or his or her dependants) they offer both life cover and a reasonable investment. A with- profits policy will also provide bonuses in addition to the sum assured. These policies are often used in the repayment of a personal mortgage or as a form of saving, although they lost their tax relief on premiums in the Finance Act (1984).
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Endowment Insurance is a form of insurance whereby, in return for regular contributions, a fixed sum is payable at death or at a certain age when the insured person ceases to pay premiums.
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An Engel curve is a curve relating the expenditure on a good as income rises. The relationship was first analysed by the 19th-century statistician C L E Engel. Engel's law states that the proportion of expenditure on food will fall as income rises, i.e. food is a necessary good. Engel curves are useful for separating the effect of income on demand from the effects of changes in relative prices.
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Entail is a system of land tenure which was introduced by the statute De Donis in 1285, and by which the holder has only a life interest in the land, which passes on his death to his heirs.
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An enterprise zone is an area, designated as such by the government, in which its aim is to restore private- sector activity by removing certain tax burdens and by relaxing certain statutory controls. Benefits, which are available for a 10-year period, include: exemption from rates on industrial and commercial property; 100% allowances for corporation- and income-tax purposes for capital expenditure on industrial and commercial buildings; exemption from industrial training levies; and a simplified planning regime.
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Entrepot Trade is the trade in one centre in the goods of other countries.
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Equitable interest is an interest in, or ownership of, property that is recognized by equity but not by the common law. A beneficiary under a trust has an equitable interest. Any disposal of an equitable interest (e.g. a sale) must be in writing. Some equitable interests in land must be registered or they will be lost if the legal title to the land is sold. Similarly, equitable interests in other property will be lost if the legal title is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value who has no notice of the equitable interest. In such circumstances the owner of the equitable interest may claim damages from the person who sold the legal title.
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Equities are the ordinary shares of a company, especially those of a publicly owned quoted company. In the event of a liquidation, the ordinary shareholders are entitled to share out the asssets remaining after all other creditors (including holders of preference shares) have been paid out. Investment in equities on a stock exchange represents the best opportunity for capital growth, although there is a high element of risk as only a small proportion (if any) of the investment is secured. Although equities pay relatively low profit-related dividends, unlike fixed-interest securities, they are popular in times of inflation as they tend to rise in value as the value of money falls.
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The escudo is the currency of Portugal and Angola. Until 1975 the escudo was the currency in Chile.
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An estate is a portion of land in the possession of a single person or corporation.
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Estate duty was a former tax on the estate of a deceased person at the time of his death. This tax applied in Britain from 1894 to 1974, when it was converted to capital-transfer tax. The latter tax became inheritance tax in 1986, when it reverted to a form of taxation similar to the former estate duty. The tax is levied on the assets less the liabilities of the deceased, taking into account (to forestall avoidance) certain gifts made in a defined period before the death.
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The Euro is the Single European Currency introduced in January 2002 to replace local currencies in twelve European countries: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Republic of Ireland and Spain. Britain, Sweden and Denmark have not yet adopted the Euro. The Euro is divided into 100 cents, and replaced local currencies completely from March 2002.
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The European Community (EC) is comprised of the twelve nations (Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the UK) that joined together to form an economic community, with some common monetary, political, and social aspirations. The community grew from the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Atomic Energy Community, and the European Economic Community. The Commission of the European Communities was formed in 1967 with the Council of the European Communities. The community policy emerges from a dialogue between the Commission, which initiates and implements the policy, and the Council, which takes the major policy decisions. The European Parliament, formed in 1957, exercises democratic control over policy, and the European Court of Justice imposes the rule of law on the community, as set out in its various treaties.
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The European Currency Unit (ECU) is a currency medium and unit of account created in 1979 to act as the reserve asset and accounting unit of the European Monetary System. The value of the ECU is calculated as a weighted average of a basket of specified amounts of European Community currencies; its value is reviewed periodically as currencies change in importance and membership of the EC expands. It also acts as the unit of account for all EC transactions. It has some similarities with the Special Drawing Rights of the International Monetary Fund; however, ECU reserves are not allocated to individual countries but are held in the European Monetary Cooperation Fund. Private transactions using the ECU as the denomination for borrowing and lending have proved popular. The ECU was the basis for the later European currency (the Euro) which replaced many national currencies within the European Union from early 2002.
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The European Economic Community (also known as the EEC or Common Market) is the European common market set up by the six member states of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1957. At the same time the European Atomic Energy Community was set up; the controlling bodies of these three communities were merged in 1967 to form the Commission of European Communities and the Council of European Communities.
The European Parliament and the European Court of Justice were formed in accordance with the Treaty of Rome in 1957. The treaty aimed to forge a closer union between the countries of Europe by removing the economic effects of their frontiers. This included the elimination of customs duties and quotas between members, a common trade policy to outside countries, the abolition of restrictions on the movement of people and capital between member states, and a Common Agricultural Policy. In addition to these trading policies, the treaty envisaged a harmonization of social and economic legislation to enable the Common Market to work. The UK, Ireland, and Denmark joined in 1973, Greece joined in 1979, and Portugal and Spain became members in 1986, making a total of 12 nations.
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The exchequer (or Treasury) is a government department dealing with State finance. It was introduced by the Normans.
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The Exchequer Court was established during the reign of Henry I to deal with questions of finance. It later took upon itself judicial business. The equity business of the Exchequer was transferred to the Court of Chancery in 1842, and in 1873 became the Exchequer division of the High Court of Justice.
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Excise is a tax on the production of goods. It was first levied in Britain in 1643 on wines, beers, tobacco etc. to raise funds to support the army against Charles I.
In the USA the first excise law was passed after an excited debate in 1790, Secretary Hamilton insisting upon the necessity of such an enactment. It levied a tax varying from nine to twenty-five cents upon every gallon of liquors distilled in the United States and a higher rate for imported liquors. Lower rates were established in 1792. The opposition was strong throughout the country, culminating in the Whisky Insurrection in Pennsylvania in 1794.
During Jefferson's administration the excise was abolished, but was revived in 1813 during the War of 1812, imposing a tax on liquor, sugar, salt, carriages, and instruments of exchange, and a stamp duty. In 1817 these duties were repealed and no excise duty was levied until 1862, during the American Civil War. This system embraced taxation upon occupations and trades, sales, gross receipts and dividends, incomes of individuals, firms and corporations, manufactures, legacies, liquors, tobacco, distributive shares and successions.
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Abbreviations
Money
