world money watch who in the world economy

Who's Who in the World Economy

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - President of Iran. Is seeking to build nuclear
capabilities.
AKP (AK Party) - Turkey's ruling party since 2002. Supported by
Islamists, but upholds a secular government. (AK means white or
clean in Turkish).
APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) - All countries that border
the Pacific Ocean are members. Incepted in 1989, APEC works to
reduce tariffs and increase trade among the member nations.
Arab League - Founded in 1945, it is comprised of 21 Arab and North
African nations, and the PLO. Its purpose is to create closer relations
among its members.
ASEAN (Association of SouthEast Asian Nations) - An organization of
10 Asian nations that promotes the economic growth of the member
countries. Members include: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
ASEAN+3 - ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - Beloved founder of the modern Turkish
state. At the Ottoman empire's end, he reformed Turkey as one of
the few Muslim democratic countries.
Michelle Bachelet - First female President of Chile (2006-2010) with
81% popularity. Led Chile to become second most advanced
emerging market in the worl d. Pediatrician, single mother of two, and
survivor of torture under General Augusto Pinochet.
Abdullah Badawi - Prime Minister of Malaysia. Elected in 2003, and
reelected in 2004.
Baltic States - Three former Russian countries on the eastern coast
of the Baltic Sea: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Banco del Sur - Latin American development bank.
Ben Bernanke - Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank. Ph.D.
in Economics from M.I.T.
Gordon Brown - Prime Minister of Great Britain. As Chancellor of
Exchequer, helped create economic growth.
Felipe Calderon - President of Mexico. Needs to reduce corruption
and increase FDI to enable his country to reach its economic
potential.
CeMCoA (Center for Monetary Cooperation in Asia) - A Center set up
within the Bank of Japan in 2005 to promote monetary cooperation in
Asia.
Hugo Chavez - President of Venezuela. Promotes Bolivarism.
Outspoken critic of U.S. and World Bank. Uses oil wealth to influence
other Latin American countries.
Chindia - Phrase used to denote the growing global economic power
of China and India. If both continued growing at current growth rates,
they would comprise 50% of total world GDP by 2050.
CIS States (Commonwealth of Independent States) - An association
of former Soviet republics formed in December 1991 to ease the
transition and form trade agreements. Members include: Azerbaijan,
Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. (CIS Web
site)
Rafael Correra - President of Ecuador. Ally of Hugo Chavez.
Threatens to default on bonds and cut back on Galapagos tourism.
ECB (European Central Bank) - It is the central bank for the
European Union. It establishes monetary policy, including managing
bank lending rates and foreign-exchange reserves. Its goal is to keep
inflation at less than 2%.
Eastern Europe - Includes the countries of Bulgaria, Croatia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Poland,
Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia.
EIA (Energy Information Administration) - U.S. Federal agency that
provides all the data and forecasts the government needs to
safeguard its energy supply.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan - Charismatic Prime Minister of Turkey since
2002. A devout Muslim, he has threatened the military’s power base
by improving the economy and leading the country towards EU
membership.
EU (European Union) - Known formally as the European Economic
and Monetary Union. Its 27 members are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. All
members pledge to convert to the Euro.
Euro Area - Members of the EU who have converted to the Euro.
Includes Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, and
Spain.
FARC - The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a leftist
guerrilla organization founded 35 years ago to promote land reform.
It has evolved into a sophisticated paramilitary organization, funded
by drug trafficking, that depends on kidnapping and murder to
defend its power.
Fatah - Moderate Palestinian party. Fatah was created by the late
Yasser Arafat, and has been discredited by corruption scandals.
Alberto Fujimori - President of Peru from 1990 - 2000, when he was
removed as being “morally unfit” by the Peruvian National Assembly,
due to corruption charges.
G7 - The Group of Seven Finance Ministers meet annually to discuss
current foreign exchange and central banking events. The members
are the U.S., Germany, Japan, France, UK, Italy and Canada. In
addition to attendance by the Finance Ministers or U.S. Treasury
Secretary these meetings are attended by the U.S. Fed Chairman
and the EU Central Bank President.
G-8 or Group of Eight - The eight leading industrialized nations: U.
S., Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.
G-20 or Group of 20 - The finance ministers and central bank
governors of the G-8 plus 11 emerging market and smaller
industrialized countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India,
Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey,
plus the EU.
Alan Garcia - President of Peru between 1985 and 1990. Re-elected
President in June 2006, based on promises to continue existing
successful economic growth policies.
Gaza Strip - A 146 square mile area of land in southeast Israel,
bordering Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. It has 1.3 million
people, mostly Palestinian who became refugees when Israel was
created in 1948. Although administered by the Palestinians, its
borders and major roads are controlled by Israel.
Georgia - Former Soviet Union country that is a key gateway for
energy transports between Asia and EU.
Gulf Cooperation Council - Includes Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Hamas - Militant Palestinian group who advocate the destruction of
Israel. Recently elected to majority in the Palestinian legislature.
IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) - The UN’s nuclear
guardian.
IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) - Created by the U.S. in
1959 to finance development in Latin America.
IMF (International Monetary Fund) - created as part of the United
Nations to provide short term credit to its 175 member nations.
Islamic Jihad - A more radical terrorist group than Hamas. It seeks to
establish Islamic rule in Palestine.
Hu Jintao - President of China.
Kim Jong II - The “Dear Leader” of North Korea. Chairman of the
National Defense Commission, which is the most powerful body.
Hamid Karzai - President of Afghanistan.
Ayatollah Khomeini - Father of the Iranian revolution.
Christina Kirchner - President of Argentina. Wife of Nestor Kirchner.
Nestor Kirchner - ex-President of Argentina. Spurred economic
growth, paid back debts to IMF early.
Knesset - Israeli Parliament, with 120 seats.
Pascal Lamy - WTO chief. Prior EU trade commissioner.
John Lipsky - First Deputy Managing director of the IMF since 2006.
Has a PhD in Economics from Stanford and worked for Salomon
Brothers, JPMorgan and Chase.
Likud - Israeli right wing party. Wants to hold onto Israeli land, and
settlements, regardless of cost.
Fernando Lugo - Newly elected President of Paraguay, ending 61
years of one-party rule.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva known as Lula - President of Brazil. Reforms
have spurred economic growth,and reduced poverty.
Ma Ying-jeou - Elected President of Taiwan In March 2007. With
Nationalist (KMT) party. Pro-China trade.
Thabo Mbeki - President of South Africa. Wants to expand economy
to 6% growth from 4.2%. Has lowered inflation, and spurred a good
business climate.
Dimitri Medvedev - President, and former Prime Minister, of Russia.
Seen as Putin's right hand man.
Angela Merkel - Chancellor of Germany. Barely won over ex-
Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, so has lead a coalition of both parties
(Christian Democrats and Social Democrats). Is successfully
reforming the German economy to increase growth, cut the budget
deficit, reduce costs of health care, and reduce unemployment.
President of the EU through 2007.
Evo Morales - President of Bolivia. Native Bolivian Aymara Indian,
wants more economic power for Bolivians. May legalize coca growing
and have more state ownership of natural gas industry, one of the
world’s largest.
Hosni Mubarak - President for 25 years of Egypt. Keeps winning
alleged fraudulent elections. Hasn’t addressed poverty in country.
Uses police state to keep in power since1952 military coup.
Lee Myung-Bak - Newly elected President of South Korea. Promises
more free trade agreements.
OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) -
An association of 30 nations in Europe, North America, and the
Pacific that works to promote the economic and social welfare of its
members, and coordinates their efforts to aid developing countries.
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) - Founded in
1960 to coordinate petroleum policies. Eleven members include
Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, UAE and Venezuela.
Sebastian Pinera - President of Chile. Billionaire, Harvard trained
economist. Will cut corporate taxes and encourage investment.
Vladimir Putin - Prime Minister, and former President, of Russia.
Revived economy by nationalizing oil and gas resources. Accused of
playing pipeline politics.
Quartet - The group guiding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Consists of U.S., Russia, the UN and the EU.
Mikheil Saakashvili - President of Georgia who is forming an alliance
with the U.S. and is anti-Russia.
Nicolas Sarkozy - President of France. Elected on promise to "put
France back to work." Strengthening alliances with U.S., Germany
and Great Britain. Opposes Turkey's membership in EU and
independence of ECB.
SARPSCO (South Asia Regional Port Security Cooperative) -
Members include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Comoros,
Madagascar, the Maldives, Mauritius, Oman and Sri Lanka. A new
organization working towards securing the India Ocean ports.
SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) - Members include China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. Created
in 2001 to increase free trade, and reduce terrorism and drug
trafficking.
Shia - Minority sect of Muslims which believes that leadership should
remain with relatives of Muhammad. This is the predominate sect in
Iran, and on the fringe countries of ancient Persia.
Thaksin Shinawatra - Former Prime Minister of Thailand. Charged
with corruption by business leaders. Popular with the poor.
Shining Path - Maoist guerilla group that sought to overthrow Peru’s
government in the 1980’s and ‘90’s . Over 69,000 people, mostly
poor Andean villagers, died in the fighting.
Masaaki Shirakawa - Governor of the Bank of Japan. Winner of 1976
Noble Peace Prize. Does not believe in financial bailouts.
Manmohan Singh - Prime Minister of India since 2004. Head of the
Congress Party.
Sinn Fein - The political wing of the Irish Republican Army.
South Ossetia - Semi-autonomous state of Georgia loyal to Russia.
Sunni - 85% of the world's Muslims belong to this sect.
Jean-Claude Trichet - President of the European Central Bank
Nguyen Minh Triet - President of Vietnam since June 2006. Used
innovative policies as chief of his province in South Vietnam to
increase FDI and economic growth.
Yulia Tymoshenko - Prime Minster of Ukraine since Fall 2007. Pro-
business and free trade with EU.
Unasur (Union of South American States) - Group intending to form
an EU with common currency, parliament and passport by 2019.
Includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.
United Nations - Created in October, 1945, to prevent another world
war. Nearly every country in the world belongs to it, and has equal
votes.
Alvaro Uribe - President of Columbia since 2002. He has successfully
reduced the violence of FARC, increasing both safety and the climate
for investment.
USTR (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) - The USTR has the
responsibility for negotiating trade agreements and representing the
U.S. at the WTO.
West Bank - Historically part of Palestine, it is a 2,270 square mile
area bordered by Israel, Jordan and the Dead Sea. It was annexed
by Jordan in 1950, and captured by Israel in the 1967 war. It has 2
million residents, of which 85% are Palestinians, and 15% Israelis. In
1993, Israel agreed to begin moving their settlers out, but there is
little agreement on how that process should move forward or be
resolved.
World Bank - a United Nations agency that provides long term loans
to any nation for development projects.
World Economic Forum - a non-profit organization of over 1,000
members which includes most of the top corporations. Noted for their
annual meeting in Davos each year, which draws 100 world leaders.
World Trade Organization - Since 1995, the WTO has managed a
multi-lateral trade agreement that removes trade barriers among its
149 member nations.
Viktor Yanukovych - ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Umaru Musa Yar-adua - Since 2007, President of Nigeria, most
populous country in Africa, and fifth largest supplier of oil to U.S.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - President of Indonesia since 2004.
Viktor Yushchenko - President of Ukraine since 2004. Increasing ties
with EU and improving economy.
Robert Zoellick - World Bank President. Former Deputy Secretary of
State, widely respected.

Kimberly
Amadeo