In 2008 a great economic crisis led to a recession of the economies around the world. What began as a credit crisis turned out to be the biggest banking crisis since the Great Depression. Although the implications of the crisis are mostsevere in the USA, banks and insurance companies all over the world havecollapsed and governments have come to the rescue by lending them money. The American government wants to […]
The stock exchange is a marketplace where brokers buy and sell stocks andbonds for other people. Many countries have one or more stock exchanges. Smaller stock exchanges often handle only national stock, whereas the big stock exchanges handle the stock of big international corporations. Corporation A corporation is a company that has the right to issue stocks. They are registered with the government and have laws that protect them and theirshareholders . Every corporation has a board of directors who makedecisions for the company. People […]
A credit rating agency is a powerful company that rates how good you are in paying back your debts. It rates businesses, private individuals and even whole countries. The credit rating company gives a score on how able you are to pay back a debt or a loan. Banks take risks when they lend person money. If they don’t know anything about the person or company they lend money which […]
A bank is a company that works with the money that the people give it. If you give your money to a bank, it not only protects it but pays you interest so that it can work with the money. This is one of the reasons why people save their money in a bank. Money may also be safer there than […]
Bullfighting is a great event that attracts many tourists to Spain and Spanish speaking countries. There it is an important element of culture and has a great tradition. Modern bullfighting goes back to the 1700s when the first bullrings were built in Spain. A bullfight takes place in bullring. The matador, or bullfighter, has special training and […]
Until a short time ago , Italians mostly ate Italian food , but in the past decade more and more immigrants have been coming into the country and with them their food. Now Italians are fighting back. The Tuscan town of Lucca does not want any kebab shops and Chinese restaurants in their historic city any more. Lucca, about 60 km […]
Vietnamese New Year is the most important holiday of the Vietnamese lunar calendar. The New Year begins between January 21 and February 20. The celebration starts with the second new moon after the beginning of winter (December 21) and lasts until the next full moon. The Vietnamese name their years after 12 different animals: the rat, the […]
Passover is the Jewish feast of freedom. It is celebrated at about the same time as Easter and lasts for 7 or 8 days. During Passover Jews around the world remember their freedom from slavery in Egypt. In ancient times Egypt was one of the most powerful countries in the worlds. Itconquered smaller nations and made their people slaves. The early Jews, or Hebrews as they were called, also became Egyptian slaves. The Pharaoh forcedthem to work […]
On Easter Sunday Christians around the world celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Jewish, religious teacher was the son of God. He was executedby the Romans about 2000 years ago. Three days after he had died he returned to life again and rose to heaven. Many Christians think that they will also rise to heaven after death. That’s why Easter is celebrated with joyful music […]
Halloween is a festival that takes place every year on October 31. It is a time when children and adults dress up in costumes, go trick or treating and make jack-o-lanterns from empty pumpkins . Halloween goes back to the customs and traditions of the Celts , who lived between Ireland and Northern France about 2000 years ago. They were paganswho did not believe in god. They thought […]