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Klaus, Václav

(Encyclopedia)Klaus, Václav klous [key], 1941–, Czech politician. A staunch free-market economist and leader (1991–2002) of the Civic Democratic party, he has been one of Eastern Europe's more influential pos...

Fama, Eugene Francis

(Encyclopedia)Fama, Eugene Francis, 1939–, 1939–, U.S. economist, b. Boston, Mass., grad. Univ. of Chicago (M.B.A. 1963, Ph.D. 1964). He has taught at the Univ. of Chicago's Graduate School of Business since 19...

Highsmith, Patricia

(Encyclopedia)Highsmith, Patricia, 1921–95, American novelist, b. Fort Worth, Tex., as Mary Patricia Plangman, grad. Barnard College (B.A. 1942). She first traveled to Europe in 1949 and moved there in 1963, livi...

Haneke, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Haneke, Michael häˈnəkə [key], 1942–, Austrian film director and screenwriter, b. Munich, Germany. In the 1970s and 80s, he wrote and directed for television and the theater. His first film, The...

Munsey, Frank Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Munsey, Frank Andrew mŭnˈsē [key], 1854–1925, American publisher and author, b. Mercer, Maine. In 1882 he quit a telegraph operator's job in Maine to begin a career as publisher in New York City....

Mark, Gospel according to

(Encyclopedia)Mark, Gospel according to, 2d book of the New Testament. The shortest of the four Gospels and probably the earliest, it is usually thought to have been composed shortly before the destruction of the T...

Wakefield, Edward Gibbon

(Encyclopedia)Wakefield, Edward Gibbon, 1796–1862, British colonial statesman. He was attached to the British embassies in Turin (1814–16) and Paris (1820–26), but in 1826 was convicted of an attempt to marry...

Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio räfäĕlˈ käldāˈrä rôᵺrēˈgās [key], 1916–2009, president of Venezuela (1969–74, 1994–99). A lawyer and professor of sociology, he was first elected...

Social Credit

(Encyclopedia)Social Credit, economic plan in Canada, based on the theories of Clifford Hugh Douglas. The central idea is that the problems fundamental to economic depression are those of unequal distribution owing...

ransom

(Encyclopedia)ransom, price of redemption demanded by the captor of a person, vessel, or city. In ancient times cities frequently paid ransom to prevent their plundering by captors. The custom of ransoming was form...