Bush, George W(alker) (b. July 6, 1946, New Haven, Conn., U.S.) Governor of Texas (1995-2000) and 43rd president of the U.S. (from 2001). The eldest child of George Bush, the 41st president of the U.S.
(1989-93), George W. Bush attended Yale University and Harvard Busi¬ ness School. After spending a decade in the oil business with mixed suc¬ cess, he served as managing general partner of the Texas Rangers profes¬ sional baseball franchise. In 1994 he was elected governor of Texas and won reelection by a landslide in 1998. In 2000 Bush captured the Republican Party presidential nomi¬ nation. Despite losing the national popular vote to Al Gore by more than 500,000 votes, he gained the presidency when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a recount order by the Florida Supreme Court, enabling him to secure a narrow majority in the electoral college (271-266). In June 2001 Bush signed into law a $1.35 trillion tax-cut bill. In foreign affairs, his administration refused to abide by the Kyoto Protocol on reducing the emission of gases respon¬ sible for the greenhouse effect, withdrew from the Treaty on the Limita¬ tion of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, and attempted to remove U.S. citizens from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court. Fol¬ lowing the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon building near Washington, D.C., in September 2001 (see September 11 attacks), the Bush administration’s main priorities shifted to domestic security and counterterrorism. Bush identified Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network as responsible for the attacks. In October he launched a military campaign against Afghanistan’s Taliban government, which harboured bin Laden; the invasion of the country routed al-Qaeda and forced the Taliban from power. In late 2002 Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Bair accused the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein of continuing to possess and develop biological, chemical, and nuclear weap¬ ons in violation of UN mandates. After failing to persuade France, Rus¬ sia, and other UN Security Council members that those weapons would not be uncovered by UN weapons inspections, which had resumed in November, Bush and Blair led an attack on Iraq that toppled Saddam’s regime in 2003. Though no such weapons were found, fighting continued and escalated, as the United States helped Iraq pave the way for demo¬ cratic elections. Bush faced a strong challenge for the presidency in 2004 by Democratic Senator John Kerry but defeated him in a close contest.
Bush, Vannevar (b. March 11, 1890, Everett, Mass., U.S.—d. June 28, 1974, Belmont, Mass.) U.S. electrical engineer and administrator. He taught principally at MIT (1919-38, 1955-71). In the late 1920s and ’30s, Bush and his students built several electronic analog computers to solve
6 , 1946, New Haven, Conn., U.S.)
George W. Bush.
ERIC DRAPER/WHITE HOUSE PHOTO
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differential equations. He helped found Raytheon Co., and he served as president of the Carnegie Institute (1939-55). In 1941 he became direc¬ tor of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development, in which capacity he helped organize the Manhattan Project. By providing gov¬ ernment support for university-based scientific research, the agency paved the way for postwar federal support of basic scientific research. As adviser to Pres. Franklin Roosevelt, he laid the groundwork for the establishment of the National Science Foundation (1950). An information retrieval and annotation system he described became the theoretical prototype of hyper¬ text, the basis of the World Wide Web.
bushido \'bu-shi-do\ Japanese "way of the warrior" Code of conduct of the samurai class of Japan, first formulated in the 17th century. Its precise content varied over time, taking on overtones of Zen Buddhism and Confucianism. Along with self-discipline, honour, and austerity, one constant feature was the samurai’s obligation to his lord, which super¬ seded even familial ties. This obligation of loyalty and sacrifice was trans¬ ferred to the emperor with the Meiji Restoration and was a salient feature of the Japanese national mindset until the end of World War II (1945).
bushmaster Species ( Lachesis muta) of pit viper, found in scrublands and forests from Costa Rica south to the Amazon River basin. It is nor¬ mally about 6 ft (1.8 m) long but reportedly may grow to twice this length. It is pinkish or tan, marked with large, dark, diamond-shaped blotches. Though seldom encountered, the bushmaster is potentially lethal.
Bushmen See San
business cycle Periodic fluctuation in the rate of economic activity, as measured by levels of employment, prices, and production. Economists have long debated why periods of prosperity are eventually followed by economic crises (stock-market crashes, bankruptcies, unemployment, etc.). Some have identified recurring 8-to-10-year cycles in market econo¬ mies; longer cycles have also been proposed, notably by Nikolay Kon- dratev. Apart from random shocks to the economy, such as wars and technological changes, the main influences on the level of economic activ¬ ity are investment and consumption. An increase in investment, as when a factory is built, leads to consumption because the workers employed to build the factory have wages to spend. Conversely, increases in consumer demand cause new factories to be built to satisfy the demand. Eventually the economy reaches its full capacity, and, with little free capital and no new demand, the process reverses itself and contraction ensues. Natural fluctuations in agricultural markets, psychological factors such as a band¬ wagon mentality, and changes in the money supply have all been proposed as explanations for initial changes in investment and consumption. After World War II many governments used monetary policy to moderate the business cycle, aiming to prevent the extremes of inflation and depression by stimulating the national economy in slack times and restraining it dur¬ ing expansions. See also productivity.
business finance Raising and managing of funds by business orga¬ nizations. Such activities are usually the concern of senior managers, who must use financial forecasting to develop a long-term plan for the firm. Shorter-term budgets are then devised to meet the plan’s goals. When a company plans to expand, it may rely on cash reserves, expected increases in sales, or bank loans and trade credits extended by suppliers. Managers may also decide to raise long-term capital in the form of either debt (bonds) or equity (stock). The value of the company’s stock is a constant concern, and managers must decide whether to reinvest profits or to pay dividends. Other duties of financial managers include managing accounts receivable and fixing the optimum level of inventories. When deciding how to deploy corporate assets to increase growth, financial managers must also con¬ sider the benefits of mergers and acquisitions, analyzing economies of scale and the ability of businesses to complement each other. See also corporate finance; inventory.