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Banks and Banking
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 at home.
Banks also lend money to other businesses and customers. They collect extra money called banking fees with which they pay interest to savers as well as salaries for their workers. Banks make a profit because they collect more interest than they pay to savers.
Without banks the world’s economy would not be able to grow. Investors would not find the money they need for new projects. Industries could not buy new machines and modern technology.
What kind of services do banks offer?
Banks provide their customers with a number of services. With a checking account you can pay your bills. A check is a slip of paper that tells the bank how much money it should withdraw from your account and pay to someone else. Today, more and more people use the internet, also a banking service, to pay their bills. Banks also give their customers plastic cards with which they can get money from their account everywhere and whenever they want. They can also use them to pay without cash at shops, gas stations and other stores. Checking accounts are a comfortable way for customers to handle their money.
For people who want to save money banks offer savings accounts. Usually, banks pay more interest for savings accounts than they do for checking accounts. They hope that the customers will leave their money in the bank for a long time, which is why the bank can work with this money and offer it as loans. Banks, however, cannot give all of their money as loans. In most countries the government limits the amount of money that banks can use as loans. They must always keep back a certain percentage in the form of cash.
People who need money for certain things like buying a house or a car need a lot of money quickly. The money they borrow from a bank is called a loan. In most cases they do not pay back all of the money at once but a small part of it, with interest, every month. If someone cannot pay back a loan the bank usually can take away valuable objects like cars or houses.
Modern banks offer their customers many other services as well. They tell them how they can make money with investments in stocks and bonds. Credit cards are given to customers as a cash-free way of buying things. Almost all banks have automatic teller machines (ATM) at which customers receive money from their account. Telephone banking is an easy way to pay your bills by calling a special telephone number and typing in a certain sequence of digits. Some banks even deal with insurance.
Types of banks
Commercial banks are the most important banks. They offer many services, different forms of accounts and also loans. While, at first, commercial banks only offered its services to businesses and companies, they are for everyone today.
Investment banks do not take or keep the money of individuals. They help organizations and large companies raise money on the international financial markets.
Central banks manage the banking system in a country. The Federal Reserve in the United States and Bank of England are two prominent banks that take over these tasks. The European Central Bank is responsible for the circulation of money in the Euro zone.
Online banks can often give their customers more interest because they do not have the expenses that physical banks do. They can be accessed over the internet and are becoming more and more popular.
Savings and loans are banks that specialize in financing houses. Although interest rates are higher such banks offer up to 30-year mortgages. Customers pay back their loan through a monthly payment that they can afford.
Development banks are financial organizations that help Third World Countries. They not only provide money for nations in Africa, Asia and South America, but also send aid workers and offer technical help.
International banking
The world’s largest banks are located in Europe, the United States and Japan. In most cases they operate in many countries of the world. Because banking is a global industry that does not stop at a country’s borders there must be worldwide agreements. International standards that banks must obey are written down in the Basel accords.
History of banking
Banking has a long tradition. In Mesopotamia bankers kept gold and silver for people and lent it to others. Ancient Rome and Greece had similar banking systems to the ones we have today.
During the Middle Ages Italy was the centre of European banking. Jewish traders emerged as the first bankers and became very successful businessmen. Florence and Venice became known as two cities in which many people earned their money through banking. The Medici family dominated Florence for over two centuries and set up Europe’s largest bank in the 15 th century.
The first world wide banking crisis emerged during the Great Depression in 1929. Many citizens lost their jobs and their savings as banks crashed. In 1933 American president Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a bill in which the government guaranteed the savings of depositors if a bank went bankrupt.
In 2008 a banking crisis hit America and spread throughout the world. Banks gave homeowners mortgages without checking their financial backgrounds. House prices began to drop and banks lost a lot of money. Governments in many countries had to give them money and prevent them from becoming bankrupt.
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Globalization
Your shirt was made in Mexico and your shoes in China. Your CD player comes from Japan. You can travel to Moscow and eat a Big Mac there and you can watch an American film in Rome. Today goods are made and sold all over the world, thanks to globalization.
Globalization lets countries move closer to each other. People, companies and organizations in different countries can live and work together. We can exchange goods , money and ideas faster and cheaper than ever before. Modern communication and technology, like the Internet, cell phones or satellite TV help us in our daily lives.
Globalization is growing quickly. A German company can produce cars in Argentina and then sell them in the United States. A businessman in Great Britain can buy a part of a company in Indonesia on one day and sell parts of another business in China the next, thanks to globalization. Fast food companies open shops around the world almost every day.
Coca Cola - A symbol of globalization
History of Globalization
Globalization is not new. For thousands of years people have been trading goods and travelling across great distances. During the Middle Ages, merchants travelled along the Silk Road, which connected Europe and China.
The modern age of globalization started with the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 18th century. New machines were able to produce cheaper goods. Trains and steam-powered boats transported products farther and faster.
Since 1980, globalization has been moving at a faster pace. Today it is easier for companies to work in other countries. The Internet gives them the chance of reaching more customers around the world. Teleworkers work for firms that may be far away.
However , there is a growing debate over globalization. Governments are in favour of globalization because the economy can grow. Other people are not so sure that there are only advantages. Here are some arguments from both sides:
Good sides
• Globalization lets countries do what they can do best. If, for example, you buy cheap steel from another country you don’t have to make your own steel. You can focus on computers or other things.
• Globalization gives you a larger market. You can sell more goods and make more money. You can create more jobs.
• Consumers also profit from globalization. Products become cheaper and you can get new goods more quickly.
Bad sides
• Globalization causes unemployment in industrialized countries because firms move their factories to places where they can get cheaper workers.
• Globalization may lead to more environmental problems. A company may want to build factories in other countries because environmental laws are not as strict as they are at home. Poor countries in the Third World may have to cut down more trees so that they can sell wood to richer countries.
• Globalization can lead to financial problems . In the 1970s and 80s countries like Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia or Brazil got a lot of money from investors who hoped they could build up new businesses there. These new companies often didn’t work, so they had to close down and investors pulled out their money.
• Some of the poorest countries in the world, especially in Africa, may get even poorer. Their population is not as educated as in developed countries and they don’t have the new technology that we do.
• Human, animal and plant diseases can spread more quickly through globalization.
Many experts say that we need a different kind of globalization in our world today. There must be ways to make sure that all countries profit from the good sides of globalization. We should help poorer countries by giving them better education and showing them how new technology works.
Every year, leaders of the world’s biggest industrial countries get together to discuss economic problems. This meeting is called the G8 summit. In the last few years groups against globalization have organized protest marches and demonstrations to point out that not everyone is happy with how the world’s economy is developing