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The time required to start a business is the number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business. This chart is from 2017 statistics.
Small business vendors at a public market

Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit."

A business entity is not necessarily separate from the owner and the creditors can hold the owner liable for debts the business has acquired. The taxation system for businesses is different from that of the corporates. A business structure does not allow for corporate tax rates. The proprietor is personally taxed on all income from the business.

A distinction is made in law and public offices between the term business and a company such as a corporation or cooperative. Colloquially, the terms are used interchangeably. (Full article...)

Economics (/ˌɛkəˈnɒmɪks, ˌkə-/) is a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyses what is viewed as basic elements within economies, including individual agents and markets, their interactions, and the outcomes of interactions. Individual agents may include, for example, households, firms, buyers, and sellers. Macroeconomics analyses economies as systems where production, distribution, consumption, savings, and investment expenditure interact; and the factors of production affecting them, such as: labour, capital, land, and enterprise, inflation, economic growth, and public policies that impact these elements. It also seeks to analyse and describe the global economy. (Full article...)

Selected article

The corporation tax is a tax levied in the United Kingdom on the profits made by UK-resident companies and associations. It is also levied on non-UK resident companies and associations which trade in the UK through a permanent establishment. The tax was introduced by the Finance Act 1965, which simultaneously removed companies and associations that became liable to corporation tax from the charge to the income tax. The tax borrowed its basic structure and many of its rules from income tax. Recently the tax has come under pressure from a number of sources. Tax competition between jurisdictions has reduced the headline charge to 30 percent; judgments from the European Court of Justice have found that certain aspects of UK corporate tax law are discriminatory under European Union treaties and are expected to continue to do so; and tax avoidance schemes marketed by the big accountancy and law firms and by banks have threatened the tax base. The British government has responded to the last two by introducing ever more complex legislation to counter the threats.

Selected image

Main Market Square, Kraków, Poland.
Photo credit: Genghiskhanviet

The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a feature of many European and colonial towns. It is an open area where market stalls are traditionally set out for trading, commonly on one particular day of the week known as market day.

Selected economy

The economy of the European Union is the joint economy of the member states of the European Union (EU). It is the second largest economy in the world in nominal terms, after the United States, and the third largest at purchasing power parity (PPP), after China and the US. The European Union's GDP is estimated to be $20.29 trillion (nominal) in 2025 or $29.01 trillion (PPP), representing around one-sixth of the global economy. In 2023, Germany, France and Italy were the three largest economies in the European Union, accounting for approximately 53.1% of the EU's total GDP. Germany contributed 24.3%, while France accounted for 16.4% and Italy for 12.4%. In the same year, the social welfare expenditure of the European Union (EU) as a whole was 26.8% of its GDP.

The EU has total banking assets of more than $38 trillion, France accounts for 26% ($10 trillion) of Europe's total banking assets followed by Germany with 18% ($7 trillion) and Italy with 8% ($3 trillion). Global assets under management in the EU is more than $12 trillion, with France accounting for more than 33% ($4 trillion) of Europe's total AUM followed by Germany with 16% ($2 trillion) and Italy with 12% ($1 trillion). Paris is by far the richest city in the EU, with a GDP exceeding $1 trillion. Paris is a major economic hub in the EU, with Euronext Paris, the largest stock exchange in the EU by market cap. Frankfurt, Germany's financial center, is the second-largest in the EU, hosting the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, although it is significantly smaller than Paris in terms of market cap and economic influence. (Full article...)

Selected quote

"The process chart is a record of present conditions. It presents, in simple, easily understood, compact form, data which must be collected and examined before any improvement in existing conditions and methods is undertaken. Even if existing conditions are apparently satisfactory, the chart is useful as presenting much information in condensed form.

The process chart serves as an indicator of profitable changes. It assists in preventing "inventing downward," and stimulates invention that is cumulative and of permanent value. It is not only the first step in visualizing the one best way to do work, but is useful in every stage of deriving it.

This paper presents established working data used successfully in numerous installations for many years."

Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr. and Lillian Gilbreth, Process Charts, 1921

Topics


  • ... that environmental economist V. Kerry Smith has been described as a "Renaissance Man of Economics"?
  • ... that the first batch of Action Computer Enterprise's Discovery 1600, one of the first multi-user microcomputers, was delivered to a tobacco-growing business in Thailand?
  • ... that Joanna Ferrone served as the business manager for the fictional character Fido Dido?
  • ... that the Sam Kee Building, recognized by Guinness World Records as the narrowest commercial building in the world, was built on a bet between two businessmen?
  • ... that Jay Owen Light aspired to be an astronaut before becoming the dean of Harvard Business School?
  • ... that despite little formal education, Earnest Andersson was a successful inventor, businessman, amateur athlete, race car driver, pilot, photographer, radio operator, pro golfer, and composer?

On this day in business history

March 18:

General images

The following are images from various business-related articles on Wikipedia.

More did you know

  • ... that Italy is the third largest producer of wine in the world?
  • ...that Calouste Gulbenkian was known as Mr. Five Percent because he retained 5% of the shares of Royal Dutch/Shell, the second-largest corporation in the world by revenue, which he participated in the formation of in 1907?

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