Table Of ContentTJ7006_MISCELLANY_JKT 11/9/06 13:29 Page 1
SPINE 19MM C M Y K
Stockmarkets: the best and worst of times Here are just some of the things that are to be
Investment formulas found in this business miscellany:
Private equity
Hedge funds The world’s biggest firms
Bubbles that burst Big firms, big facts
Oil reserves and prices Behind the corporate name
Gold facts A Business Miscellany America’s biggest bankruptcies
Diamond and platinum facts Selling off state assets
A Business Miscellany
Behind the currency name How many billion spam e-mails are sent each day? Business blunders
Some money superlatives Big bucks
Offshore attractions What business blunders did Ford and Hoover commit? The world’s most valuable brands
Notes and coins in circulation Which are the world’s most valuable brands? The world’s most admired companies
The life of $ and £ notes Where is business corruption perceived to be worst? Britain’s most admired companies
The changing world economy What companies say about themselves
Leading exporters How much do the best paid US hedge fund managers earn? Games directors play
Sending money home Who was the first woman to get a US patent? Business friendliness
Interest rates Who said “Business is a combination of war and sport”? Business competitiveness
Corporate tax rates Business start-ups and failures
What companies pay in tax How did Motorola and Yahoo get their names? Corruption: business perceptions
What individuals pay in tax And how do you avoid seven years of bad sex in Germany? Entrepreneurial activity
Great business books Business costs
Latin that lawyers like to use Full of facts and figures about all aspects of business, the Days lost in strikes and lockouts
Brand names that entered the language Biggest business employers
second edition of this business miscellany gives the answers
Business jargon International pay comparisons
Top grossing films of all time to all the above questions and many, many more. For anyone What CEOs get paid
Top business schools who needs proof that you can combine business with Leading Wall Street traders’ salaries
From PCs to PDAs pleasure, here it is. City of London bonuses
Chip power Investment bankers’ pay
Computer processing costs Best paid hedge fund managers in the US
The impact of software piracy A world of lawyers
Spam and e-mail The number of accountants
Pod facts Women in business
Internet suffixes Spending on advertising
Internet growth ISBN-10 1 86197 866 9 Some famous advertising slogans
Blogs away ISBN-13 978 186197 866 0 Some business giants of the past
Telephony Philanthropy
The corporate highlife The richest people
Inventors and inventions Bad boys – and something fishy
Business etiquette ‘I never did a day’s work in my life, it was all fun’ Leading management thinkers
Jacket design: Slabmedia.net Thomas Edison Continued on back flap... £9.99
A Business Miscellany
Business Miscellany
OTHER ECONOMIST BOOKS
Guide to Analysing Companies
Guide to Business Modelling
Guide to Business Planning
Guide to Economic Indicators
Guide to the European Union
Guide to Financial Markets
Guide to Investment Strategy
Guide to Management Ideas
Numbers Guide
Style Guide
Dictionary of Business
Dictionary of Economics
International Dictionary of Finance
Brands and Branding
Business Consulting
Business Strategy
China’s Stockmarket
Economics
Future of Technology
Globalisation
Headhunters and How to Use Them
Mapping the Markets
The City
Wall Street
Essential Director
Essential Economics
Essential Investment
Essential Negotiation
Pocket World in Figures
Business Miscellany
THE ECONOMIST IN ASSOCIATION WITH
PROFILE BOOKS LTD
Published by Profile Books Ltd
3A Exmouth House, Pine Street, London EC1R 0JH
www.profilebooks.com
Copyright © The Economist Newspaper Ltd 2005, 2006
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under
copyright reserved above, no part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise), without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
The greatest care has been taken in compiling this book.
However, no responsibility can be accepted by the publishers or
compilers for the accuracy of the information presented.
Where opinion is expressed it is that of the author and does not
necessarily coincide with the editorial views of
The Economist Newspaper.
Designed by Sue Lamble and BRILL
Typeset by MacGuru Ltd
Contents
When firms started 2
Oldest family firms 3
Oldest newspapers still in circulation 4
The busines pres c 5
The world’s biggest firms 6
America’s biggest firms 8
Big firms, big facts 9
Behind the corporate name 10
o
America’s biggest bankruptcies 17
Selling off state assets 18
Business blunders 19
Big bucks 27
The world’s most valuable nbrands 28
The world’s most admired companies 32
Britain’s most admired companies 33
What companies say about themselves 34
Games directors play 38
Business friendliness t 41
How competitive? 42
Easy money? 43
Business cycles 44
Business start-ups and failures 45
Corruption: business perceeptions 46
Business ratios 48
Entrepreneurial activity 50
Business costs 51
The changing workforce 52
Days lost in strikes and locnkouts 54
Labour union strength 55
Changes in working hours 56
Biggest business employers 57
International pay comparisons 58
t
What CEOs get paid 59
US chief executive pay 60
Leading Wall Street traders’ salaries 61
City of London bonuses 61
Investment bankers’ pay s 62
Best paid hedge fund managers in the US 63
A world of lawyers 64
The number of accountants 65
Women in business 66
Tall buildings 68
Big shopping malls c 69
Spending on advertising 70
Some famous advertising slogans 72
Some business giants of the past 74
Some management styleso 83
Philanthropy 84
The richest people 86
Central bankers since 1900 88
In their own words 90
Bad boys – and somethingn fishy 97
Leading management thinkers 106
The oldest stock exchanges 125
Leading stockmarkets 126
Some stockmarket indices explained 128
Stockmarket performance t 132
Stockmarkets: the best and worst of times 136
Clocking the stockmarkets 140
Investment formulas 142
Private equity 145
Hedge funds e 146
Bonds 148
Bubbles that burst 150
Oil reserves and prices 155
Gold reserves and prices 156
Gold facts n 157
Rich producers 158
Diamond and platinum facts 159
Behind the currency name 160
Some money superlatives t 164
Offshore attractions 169
Notes and coins in circulation 170
Euros printed 171
The life of $ and £ notes 171
Exchange rates s 172
Exchange rate pegs 173
viii
Contributors
Many people contributed to this book, as follows.
Sarah Dallas, Cities Guide editor of Economist.com:
“Business etiquette”.
Tim Hindle, former management editor of The Economist:
“Leading management thinkers”, “Great business books”
and “Business jargon”.
Bob Tricker, author of Essential Director: “Games directors
play”.
Alexander Walsh, a freelance writer and researcher:
“What companies say about themselves” and “Some
business giants of the past”.
Jonathan Williams and Katie Eagleton of the British
Museum: “Some money superlatives”.
Simon Wright, a member of Economist.com’s Global
Agenda team: “Behind the corporate name”, “Business
blunders”, “Some famous advertising slogans”, “Bubbles
that burst”, “Bad boys – and something fishy”, “In their
own words”, “Behind the currency name” and “Inventors
and inventions”.
All other material was researched and compiled by Carol
Howard, head of The Economist research department,
Rishad Jonuschat and Christopher Wilson, with help
from Andrea Burgess and Conrad Heine, all of whom
work at The Economist.
Contributors
Business is really more
agreeable than pleasure; it
‘in‘terests the whole mind … more
deeply. But it does not look as
though it did
Walter Bagehot, journalist, author
and, from 18’61’ to 1877, editor of
The Economist
2
When firms started
Year Firm Activity Country
578 Kongo Gumi Construction Japan
1288 Stora Enso Paper Finland
1385 Antinori Wine and olive oil Italy
1526 Fabbrica D’Armi Pietro Beretta Firearms Italy
1623 Zildjian Cymbal makers Turkey
1630 Kikkoman Soy sauce Japan
1630 Sumitomo Conglomerate Japan
1639 Hugel & Fils Wine France
1642 James Lock Hatters UK
1672 C. Hoare & Co Banking UK
1698 Berry Bros & Rudd Wine merchants UK
1734 Taittinger Champagne France
1739 William Clark Linens UK
1748 Villeroy & Boch Tableware Germany
1759 Wedgwood China UK
1761 Faber-Castell Pencils Germany
1783 Waterford Glassware Ireland
1786 Molson Brewing Canada
1802 Du Pont Chemicals US
1853 Levi Strauss Clothing US
1860 Anheuser-Busch Beer US
1862 Bacardi Rum Cuba
1867 Standard Oil Oil US
1886 Coca-Cola Soft drinks US
1892 General Electric Electrical equipment US
1896 Barclays Banking US
1901 US Steel Steel US
1903 Ford Motor Automotive US
1909 BP (originally Anglo-Persian Oil) Oil UK
1916 BMW Motor engineering Germany
1946 Sony Consumer electronics Japan
1955 McDonald’s first restaurant Fast food US
1962 Wal-Mart’s first store Retailing US
1971 Starbucks Coffee shops US
1975 Microsoft Software US
1977 Apple Computer Computers US
1998 Google Internet US
Sources: Company websites; Centuries of Success by William T. O’Hara; Family
Business magazine
When firms star ted
