Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

excess profits tax

(Encyclopedia)excess profits tax, levy on any profit above a standard level. Chiefly a wartime phenomenon, it is intended to increase revenue during periods of distress and to prevent businessmen from taking unfair...

Herzog, Roman

(Encyclopedia)Herzog, Roman, 1934–2017, German political leader and legal scholar. After receiving his doctorate in law from Ludwig Maximilian Univ., Munich (1958), he taught there, at the Free Univ. of Berlin (1...

Australian Capital Territory

(Encyclopedia)Australian Capital Territory, 939 sq mi (2,432 sq km), SE Australia, an enclave within New South Wales, containing Canberra, capital of Australia. It was called the Federal Capital Territory unt...

Souter, David Hackett

(Encyclopedia)Souter, David Hackett, 1939–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1990–2009), b. Melrose, Mass. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he served as New Hampshire's attorney general (1976–78)...

Sarney de Araújo Costa, José

(Encyclopedia)Sarney de Araújo Costa, José, 1930–, Brazilian politician, president of Brazil (1985–90), b. José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa. He served as a federal deputy (1958–64), governor of Maran...

Public Works Administration

(Encyclopedia)Public Works Administration (PWA), in U.S. history, New Deal government agency established (1933) by the Congress as the Federal Administration of Public Works, pursuant to the National Industrial Rec...

Putrajaya

(Encyclopedia)Putrajaya, administrative capital of Malaysia and federal territory, 111,313 acres (4,580 hectares), S Malay Peninsula. Construction on the planned city located 25 mi (40 km) south of Kuala Lumpur was...

Civil Aeronautics Board

(Encyclopedia)Civil Aeronautics Board: see Federal Aviation Administration. ...

excise taxes

(Encyclopedia)excise taxes, governmental levies on specific goods produced and consumed inside a country. They differ from tariffs, which usually apply only to foreign-made goods, and from sales taxes, which typica...

Americanization

(Encyclopedia)Americanization, term used to describe the movement during the first quarter of the 20th cent. whereby the immigrant in the United States was induced to assimilate American speech, ideals, traditions,...