money market Set of institutions, conventions, and practices whose aim is to facilitate the lending and borrowing of money on a short-term basis. The money market is, therefore, different from the capital market, which is concerned with medium- and long-term credit. The transactions that occur on the money market involve not only banknotes but assets that can be turned into cash at short notice, such as short-term govern¬ ment securities and bills of exchange. Though the details and mechanism of the money market vary greatly from country to country, in all cases its basic function is to enable those with surplus short-term funds to lend and those with the need for short-term credit to borrow. This function is accomplished through middlemen who provide their services for a profit. In most countries the government plays a major role in the money mar¬ ket, acting both as a lender and borrower and often using its position to influence the money supply and interest rates according to its monetary policy. The U.S. money market covers financial instruments ranging from bills of exchange and government securities to funds from clearinghouses and certificates of deposit. In addition, the Federal Reserve System provides con¬ siderable short-term credit directly to the banking system. The interna¬ tional money market facilitates the borrowing, lending, and exchange of currencies between countries.
money order Certificate requiring the issuer to pay a certain sum of money on demand to a specific person or organization. Money orders pro¬ vide a fast, safe, and convenient means of transferring small sums of money. They are issued by governments (usually through postal authori¬ ties), banks, and other qualified institutions to buyers who pay the issuer the face amount of the money order plus a service charge. Because they are exchangeable for cash on demand, they are a generally accepted means of payment. The American Express Co. began issuing money orders in 1882; the company also created the first traveler’s checks nine years later. See also currency.
money supply Liquid assets held by individuals and banks. The money supply includes coins, currency, and demand deposits (checking accounts). Some economists consider time and savings deposits to be part of the money supply because such deposits can be managed by govern¬ mental action and are nearly as liquid as currency and demand deposits. Other economists believe that deposits in mutual savings banks, savings
and loan associations, and credit unions should be counted as part of the money supply. Central banks regulate the money supply to stabilize their national economies. See also monetary policy.
Mongke \'moq-ka\ (b. 1208, Mongolia—d. 1259, Sichuan province, China) Mongol leader. Grandson of Genghis Khan and brother of Kublai Khan, he was elected great khan in 1251. Under Mongke, the Mongols conquered Iran, Iraq, and Syria as well as the Thai kingdom of Nan-chao and the area of present-day Vietnam. He died before the Mongols could complete the conquest of China, which happened under the reign of Kublai.
Mongkut X.moq-'kiitV or Phrachomklao N.pra-.kom-'klauV or Rama IV (b. Oct. 18, 1804, Bangkok, Siam—d. Oct. 15, 1868, Bangkok) King of Siam (Thailand; r. 1851-68). The 43rd child of King Rama II, he was a Buddhist monk and scholar before he ascended the throne. His reformed Buddhism grew into the Thammayut order, which today occu¬ pies the intellectual centre of Thai Buddhism. Mongkut’s intellectual pur¬ suits also brought him into contact with Western thought. As king, he fully opened Siam to Western commerce and combined tolerance and shrewd¬ ness to help ensure its survival as an independent nation. The reminis¬ cences of an English governess employed in his household became the basis for the musical comedy The King and I.
Mongo Any of several peoples living in the African equatorial forest. They speak a dialect of a common language, Mongo or Nkundo, which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family. The Mongo traditionally cultivated cassava and bananas in addition to hunting, fishing, and gath¬ ering. Mongo religion emphasizes ancestor worship and nature spirits; it also features magic and witchcraft. Their art has been mainly oral, and they have a rich talking-drum and song literature. They number some five million.
Mongol Member of an Asian people originally from the Mongolian pla¬ teau who share a common language and a nomadic tradition of herding sheep, cattle, goats, and horses. In the 10th—12th centuries the Khitans (see Liao dynasty), Juchen (Chin dynasty), and Tatars, all Mongol peoples, ruled in Mongolia, but Mongol power was greatest in the 13th century, when Genghis Khan, his sons (including Ogodei), and his grandsons Batu and Kublai Khan, created one of the world’s largest empires. It declined greatly in the 14th century, when China was lost to the Ming dynasty, and the Golden Horde was defeated by Muscovy. Ming incursions effectively ended Mongol unity, and by the 15th-16th centuries only a loose federa¬ tion existed. Today the plateau is divided between independent Mongolia and Chinese-controlled Inner Mongolia. Other Mongols live in Siberia. Tibetan Buddhism is the principal Mongol religion.
Mongol dynasty See Yuan dynasty
Mongolia or Outer Mongolia Country, north-central Asia, between Russia and China. Area: 603,909 sq mi (1,564,116 sq km). Population (2005 est.): 2,550,000. Capitaclass="underline" Ulaanbaatar. Some four-fifths of the popu¬ lation are Mongols; minorities consist of Kazakhs, Russians, and Chinese. Languages: Khalkha Mongolian, Turkic languages, Russian, Chinese. Religions: traditional beliefs. Buddhism, Islam. Currency: tugrik. Mon¬ golia has an average elevation of about 5,200 ft (1,580 m) above sea level. Three mountain ranges stretch across the north and west: the Altai, the Hangayn (Khangai), and the Hentiyn (Khentei). The south and east are occupied by the Gobi Desert. Livestock raising, especially sheepherding, accounts for nearly three-fourths of the total value of agricultural pro¬ duction; wheat is the major crop. Mongolia’s rich mineral resources include coal, iron ore, and copper. Mongolia is a republic with one leg¬ islative house; its chief of state is the president, and the head of govern¬ ment is the prime minister. In Neolithic times it was inhabited by small groups of hunters and nomads. During the 3rd century bc it became the centre of the Xiongnu tribal league. Turkic-speaking peoples held sway in the 4th-10th centuries ad. In the early 13th century Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes and conquered Central Asia. His successor, Ogodei, conquered the Jin dynasty of China in 1234. Kublai Khan established the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty in China in 1279. The Mongols were confined to their original homeland in the steppes after the 14th century. Ligdan Khan (ruled 1604-34) attempted to unite Mongol tribes against the Manchu, but after his death the Mongols became part of the Chinese Qing dynasty. After the fall of the Qing in 1912, Mongol princes, supported by Russia, declared Mongolia’s independence from China, and in 1921 the Soviet Red Army helped drive off Chinese and Russian forces. The Mongolian
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Mongolian languages ► monkeypox I 1283
People’s Republic was established in 1924. The country adopted a new constitution in 1992 and shortened its name to Mongolia.
Mongolian languages Family of
about eight Altaic languages spoken by five to seven million people in central Eurasia. All Mongolian languages are relatively closely related; those languages whose speakers left the core area in Mongolia the ear¬ liest tend to be the most divergent. The most remote language is Mo- gholi (Moghul, Mongol), now spoken by fewer than 200 people in western Afghanistan. Less divergent are the languages of several ethnic groups in northwestern China, eastern Qinghai, and adjacent parts of Gansu and Inner Mongolia, altogether spoken by fewer than 500,000 people. The core languages are Mongolian proper, the dominant dialect in the Repub¬ lic of Mongolia and the basis of Modern Standard Mongolian, and a group of peripheral dialects. The core group of Mongolian speakers tradition¬ ally have used Classical Mongolian as their literary language; it is writ¬ ten in a vertical alphabetic script borrowed from the Uighurs (see Turkic languages). Modern Mongolian was written in this script until 1946, when the People’s Republic of Mongolia introduced a script using a modified Cyrillic alphabet. With political democratization in the 1990s, the old script has been revived. In Inner Mongolia it has been in continuous use.