Style Guide - The Economist 2018

Useful referencea

Abbreviations

Here is a list of some common business abbreviations.

See also technology abbreviations on pages 254—7.

For international bodies and their abbreviations, see organisations, pages 228—42.

b

Beaufort Scale

For devotees of the shipping forecast, here is the World Meteorological Organisation’s classification of wind forces and effects.

Business ratios

These are ratios commonly used in corporate financial analysis.

Working capital

Working capital ratio = current assets/current liabilities, where current assets = inventory + receivables + cash at bank and in hand + quoted investments, etc, and current liabilities = payables + short-term bank borrowing + taxes payable + dividends, etc. The ratio varies according to type of trade and conditions; a ratio from 1 to 3 is usual with a ratio above 2 taken to be safe.

Liquidity ratio = liquid (“quick”) assets/current liabilities, where liquid assets = receivables + cash at bank and in hand + quoted investments (that is, assets that can be realised within a month or so, which may not apply to all investments); current liabilities are those that may need to be repaid within the same short period, which may not necessarily include a bank overdraft where it is likely to be renewed. The liquidity ratio is sometimes referred to as the “acid test”; a ratio under 1 suggests a possibly difficult situation, and too high a ratio may mean that assets are not being usefully employed.

Turnover of working capital = sales/average working capital. The ratio varies according to type of trade; generally a low ratio can mean poor use of resources, and too high a ratio can mean overtrading. Average working capital or average inventory is found by taking the opening and closing working capital or inventory and dividing by 2.

Turnover of inventory = sales/average inventory, or (where cost of sales is known) cost of sales/average inventory. The cost of sales turnover figure is to be preferred, as both figures are then on the same valuation basis. This ratio can be expressed as number of times per year, or time taken for inventory to be turned over once = (52/number of times) weeks. A low inventory turnover can be a sign of inventory items that are difficult to move, and usually indicates adverse conditions.

Turnover of receivables = sales/average receivables. This indicates efficiency in collecting accounts. An average credit period of about one month is usual, but this varies according to credit stringency conditions in the economy.

Turnover of payables = purchases/average payables. Average payment period is best maintained in line with turnover of receivables.

Sales

Export ratio = exports as a percentage of sales.

Sales per employee = sales/average number of employees.

Assets

Ratios of assets can vary according to the measure of assets used:

Total assets = current assets + non-current assets + other assets, where non-current assets = property + plant and equipment + motor vehicles, etc, and other assets = long-term investment + goodwill, etc.

Net assets (“net worth”) = total assets minus total liabilities = share capital + reserves = equity.

Turnover of net assets = sales/average net assets. As for turnover of working capital, a low ratio can mean poor use of resources.

Assets per employee = assets/average number of employees. This indicates the amount of investment backing for employees.

Profits

Profit margin = (profit/sales) [.dotmath] 100 = profits as a percentage of sales; usually profits before tax.

Profitability = (profit/total assets) [.dotmath] 100 = profits as a percentage of total assets = return on total assets (ROTA).

Return on capital = (profit/net assets) [.dotmath] 100 = profits as a percentage of net assets (“net worth”, “equity” or “capital employed”) = return on net assets (RONA), return on equity (ROE) or return on capital employed (ROCE).

Profit per employee = profit/average number of employees.

Earnings per share (EPS) = after-tax profit minus minorities/average number of shares in issue.

Central bankers since 1900

Governors of the Bank of England

Chairs of the United States Federal Reserve (since the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913)

Managing Directors of the International Monetary Fund (since its creation in 1945)

Presidents of the European Central Bank since its creation in 1998

Presidents of the World Bank since its creation in 1945

Currencies

See also currencies in Part 1 for The Economist newspaper usage.

a CFA = Communauté financière africaine in West African area and Coopération financière en Afrique centrale in Central African area. Used in monetary areas of West and Central Africa. The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of CFAfr655.96:€1. Countries with this currency are members of the Comité monétaire de la Zone Franc, or Franc Zone.

b Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent & Grenadines, the British Virgin islands.

Earthquakes

An earthquake is measured in terms of its magnitude.

a About equal to the shock caused by an average man jumping from a table.

b Potentially damaging to structures.

c Potentially capable of general destruction; widespread damage is usually caused above magnitude 6.5.

Here are some examples.

Elements

These are the natural and artificially created chemical elements.

Footnotes, sources, references

Footnotes appear at the foot of the page (or column) on which they occur; endnotes are listed at the end of a chapter or in one batch at the end of the work. The method depends on the publisher’s conventions, the type of work and the readership. The author may have little say in the matter. Footnotes may also contain additional snippets of material or comment that the author feels is not appropriate to the main text.

1 Charts, tables and figures: place source underneath.

2 Page numbers: “page” is usually abbreviated to p., plural pp., except, for example, in The Economist, where these are written in full.

3 Footnote numbers, which are conventionally superscript, go after the punctuation in English works, before in American. If there are not many footnotes, some publishers prefer to use asterisks, daggers, etc.

The main methods (other than The Economist’s) of referring to sources are: the author—date (Harvard) system; the number-only (Vancouver) system; and the author—title system.

The Economist Books should be in quotation marks, periodicals, blogs and online magazines in italics, authors, publishers, addresses (optional) and prices in roman. Commas should follow the title and the publisher (if an address is given). The other elements should each be followed by a full stop. “A Child’s Guide to the Dismal Science”, by Rupert Penandwig. Haphazard House, 1234 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10019. $28.

In charts and tables, no final stop is necessary.

Harvard system The most commonly used system in physical-and social-science publications. The author’s name and year of publication appear in parentheses in the text with the full details at the end of the publication in a list of references. For example: The variety of wildlife in our gardens (Murphy 2015) is amazing …

In his research, Murphy (2015) finds that …

If you wish to include the page numbers, write Murphy 2015: 165 or Murphy 2015, p. 165 or pp. 165—6.

The reference section contains the full details:

Murphy, P.L. (2015), Birds, Bees and Butterflies (Garden Press, London).

Vancouver system Most commonly used in scientific journals. Each publication is numbered and the text reference is a superscript number. For example:

The variety of wildlife in our gardens¹⁵ is amazing …

The reference section contains the full details:

15. Murphy, P.L., Birds, Bees and Butterflies (London: Garden Press, 2015).

Note that any addition or subtraction from the list means that all subsequent items and the references will have to be renumbered.

author—title system Also known as the short-title system. A full reference is given only on the first mention in the chapter (or book if there is a bibliography).

This is mostly for academic works. The whole title is cited in the first footnote, for example P.H. Clarke, Visions of Utopia, at which point you put, “hereafter Clarke, Utopia”. Then on subsequent references you simply write “Clarke, Utopia”, with page numbers if you wish.

mixed system Another system is common in academic publications. A superscript number is inserted in the text that corresponds with the number of a footnote (at the bottom of the page) or endnote (at the end of the chapter or the book). Footnotes and endnotes may be numbered by chapter or by book. The footnote or endnote consists of the bibliographical reference in full if there is no reference section or bibliography, or an abbreviated reference if there is. Sometimes the bibliographical reference appears in full on the first occurrence and is abbreviated subsequently, even if there is a reference section or bibliography.

Notes

ibid. (abbreviation of ibidem, in the same place), not italic, is used to mean that the quote comes from the same source.

op. cit. (abbreviation of opere citato, in the work quoted), not italic, is used to mean that the source has already been given.

Fractions

Do not mix fractions with decimals. If you need to convert one to the other, use this table. See also figures in Part 1.

Geological eras

Astronomers and geologists give this broad outline of the ages of the universe and the earth.

a 11,000 years, not 11,000m years.

Greek alphabet

These are the letters of the Greek alphabet and their names. The first column gives the upper-case symbol and the second column the lower-case symbol in each case.

Ααalpha

Bβbeta

Γγgamma

Δδdelta

Εεepsilon

Ζζzeta

Ηηeta

Θθtheta

Ιιiota

Κκkappa

Λλlambda

Μμmu

Ννnu

Ξξxi

Οοomicron

Ππpi

Ρρrho

Σςor σsigma

Ττtau

Υυupsilon

Φφphi

Χχchi

Ψψpsi

Ωωomega

Latin

Here are some common Latin words and phrases, together with their translations.

Laws

Scientific, economic, facetious and fatalistic laws in common use are listed here.

Benford’s law In lists of numbers from many sources of data the leading digit 1 occurs much more often than the others (about 30% of the time). The law was discovered by Simon Newcomb, an American astronomer, in 1881. He noted that the first pages of books of logarithms were much more thumbed than others. Furthermore, the higher the digit, the less likely it is to occur. This applies to mathematical constants as much as utility bills, addresses, share prices, birth and death statistics, the height of mountains, and so on.

Boyle’s law The pressure of a gas varies inversely with its volume at constant temperature.

Brooks’s law “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later,” said Fred Brooks, in his book The Mythical Man-Month.

Engel’s law In general people spend a smaller share of their budget on food as their income increases.

Goodhart’s law “Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is placed upon it for control purposes” was the law stated by Charles Goodhart, a chief adviser to the Bank of England during the 1980s. It has been recast more succinctly as “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”

Gresham’s law When money of a high intrinsic value is in circulation with money of lesser value, it is the inferior currency which tends to remain in circulation, while the other is either hoarded or exported. In other words: “Bad money drives out good.”

Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle Energy and time or position and momentum cannot both be accurately measured simultaneously. The product of their uncertainties is h (Planck’s constant).

Hooke’s law The stress imposed on a solid is directly proportional to the strain produced within the elastic limit.

Laws of thermodynamics

1 The change in the internal energy of a system equals the sum of the heat added to the system and the work done on it.

2 Heat cannot be transferred from a colder to a hotter body within a system without net changes occurring in other bodies in the system.

3 It is impossible to reduce the temperature of a system to absolute zero in a finite number of steps.

Mendel’s principles The law of segregation is that every somatic cell of an individual carries a pair of hereditary units for each character; the pairs separate during meiosis so that each gamete carries one unit only of each pair.

The law of independent assortment is that the separation of units of each pair is not influenced by that of any other pair.

Moore’s law “The number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18—24 months.” An observation by Gordon Moore, a founder of Intel, regarding the pace of semiconductor technology development in 1961.

Murphy’s law Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Also known as sod’s law.

Ohm’s law Electric current is directly proportional to electromotive force and inversely proportional to resistance.

Okun’s law The relationship between unemployment and GDP growth. GDP growth of 3% will leave the jobless rate unchanged. Faster growth will cut the unemployment rate by half the amount by which growth exceeds 3%. A growth rate of less than 3% will increase unemployment by the same ratio.

Pareto principle Also known as the 80/20 rule, named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848—1923), an Italian economist, who determined that 80% of activity comes from 20% of the people. The principle was extended (or simply misunderstood) by Joseph Juran, an American management guru, who suggested that for many phenomena 80% of consequences stem from 20% of the causes. That is, in many instances a large number of results stem from a small number of causes, eg, 80% of problems come from 20% of the equipment or workforce.

Parkinson’s law “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Formulated by C. Northcote Parkinson and first published in The Economist, November 19th 1955.

Parkinson’s law of data Data expand to fill the space available for storage, so acquiring more memory will encourage the adoption of techniques that require more memory.

The Peter principle All members of a hierarchy rise to their own level of incompetence, according to Laurence Peter and Raymond Hull in their book of the same name published in 1969.

Reilly’s law This law of retail gravitation suggests that people are generally attracted to the largest shopping centre in the area. William Reilly, an American academic, proposed the law in a book published in 1931.

Say’s law of markets Aggregate supply creates its own aggregate demand. Attributed to Jean-Baptiste Say (1767—1832), a French economist. If output increases in a free-market economy, the sales would give the producers of the goods the same amount of income which would re-enter the economy and create demand for those goods. Keynes’s law, attributed to John Maynard Keynes (1883—1946), a British economist, says that the opposite is true and that “demand creates its own supply” as businesses produce more to satisfy demand up to the limit of full employment.

sod’s law See Murphy’s law.

Utz’s laws of computer programming Any given program, when running, is obsolete. If a program is useful, it will have to be changed. Any given program will expand to fill all available memory.

Wolfe’s law of journalism

You cannot hope

to bribe or twist,

thank God! the

British journalist.

But seeing what

the man will do

unbribed, there’s

no occasion to.

Mathematical symbols

Measures

UK imperial units

The following imperial units are still used in the United Kingdom despite general conversion to the metric system: mile, yard, foot, inch for road traffic signs, distance and speed measurement; pint for draught beer and cider and for milk in returnable containers; acre for land registration; troy ounce for transactions in precious metals; pounds and ounces in all small-scale (especially market) transactions involving weight.

Conversions

Acceleration

Volume and capacity

Weight

Gold

The purity of gold is expressed as parts of 1,000, so that a fineness of 800 is 80% gold. Pure gold is defined as 24 carats (1,000 fine). Dental gold is usually 16 or 20 carat; gold in jewellery 9—22 carat. A golden sovereign is 22 carat.

1 metric carat = 200 milligrams.

Gold and silver are usually measured in troy weights: 1 troy ounce = 155.52 metric carats.

A standard international bar of gold is 400 troy ounces; bars of 250 troy ounces are also used.

Metric units

Metric units not generally recommended as SI units or for use with SI are marked with an asterisk (eg, Calorie*).

Length

Area

Weight (mass)

Volume

Capacity

Metric system prefixes

a Sometimes dk is used (eg, in Germany).

Miscellaneous units and ratios

Beer

Champagne

Wines and spirits

Precious metals

Water

1 litre weighs 1kg.

1 cubic m weighs 1 tonne.

1 UK gallon weighs 10.022lb.

1 US gallon weighs 8.345lb.

Energy

Radioactivity

Dose of radiation

Energy is measured in kilowatt hours and power is measured in kilowatts. Energy is power multiplied by time, thus the kilowatt-hour is one unit of energy.

Crude oil

Clothing sizes (rough equivalents)

Paper sizes

“A” Series (metric sizes)

A0 = 841mm [.dotmath] 1,189mm (33.11 in [.dotmath] 46.81 in)

A3 = 297mm [.dotmath] 420mm (11.69 in [.dotmath] 16.54 in)

A4 = 210mm [.dotmath] 297mm (8.27 in [.dotmath] 11.69 in)

A5 = 148mm [.dotmath] 210mm (5.83 in [.dotmath] 8.27 in)

A6 = 105mm [.dotmath] 148mm (4.13 in [.dotmath] 5.83 in)

A7 = 74mm [.dotmath] 105mm (2.91 in [.dotmath] 4.13 in)

Conversion factors^a

a Between the UK and US systems, and the International System of Units (SI). As an example of the use of the table, 10 long tons (of 2,240lb each), multiplied by 1.12, is equal to 11.2 short tons (of 2,000lb each).

b Miles per UK gallon, divided into 282.481, gives litres per 100 kilometres; miles per US gallon, divided into 235.215, gives litres per 100 kilometres.

c Litres per 100 kilometres, divided into 282.481, gives miles per UK gallon; litres per 100 kilometres, divided into 235.215, gives miles per US gallon.

National accounts

These are the definitions adopted by the United Nations in 1968.

See http://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/ for more details.

Final expenditure

= private final consumption expenditure (“consumers’ expenditure”)

+ government final consumption expenditure

+ increase in stocks

+ gross fixed capital formation

+ exports of goods and services

Gross domestic product (GDP) at market prices

= final expenditure

− imports of goods and services

Gross national income or product (GNI/GNP) at market prices

= gross domestic product at market prices

+ net income from other countries

Gross domestic product at factor cost

= gross domestic product at market prices

− indirect taxes

+ subsidies

North America administrative divisions

Here are the main administrative subdivisions of the United States and Canada. See also place-names in Part 1.

United States

States

Alabama (AL)

Alaska (AK)

Arizona (AZ)

Arkansas (AR)

California (CA)

Colorado (CO)

Connecticut (CT)

Delaware (DE)

District of Columbia (DC)^a

Florida (FL)

Georgia (GA)

Hawaii (HI)

Idaho (ID)

Illinois (IL)

Indiana (IN)

Iowa (IA)

Kansas (KS)

Kentucky (KY)

Louisiana (LA)

Maine (ME)

Maryland (MD)

Massachusetts (MA)

Michigan (MI)

Minnesota (MN)

Mississippi (MS)

Missouri (MO)

Montana (MT)

Nebraska (NE)

Nevada (NV)

New Hampshire (NH)

New Jersey (NJ)

New Mexico (NM)

New York (NY)

North Carolina (NC)

North Dakota (ND)

Ohio (OH)

Oklahoma (OK)

Oregon (OR)

Pennsylvania (PA)

Puerto Rico (PR)

Rhode Island (RI)

South Carolina (SC)

South Dakota (SD)

Tennessee (TN)

Texas (TX)

Utah (UT)

Vermont (VT)

Virginia (VA)

Washington (WA)

West Virginia (WV)

Wisconsin (WI)

Wyoming (WY)

a DC is not a state.

Canada

Provinces

Alberta

British Columbia

Manitoba

New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador

Nova Scotia

Ontario

Prince Edward Island

Quebec (Québec)

Saskatchewan

Territories

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Yukon

Olympic games

Summer

Winter

a Since 1994 the summer and winter Olympic games have taken place in alternate even-numbered years. Hence, the Albertville and Lillehammer winter games are only two years apart.

Organisations

These are the exact names and abbreviated titles of the main international organisations. Where membership is small or exclusive, members are listed too.

African Union formerly the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), founded in 1963, headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Members

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Congo-Brazzaville

Djibouti

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

The Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Rwanda

Sāo Tomé and

Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

South Sudan

Sudan

Swaziland

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

ALADI Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (Latin American Integration Association), founded in 1980, based in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Members^a

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Chile

Colombia

Cuba

Ecuador

Mexico

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Uruguay

Venezuela

a There are also 17 observer countries and 10 observer organisations.

Andean Community of Nations founded in 1969, headquarters in Lima, Peru.

Members

Bolivia

Colombia

Ecuador

Peru

APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, founded in 1989, based in Singapore.

Members

Australia

Brunei Darussalam

Canada

Chile

China

Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)

Hong Kong, China

Indonesia

Japan

Malaysia

Mexico

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Peru

Philippines

Russia

Singapore

Thailand

United States

Vietnam

ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations, established in 1967, headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Members

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

Indonesia

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

Philippines

Singapore

Thailand

Vietnam

BIS Bank for International Settlements, the central bankers’ central bank, founded 1930, based in Basel, Switzerland.

Members^a

Algeria

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Brazil

Bulgaria

Canada

Chile

China

Colombia

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Malaysia

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand

Turkey

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United States

a The European Central Bank is a shareholder.

CARICOM Caribbean Community and Common Market, formed in 1973, secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.

Members

Anguilla^a

Barbados

Belize

Bermuda^a

British Virgin Islandsa

Cayman Islandsa

Dominica

Antigua and Barbuda

Grenada

Guyana

Haiti

Jamaica

Montserrat

St Kitts-Nevis

St Lucia

Bahamas^b

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Turks and Caicos Islands^a

a Associate member.

b Member of the Community but not the Common Market.

COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, founded in 1994, headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia.

Members

Burundi

Comoros

Congo, Democratic

Republic of

Djibouti

Egypt

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Kenya

Libya

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Rwanda

Seychelles

Sudan

Swaziland

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Commonwealth based in London, UK.

Members

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

Bahamas

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belize

Botswana

Brunei Darussalam

Cameroon

Canada

Cyprus

Dominica

Fiji Islands^a

Ghana

Grenada

Swaziland

Tanzania

Tonga

Guyana

India

Jamaica

Kenya

Kiribati

Lesotho

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Malta

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Nauru^b

New Zealand

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Uganda

Nigeria

Pakistan

Papua New Guinea

Rwanda

Samoa

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Sri Lanka

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Swaziland

Tanzania

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Kingdom

Vanuatu

Zambia

a Suspended on September 1st 2009.

b Member in arrears.

Dependencies and associated states

Australia

Ashmore and Cartier Islands

Australian Antarctic Territory

Christmas Island

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Coral Sea Islands Territory

Heard and McDonald Islands

Norfolk Island

New Zealand

Cook Islands

Niue

Ross Dependency

Tokelau

UK

Anguilla

Bermuda

British Antarctic Territory

British Indian Ocean Territory

British Virgin Islands

Cayman Islands

Channel Islands

Falkland Islands

Gibraltar

Isle of Man

Montserrat

Pitcairn Island

South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands

St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Turks and Caicos Islands

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) founded by the former Soviet Socialist Republics in December 1991, based in Moscow, Russia.

Members

Armenia

Azerbaijan

Belarus

Georgia

Kazakhstan

Kyrgyzstan

Moldova

Russia

Tajikistan

Turkmenistan

Ukraine

Uzbekistan

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States, founded 1975, secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria.

Members

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cape Verde

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Liberia

Mali

Niger

Nigeria

Senegal

Sierra Leone

The Gambia

Togo

EEA European Economic Area, negotiated in 1992 between the European Community and members of EFTA, came into force in 1994 and has been maintained because the three signatories — Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein — wanted to participate in the single market without being full members of the EU.

EFTA European Free Trade Association, established 1960.

Members

Iceland

Liechtenstein

Norway

Switzerland

Euro area Name given to the economic region formed by the EU member countries that have adopted the euro as their currency. Also known as the euro zone.

Members

Austria^a

Belgium^a

Cyprus (2008)

Estonia (2011)

Finland^a

France^a

Germany^a

Greece (2001)

Ireland^a

Italy^a

Latvia (2014)

Lithuania (2015)

Luxembourg^a

Malta (2008)

Netherlands^a

Portugal^a

Slovakia (2009)

Slovenia (2007)

Spain

a Joined in 1999 when the euro was introduced.

EU European Union, the collective designation of three organisations with common membership: the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, treaty expired in 2002), European Economic Community (EEC) and European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). They merged to become the European Community (EC) in 1967. In November 1993 when the Maastricht treaty came into force the EC was incorporated into the EU. Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) formed one of the articles of the Maastricht treaty, in which were set out the stages by which the EU would progress to full convergence, with a single currency, the euro. Headquarters in Brussels, with some activities in Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

Main institutions

Council of the European Union

European Commission

European Council

European Parliament

Other EU institutions

Committee of the Regions

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Court of Auditors

Court of Justice of the EU

European Central Bank

European Data Protection Supervisor

European Economic and Social Committee

European External Action Service (EEAS)

European Investment Bank

European Investment Fund

European Ombudsman

European Personnel Selection Office

European School of Administration

Publications Office

Decentralised agencies

Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER)

Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO)

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX)

European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (EU-LISA)

European Asylum Support Office (EASO)

European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

European Banking Authority (EBA)

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)

European Chemicals Agency (ECHA)

European Defence Agency (EDA)

European Environment Agency (EEA)

European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA)

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND)

European GNSS Agency (GSA)

European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)

European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)

European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA)

European Medicines Agency (EMA)

European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)

European Police College (Cepol)

European Police Office (Europol)

European Public Prosecutor’s Office (in preparation) (EPPO)

European Railway Agency (ERA)

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

European Training Foundation (ETF)

European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)

European Union Satellite Centre (EUSC)

Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM)

Single Resolution Board (in preparation) (SRB)

The European Union’s Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST)

Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union (CdT)

Executive agencies

Consumers, Health and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA)

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)

European Research Council Executive Agency (ERC Executive Agency)

Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME)

Innovation & Networks Executive Agency (INEA)

Research Executive Agency (REA)

Other EU agencies

European Atomic Energy Community Treaty (EURATOM)

European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)

Members

Austria (1995)

Belgium^a

Bulgaria (2007)

Croatia (2013)

Cyprus (2004)

Czech Republic (2004)

Denmark (1973)

Estonia (2004)

Finland (1995)

France^a

Germany^a

Greece (1981)

Hungary (2004)

Ireland (1973)

Italy^a

Latvia (2004)

Lithuania (2004)

Luxembourg^a

Malta (2004)

Netherlands^a

Poland (2004)

Portugal (1986)

Romania (2007)

Slovakia (2004)

Slovenia (2004)

Spain (1986)

Sweden (1995)

UK (1973)

a Founding member.

Note: Year of joining in brackets.

FTAA Free Trade Area of the Americas, set up in November 2002 to integrate the economies of the western hemisphere into a single free trade agreement.

Members

Antigua & Barbuda

Argentina

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

St Kitts & Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent & the Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad & Tobago

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela

GCC Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf or Gulf Cooperation Council, established in 1981, headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Members

Bahrain

Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

G7, G8, G10, G22, G26 In 1975, six countries, the world’s leading capitalist countries, ranked by GDP, were represented in France at the first annual summit meeting: the United States, the UK, West Germany, Japan and Italy, as well as the host country. The following year they were joined by Canada and, in 1977, by representatives of the European Union, although the group continued to be known as the G7. At the 1989 summit, 15 developing countries were also represented, although this did not give birth to the G22, which was not set up until 1998 and swiftly grew into G26. At the 1991 G7 summit, a meeting was held with the Soviet Union, a practice that continued (with Russia) in later years. In 1997, although it was not one of the world’s eight richest countries, Russia became a full member of the G8. It was excluded again, because of its actions in Crimea and Ukraine, in 2014. Meetings of the IMF are attended by the G10, which includes 11 countries.

G10 members

Belgium

Canada

France

Germany

Italy

Japan

Netherlands

Sweden

Switzerland

United Kingdom

United States

IATA International Air Transport Association, head offices in Montreal and Geneva; regional offices in Miami and Singapore.

Members: most international airlines

International Seabed Authority an autonomous organisation in relationship with the UN, established 1994, based in Kingston, Jamaica

Members: 157 signatories to the Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Mercosur Mercado Común del Sur (Southern Common Market), founded in 1991, based in Montevideo, Uruguay.

NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into force on January 1st 1994.

Members

Canada

Mexico

United States

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, an alliance of 28 countries from Europe and North America committed to fulfilling goals of North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4th 1949; headquarters in Brussels.

Members

Albania

Belgium

Bulgaria

Canada

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Latvia

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

OAS Organisation of American States, formed in 1948, headquarters in Washington, DC.

Members^ab

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Costa Rica

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras^c

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

St Kitts-Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent and the

Grenadines

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela

a Has many permanent non-member observers.

b Cuba was excluded from the OAS in 1962. However, on June 3rd 2009 it was decided that the 1962 Resolution would no longer apply.

c Honduras was suspended from active participation on July 5th 2009.

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, capitalism’s club, founded in 1961, based in Paris. The European Commission also takes part in the OECD’s work.

Members

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

Chile

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Luxembourg

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

OPEC Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, established 1960, based in Vienna.

Members

Algeria

Ecuador^a

Indonesia^b

Iran

Iraq

Kuwait

Libya

Nigeria

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates

Venezuela

a Ecuador suspended its membership between December 1992 and October 2007.

b Indonesia suspended its membership from January 2009.

OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, originally founded in 1972 as the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).

Members: 57, including European countries, Canada, the US and former republics of the Soviet Union

SADC Southern African Development Community, replaced the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference in 1992, based in Gaborone, Botswana. Its aim is to work for development and economic growth in the region with common systems and institutions, promoting peace and security, and achieving complementary national and regional strategies.

Members

Angola

Botswana

Congo, Democratic Republic of

Lesotho

Madagascar

Malawi

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Seychelles

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Zambia

Zimbabwe

The United Nations (UN) officially came into existence on October 24th 1945, based in New York, US.

Main bodies

General Assembly

Security Council

Economic and Social Council (ecosoc)

Trusteeship Council

International Court of Justice

Secretariat

Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs

Secretaries-general

Sir Gladwyn Jebb (UK), acting, 1945—46

Trygve Lie (Norway), February 1946; resigned in November 1952

Dag Hammarskjöld (Sweden), April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), September 1961

U Thant (Burma, now Myanmar), November 1961—December 1971

Kurt Waldheim (Austria) 1972—81

Javier Pérez de Cuéllar (Peru) 1982—91

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (Egypt), January 1992 to the American veto of his second term in December 1996

Kofi Annan (Ghana), 1997—2006

Ban Ki-moon (South Korea), 2007—2016

António Guterres (Portugal), 2017—

a Comprising the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Related organisations

WTO World Trade Organisation, the international organisation of the world trading system with co-operative links to the UN, established in 1995 as successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), based in Geneva.

Members: 160 countries

Presidents and prime ministers

Here are lists of presidents of America and prime ministers of the UK.

Presidents of the United States

Prime ministers of the United Kingdom