Do You Know?
China and Japan are the countries with the two biggest stockpiles of foreign exchange and total-currency reserves. As of the end of December 2011, the total reserve assets of China, Japan, Euro Zone and the U.S. were USD $3.5 trillion, $1.3 trillion, $912 billion, and $149 billion respectively.
In the U.S. as of 11/2011, 34% major banks, 70% community banks, and 78% credit unions offer no-fee checking accounts to their customers; and 77% of total checking account fees that are overdraft charges.
Thirty U.S. companies paid less than zero in federal income taxes in at least one year from 2008 to 2010. These companies, whose pretax U.S. profits totaled $160 billion over the three
years, included: Pepco Holdings (Profit: $882M; Tax: –$508M; Rate: -57.6%), General Electric (Profit: $10,460M; Tax: –$4,737; Rate: -45.3%), PG&E (Profit: $4,855M; Tax: –$1,027M; Rate: -21.2%),
Computer Sciences (Profit: $1,666M; Tax: –$305M; Rate: -18.3%), DuPont (Profit: $2,124M;
Tax: –$72M; Rate: -3.4%), Verizon (Profit: $32,518M; Tax: –$951M; Rate: -2.9%), Boeing (Profit: $9,735M; Tax: –$178M; Rate: -1.8%),Wells Fargo (Profit: $49,370M; Tax: –$681M; Rate: -1.4%), and
Honeywell (Profit: $4,903M; Tax: –$34M; Rate: -0.7%).
U.S. financial firms paid about $20.8 billion in bonus for work done in 2010.
In New York City, the average Wall Street salary in 2010 was $361,330, which is more than five times the average salary of a private-sector worker in the city.
During the past 2.5 years, American financial firms generated at least $83 billion in profit.
A debit card, which looks like a credit card but works like an electronic check, allows the cashier to run it through a scanner that enables the financial
institution to verify electronically that the funds are available and approve the transaction.
In November 2010, the U.S. government ran a $150.39 billion budget deficit; its income was $148.96 billion, and spending was $299.35 billion. A year ago in November the deficit was $120.29 billion
As of June 1, 2010, the total U.S. public debt outstanding was over $13 trillion. In 1843, the U.S. government set up an account to accept gifts from people wishing to help the country. These days, the money is directed to pay down the
country debt. In 2009, people sent $3,063,057. So far this year (June 2010): $2,451,267.
As of the beginning of January 2010, there were about 576.4M credit cards and 507M debit cards in circulation in the U.S. The average number of credit cards
held by cardholders was 3.5, and the average credit card debt per household was $16,007. The credit card default rate was 11.37 percent.
The United States Dollar is the currency in
American Samoa (AS, ASM),
British Virgin Islands (VG, VGB, BVI),
El Salvador (SV, SLV),
Guam (GU, GUM),
Marshall Islands (MH, MHL),
Micronesia (Federated States of Micronesia, FM, FSM),
Northern Mariana Islands (MP, MNP),
Palau (PW, PLW),
Puerto Rico (PR, PRI),
United States (United States of America, US, USA),
Turks and Caicos Islands (TC, TCA),
Virgin Islands (VI, VIR),
Timor-Leste,
Ecuador (EC, ECU),
Johnston Island,
Midway Islands, and
Wake Island.
On 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the
euro (€) as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January
2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries .
The countries in the European Union (EU) that use the euro are: Belgium, Germany,
Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, and Finland.
European Union countries not using the euro are: Denmark, Sweden, and the U.K.
Other territories using the euro are: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, The Vatican, Martinique, Guadalupe (Caribbean), Reunion (Indian Ocean), Montenegro, and Kosovo.
Bank of America, which was established in 1930, was originally Bank of Italy!
The United States Dollar is also known as the American Dollar, and the US Dollar. The symbol for USD can be written $. The Federal Government started printing paper currency in 1861.
The United States Mint is in charge of producing the nation's coins, while the
Bureau of Engraving has printed banknotes and printing for the
Federal Reserve since 1914. Note size used to be very large but switched over to a smaller size in
1928. A million dollars' worth of $100 bills weighs about 22 pounds.
The biggest bill that exists is one for $100,000. This $100,000 bill was never made available to the public, and was limited to transactions between the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. However, it is still legal tender, if anyone can get it.
The issuance of US currency in denominations of five hundred dollars, one thousand dollars, five thousand dollars, and ten thousand dollars was discontinued in 1969 because of declining use.
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