Industry WIKI

Paul Casimir Marcinkus (; January 15, 1922 – February 20, 2006) was an American Catholic prelate who served as president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, from 1971 to 1989. He also served as president of the Governorate for Vatican City State from 1989 to 1990, following eight years as vice-president. He was the titular Archbishop of Horta.

Monetary reform of 1991 (known also as Pavlov Reform) was the last such reform in the Soviet Union. The reform retired and confiscated large-denomination bills to attempt to dampen inflation and combat the black market within the Soviet Union. It began on January 22, 1991. Its architect was Minister of Finance Valentin Pavlov, who was to become the last prime minister of the Soviet Union

The Pawnbrokers Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 93) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that repealed, altered and consolidated all previous legislation relating pawnbroking in Great Britain.

Pay-to-play (P2P), sometimes called pay-for-play, is a situation in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one must pay to "get in the game", with the sports analogy frequently arising.

Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth is a non-fiction book written by Margaret Atwood, about the nature of debt, for the 2008 Massey Lectures. Each of the book's five chapters was delivered as a one-hour lecture in a different Canadian city, beginning in St. John's, Newfoundland, on October 12 and ending in Toronto on November 1. The lectures were broadcast on CBC Radio One's Idea

A payday loan is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates. These loans are typically designed to cover immediate financial needs and are intended to be repaid on the borrower's next payday.

Payment cards are part of a payment system issued by financial institutions, such as banks, to a customer that enables its owner (the cardholder) to access the funds in the customer's designated bank accounts, or through a credit account and make payments by electronic transfer with a payment terminal and access automated teller machines (ATMs). Such cards are known by a variety of names

A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of decline in paid print readership and advertising revenue, partly due to the use of ad blockers. In academics, research papers are often subject to

Peer-to-peer investing (P2PI) is the practice of investing money in notes issued by borrowers who are requesting a loan without going through a traditional financial intermediary and who are unknown to the investor. P2PI is not to be confused with Peer-to-peer lending (P2PL) which deals with the borrower's part. Investing takes place online via a peer-to-peer lending/investing company. T

Penetration pricing is a pricing strategy especially appropriate for new product pricing, where the price of a product is initially set low to rapidly reach a wide fraction of the market and initiate word of mouth promotion. The strategy works on the expectation that customers will switch to the new brand because of the lower price. Penetration pricing is most commonly associated with ma

In American economics, penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade for less than $5 per share.

There are various types of Pensions in Armenia, including social pensions (granted to all individuals who reach the age of 63, both for laborers and not), mandatory funded pensions (a return on investment from mandatory funded pensions), or voluntary funded pensions (payments of supplementary pension collected over the years from income as well as insurance fees). Currently, Amundi-ACBA

Mexico reformed its pension system in 1997, transforming it from a pay as you go (PAYG), defined benefit (DB) scheme to a fully funded, private and mandatory defined contribution (DC) scheme. The reform was modeled after the pension reforms in Chile in the early 1980s, and was a result of recommendations from the World Bank. On December 10, 2020, the Mexican pension system would again un

Pequot Capital Management was a multibillion-dollar hedge fund sponsor that closed in 2010. The firm's investment funds invested in a range of markets through a variety of strategies. The firm invested in public equities as well as private equity, venture capital, distressed securities, and various other fixed income securities. The firm closed in 2010 following allegations of insider t

Perforce Software, Inc. is an American developer of software used for developing and running applications, including version control software, web-based repository management, developer collaboration, application lifecycle management, web application servers, debugging tools, platform automation, and agile planning software.

A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement used to evaluate the success of an organization, activity, project, or process in achieving defined objectives. KPIs provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, support evidence-based decision-making, and help organizations identify and monitor factors critical to performance.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, which was built to house the PCA.

In the ticketing system of the British rail network, a Permit to Travel provisionally allows passengers to travel on a train when they have not purchased a ticket in advance and the ticket office of the station they are travelling from is closed, without incurring a penalty fare.

A Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) is a statutory mechanism in Ireland for individuals who cannot repay their debts as they come due but who wish to avoid bankruptcy. The arrangement is one of the three alternatives authorized under Ireland's Personal Insolvency Act 2012; Debt Settlement Arrangements (DSA) and Debt Relief Notices (DRN) are the other two arrangements. A PIA is a lega

Personalization (broadly known as customization) consists of tailoring a service or product to accommodate specific individuals. It is sometimes tied to groups or segments of individuals. Personalization involves collecting data on individuals, including web browsing history, web cookies, and location. Various organizations use personalization (along with the opposite mechanism of popula

Throughout modern history a variety of perspectives on capitalism have evolved based on different schools of thought.

Pet banks is a derogatory term for state banks selected by the U.S. Department of Treasury to receive surplus Treasury funds in 1833. Pet banks are sometimes confused with wildcat banks. Although the two are distinct types of institutions that arose concomitantly, some pet banks were known to also engage in practices of wildcat banking. They were chosen among the big U.S. banks when Pre

Peter David Schiff (; born March 23, 1963; nicknamed "Dr. Doom") is an American stockbroker, financial commentator, and radio personality. He co-founded Echelon Wealth Partners in Canada (formerly Euro Pacific Canada). He is involved in other financial services companies including Euro Pacific Asset Management, as an independent investment advisor, and Schiff Gold (formerly Euro Pacific

Pewex (Polish pronunciation: [ˈpɛvɛks]; short for Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego, lit. 'Internal Export Company') was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in the United States dollar and other hard currencies, instead of the country's indigenous currency, the złoty.

Phantom debt or zombie debt is a debt that is old, defaulted, or not owed and is somehow still being pursued for collection to be paid by the presumed debtor. It generally refers to debt that is more than 3 years old, is long forgotten about or belonged to someone else – like someone with the same name or a deceased parent. The amount owed can grow to hundreds or thousands of dollars mor

The Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) is a dealing exchange for major banks in the Philippines. The primary exchange of the country for all sectors is the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Phones 4u was a British mobile phone retailer based in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1996 and was one of the largest mobile phone retailers in the UK before it ceased operations and filed for administration on 15 September 2014. Since then, the company has been under the control of its administrators, PwC.

Physical capital represents in economics one of the three primary factors of production. Physical capital is the apparatus used to produce a good and services. Physical capital represents the tangible man-made goods that help and support the production. Inventory, cash, equipment or real estate are all examples of physical capital.

Piaohao (Traditional Chinese: 票號, literally 'draft banks'), also known as piaozhuang (票莊), huihao (匯號), or huiduizhuang (匯兌莊), in Mandarin Chinese, or Shanxi banks (山西票號) or Shansi banks in English, were a type of bank that existed in China during the Qing dynasty until approximately 1952.

A pie (abbreviated as Ps) was a unit of currency in British India (now the independent nations of India, Burma, Pakistan and Bangladesh) until 1947. It was the smallest currency unit, equal to 1⁄3 of a pice, 1⁄12 of an anna or 1⁄192 of a rupee.

A piedfort (UK: , US: ; French: pied-fort or piéfort [pjefɔʁ]) is an unusually thick coin, often exactly twice the normal weight and thickness of other coins of the same diameter and pattern. Piedforts are not normally circulated, and are only struck for presentation purposes by mint officials (such as patterns), or for collectors, dignitaries and other VIPs. Piedfort is less commonly sp

The Pineapple Fund was a philanthropic project by an anonymous individual which gave away 5,057 bitcoins to 60 charities. The amount was valued at $86 million in December 2017. Some of the themes supported were medical research, environmental conservation, human rights and psychedelic therapy.

Pioneer is a free and open source space trading and combat simulator video game inspired by the commercial proprietary Frontier: Elite 2. It is available for Linux, and Microsoft Windows.

A pitch book, also called a confidential information memorandum, is a marketing presentation (information layout) used by investment banks, entrepreneurs, corporate finance firms, business brokers and other M&A intermediaries advising on the sale or disposal of the shares or assets of a business. It consists of a careful arrangement and analysis of the investment considerations of the cl

Investment in platinum is often compared in financial history to gold and silver, which were both known to be used as money in ancient civilizations. Experts posit that platinum is about 30 times scarcer than gold and approximately 100 times scarcer than silver, on the basis of annual mine production.

Playdom, Inc. was an online social network game developer popular on Facebook, Google+ and Myspace. The company was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area by University of California, Berkeley graduates Ling Xiao and Chris Wang and Swarthmore College graduate Dan Yue. In 2009, the market for games played on social networking sites was valued at $300 million, consisting mostly of online sa

Policy bank (Chinese: 政策性银行), or policy lender, is a state-owned financial institution established by the government of the People's Republic of China with the goal of implementing official economic policies and carrying out financial business in specific fields. This measure separates policy finance from commercial finance and establishes a policy bank to undertake strictly defined poli

Polymarket is an American cryptocurrency-based prediction market which offers a platform where individuals can place bets on future outcomes, including sports matches, economic indicators, weather patterns, awards, political and legislative outcomes, and military conflicts. Participants can deposit cryptocurrency through the Polygon blockchain network and trade shares that represent the

The Pooled Income Fund (PIF) is a type of charitable mutual fund or charitable trust that pools the securities or cash separately donated by an individual, a family or a corporation to a charity, which is then invested to provide dividends for both the donor's beneficiary and charity. The donations are irrevocable and tax-deductible and must be from personal assets. Capital gains taxes d

According to the Porter hypothesis, strict environmental regulations can induce efficiency and encourage innovations that help improve commercial competitiveness. The hypothesis was formulated by the Harvard University economist Michael Porter in an article in 1991. Porter and Claas van der Linde, of the University of St. Gallen, detailed the hypothesis in the 1995 journal article "Towar

Under Ministerial Order n. 150/2004 of 13 February, issued by the Portuguese Ministry of Finance and consequently updated, Portugal defines an official blacklist of countries and jurisdictions considered for legal and tax purposes as tax havens.

The Poseidon bubble was a stock market bubble in which the price of Australian mining shares soared in late 1969, then crashed in early 1970. It was triggered by the discovery by Poseidon NL of the early indications of a promising nickel deposit in September 1969.

Post-money valuation is a way of expressing the value of a company after an investment has been made. This value is equal to the sum of the pre-money valuation and the amount of new equity.

In financial economics and accounting research, post–earnings-announcement drift or PEAD (also named the SUE effect) is the tendency for a stock's cumulative abnormal returns to drift in the direction of an earnings surprise for several weeks (even several months) following an earnings announcement. This phenomenon is one of the oldest and most persistent capital market anomalies, with e

The post–World War II economic expansion, also known as the postwar economic boom or the Golden Age of Capitalism was a broad period of worldwide economic expansion beginning with the aftermath of World War II and ending with the 1973–1975 recession. The United States, the Soviet Union, Australia and Western European and East Asian countries in particular experienced unusually high and s

In economics, potential output (also referred to as "natural gross domestic product") refers to the highest level of real gross domestic product (potential output) that can be sustained over the long term. Actual output happens in real life while potential output shows the level that could be achieved.

Pound is a name of various base units of currency, and the name of some of those currencies by extension. It is used in some countries today and previously was used in many others. The English word pound derives from the Latin expression lībra pondō, 'a pound by weight', in which lībra means 'scale' or 'balance' and pondō means 'pound' or 'weight'. The currency's symbol is £, a stylised

A power purchase agreement (PPA), or electricity power agreement, is a long-term contract between an electricity generator and a customer, usually a utility, government or company. PPAs may last anywhere between 5 and 20 years, during which time the power purchaser buys energy at a pre-negotiated price. Such agreements play a key role in the financing of independently owned (i.e. not own

Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD) is a global contract research organization (CRO) providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services. In December 2021, PPD became a wholly owned subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Prague Stock Exchange (PSE; Czech: Burza cenných papírů Praha (BCPP)) is the largest and oldest securities market organizer in the Czech Republic. It is a 99.54 percent-owned subsidiary of Wiener Börse AG.

In lending, a pre-approval is the pre-qualification for a loan or mortgage of a certain value range.

Pre-IPO, pre-initial public offering is a late-stage for a private company to raise funds in advance of its listing on a public exchange.

"Pre-money valuation" is a term widely used in the private equity and venture capital industries. It refers to the valuation of a company or asset prior to an investment or financing. If an investment adds cash to a company, the company will have a valuation after the investment that is equal to the pre-money valuation plus the cash amount. That is, the pre-money valuation refers to the

Predatory advertising, or predatory marketing, can be largely understood as the practice of manipulating vulnerable persons such as children, or adults with cognitive issues into unfavorable market transactions through the undisclosed exploitation of these vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities of persons/populations can be hard to determine, especially as they are contextually dependent a

Predatory lending refers to unethical practices conducted by lending organizations during a loan origination process that are unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent. While there are no internationally agreed legal definitions for predatory lending, a 2006 audit report from the office of inspector general of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) broadly defines predatory lending a

Predictive analytics encompasses a variety of statistical techniques from data mining, predictive modeling, and machine learning that analyze current and historical facts to make predictions about future or otherwise unknown events.

In finance and mathematics, predictive modelling is the use of statistics to predict outcomes. Most often the event one wants to predict is in the future, but predictive modelling can be applied to any type of unknown event, regardless of when it occurred. For example, predictive models are often used to detect crimes and identify suspects, after the crime has taken place.

The Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See was a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected on 15 August 1967, and entrusted with overseeing all the offices of the Holy See that managed finances, regardless of their degree of autonomy.

A preferential creditor (in some jurisdictions called a preferred creditor) is a creditor receiving a preferential right to payment upon the debtor's bankruptcy under applicable insolvency laws.

The general price level is a hypothetical measure of overall prices for some set of goods and services (the consumer basket), in an economy or monetary union during a given interval (generally one day), normalized relative to some base set. Typically, the general price level is approximated with a daily price index, normally the Daily CPI. The general price level can change more than on

Price skimming is a price strategy where a marketer initially offers an item at a high price so that consumers with the strongest desire and funds to purchase it will, and then as that demand is depleted the price gets lowered to the next layer of customer desire in the market.

A price war is a form of market competition in which companies within an industry engage in aggressive pricing activity "characterized by the repeated cutting of prices below those of competitors". This leads to a cycle, where each competitor attempts to match or undercut the price of the other. Competitors are driven to follow the initial price-cut due to the downward pricing pressure,

Price-based selling is a specific selling technique in which a business exclusively reduces their price in attempt to close the sales cycle. Price-based selling clearly exists in businesses such as: commodity sales, auto sales, hospitality, and even some retail stores. However, it is only recommended that commodity items like petroleum be sold exclusively by price. Selling on price is ev

Pricing is the process whereby a business sets and displays the price at which it will sell its products and services and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will take into account the price at which it could acquire the goods, the manufacturing cost, the marketplace, competition, market condition, brand, and quality of the product.

A business can choose from a variety of pricing strategies when selling a product or service. To determine the most effective pricing strategy for a company, senior executives need to first identify the company's pricing position, pricing segment, pricing capability and their competitive pricing reaction strategy. Pricing strategies, tactics and roles vary from company to company, and al

Packaged retail investment and insurance products (PRIIPs) is European Union regulatory term to encompass a range of investment products that banks or other financial institutions offer to consumers. It was first used in regulation (EU) No 1286/2014, known as the PRIIPs regulation, the aim of which was to improve the transparency and comparability of investment products across the EU th

Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI or PRI) is a United Nations-supported international network of financial institutions working together to implement its six aspirational principles, often referenced as "the Principles". Its goal is to understand the implications of sustainability for investors and support signatories to facilitate incorporating these issues into their investm

Private banking is a general description for banking, investment and other financial services provided by banks and financial institutions primarily serving high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) – those with very high income or substantial assets. Private banking is presented by those who provide such services as an exclusive subset of wealth management services, provided to particularly af

Private credit is an aspect of the shadow banking system involving assets defined by non-bank lending where the debt is not issued or traded on the public markets. "Private credit" can also be referred to as "direct lending" or "private lending". It is a subset of "alternative credit". Estimations of the global private credit industry's size vary; as of April 2024, the International Mone

A private electronic market (PEM) uses the Internet to connect a limited number or pre-qualified buyers or sellers in one market. PEMs are a hybrid between perfectly open markets (e.g. exchanges where there is no pre-existing relationship between buyer and seller - similar to eBay) and closed contract negotiations (such as a sealed bid tender, where there is no visibility between competi

A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a startup or of an existing operating company with the end goal to make a profit on its investments. The target companies are generally privately owned (not publicly listed), but on rare

A private equity fund (PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity. Private equity funds are typically limited partnerships with a fixed term of 10 years (often with one- or two-year extensions). At inception, institutional inv

Private equity in the 1980s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

Private equity in the 1990s relates to one of the major periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital, experienced growth along parallel although interrelated tracks.

Private equity in the 2000s represents one of the major growth periods in the history of private equity and venture capital. Within the broader private equity industry, two distinct sub-industries, leveraged buyouts and venture capital, expanded along parallel and interrelated tracks.

Private equity (PE) expanded throughout the 2010s. As of 2019, there were nearly 7,000 PE firms within the United States, nearly $2.5 trillion globally in unspent cash (known as dry powder), and deal-making in private equity accounted for 13% of global acquisitions.

In the 2020s private equity (PE) firms responded to the COVID-19 recession with a surge in funding.

A private investment in public equity, commonly known as a PIPE deal, involves selling of publicly traded common shares or some form of preferred stock or convertible security to private investors. It is an allocation of shares in a public company not through a public offering in a stock exchange. PIPE deals are part of the primary market. In the U.S., a PIPE offering may be registered w

A private placement agent or placement agent is a firm assisting fund managers in the alternative asset class (e.g., private equity, infrastructure, real estate, hedge funds, and venture capital) and entrepreneurs/private companies (e.g., start-ups and growth capital companies) seeking to raise private financing through a so-called private placement.

In the context of sovereign debt crisis, private sector involvement (PSI) is, broadly speaking, the forced contribution of private sector creditors to a financial crisis resolution process, and, specifically, to the private sector incurring outright reductions ("haircuts") on the value of its debt holdings.

Probability of default (PD) is a financial term describing the likelihood of a default over a particular time horizon. It provides an estimate of the likelihood that a borrower will be unable to meet its debt obligations.

Product displacement is the removing of trademarked products from primarily visual media in order to avoid the payment of licensing fees, if the trademark owner objects, or if the broadcaster would prefer not to publicise a product for free, if the owners have not paid for it to be included in a programme.

Product information management (PIM) is the process of managing all the information required to market and sell products through distribution channels. This product data is created by an internal organization to support a multichannel marketing strategy. A central hub of product data can be used to distribute information to sales channels such as e-commerce websites, print catalogues, on

Product literature is a primary subset of business publishing that is geared toward the selection, purchase and subsequent use of a business' products. Product literature is intended to be created and distributed by the manufacturer alongside the product. The two components are designed to work in tandem so as to provide more information to the purchaser regarding factors such as ongoing

Product management is the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development to go to market. Product managers are responsible for ensuring that a product meets the needs of its target market and contributes to the business strategy, while managing a product or products at all

A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), specify its functional requirements, and manage feature releases. Product managers coordinate work done by many other functions (like software e

Profit and Loss Sharing (also called PLS or participatory banking) refers to Sharia-compliant forms of equity financing such as mudarabah and musharakah. These mechanisms comply with the religious prohibition on interest on loans that most Muslims subscribe to. Mudarabah (مضاربة) refers to "trustee finance" or passive partnership contract, while Musharakah (مشاركة or مشركة) refers to equ

Profit margin is a financial ratio that measures the percentage of profit earned by a company in relation to its revenue. Expressed as a percentage, it indicates how much profit the company makes for every dollar of revenue generated. Profit margin is important because this percentage provides a comprehensive picture of the operating efficiency of a business or an industry. All margin ch

In economics, profit maximization is the short run or long run process by which a firm may determine the price, input and output levels that will lead to the highest possible total profit (or just profit in short). In neoclassical economics, which is currently the mainstream approach to microeconomics, the firm is assumed to be a "rational agent" (whether operating in a perfectly competi

Program trading is a type of trading in securities, usually consisting of baskets of fifteen stocks or more that are executed by a computer program simultaneously based on predetermined conditions. Program trading is often used by hedge funds and other institutional investors pursuing index arbitrage or other arbitrage strategies. There are essentially two reasons to use program trading,

Project No One Leaves (PNOL) is a Boston non-profit tenants' rights organization which provides legal education to people living in foreclosed homes to enable them to understand and protect their legal rights. The group was established in 2008 by members of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau who specialized in housing law in response to a perceived spike in foreclosures and mass evictions in

ProMéxico is a trust fund of the Federal government of Mexico —a subdivision of the Secretariat of Economy— that promoted international trade and investment. ProMéxico used to be in charge of the country's active participation in the international arena by firmly establishing Mexico as an attractive, safe and competitive destination for foreign investment; encouraging the exportation of

Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. In modern times, proofs are often struck in greater numbers, especially for coin collectors (numismatists). Nearly all countries have issued proof coinage.

A prosumer is an individual who both consumes and produces. The term is a portmanteau of the words producer and consumer. Research has identified six types of prosumers: DIY prosumers, self-service prosumers, customizing prosumers, collaborative prosumers, monetised prosumers, and economic prosumers.

A protection racket is a racketeering scheme, usually perpetrated by a criminal organization, that coerces payments on a regular basis from an individual, group, or business in exchange for agreeing to not harm them (or for purportedly "protecting" them). The threat of harm may be indirectly communicated or implied, and it may include violence, robbery, ransacking, arson, vandalism, etc

The Province of Ontario Savings Office (POSO) was a financial institution established by the Government of Ontario, Canada in 1922 to provide a government-owned alternative to banks. The POSO was closed in 2003 when its assets were sold to the Quebec-based Desjardins Group cooperative of caisses populaires (credit unions) to form Desjardins Credit Union. In 2011, Desjardins Credit Unions

Provisional liquidation is a process which exists as part of the corporate insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions whereby after the lodging of a petition for the winding-up of a company by the court, but before the court hears and determines the petition, the court may appoint a liquidator on a "provisional" basis. (The provisional liquidator is appointed to safeguard t

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) is a United Kingdom financial services regulatory body, formed as one of the successors to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The authority is responsible for the prudential regulation and supervision of banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms. It sets standards and supervises financial institutions at t

Public budgeting is a field of public administration and a discipline in the academic study of public administration. Budgeting is characterized by its approaches, functions, formation, and type.

Public capital is the aggregate body of government-owned assets that are used as a means for productivity. Such assets span a wide range including: large components such as highways, airports, roads, transit systems, and railways; local, municipal components such as public education, public hospitals, police and fire protection, prisons, and courts; and critical components including wate