Archive for the ‘Economics’ Category

Economic History as an Academic Discipline

January 17, 2011 - 10:56 am No Comments

Economics is a compelling force that has helped shaped countries and empires as far back as history records. Economic trends have had diverse effects which include triggering World War Two, the collapse of the Soviet Economy, the democratisation of South Korea and Japan and many others. The story of successful economies cannot be told with a mention of their respective economic histories.

Economic History studies the evolution of the economic phenomena from a historical standpoint. The analysis is taken using a combination of statistical and historical methods and applying economic theories to historical situations.

Economic historians argued that the two are split into distinct parts:

Economic History: The study of how economic phenomena evolved in the past
Historical Economics : Testing the generality of economic theory using historical episodes

This explained in lay terms could be an attempt at a distinction between Arts and Science -the former being primarily an economic history and the latter primarily an economic science.

Renowned economic historians have disputed over the separation of economic phenomena and economic theory in the inter-war era. Some propose that two were inseparable since, pure economics involved a significant component of economic history. Others believe that the study of Economic History, which has research and academic branches, should be separated from mainstream economics.

Quantitative (econometric) economic history also known as cliometrics which was popular in the 1960s and 1970s argued that the inclusion of history is very paramount to formulating substantive economic theory.

The 21st century has however witnessed the closure of the separate programmes and has seeded the discipline into either economics or history departments respectively.

The study of economic history incorporates business history and financial history and also relates to social history in terms of demographics and labour.

Economic History is now regarded as a form of applied economics and is taught as a special field component of regular economics Ph.D. programmes therefore, there is no specialised graduate programme on the discipline.

 

Online Economics Degree – The Job Opportunities It Opens Up

December 28, 2010 - 5:49 pm No Comments

If you are interested in the way people choose to use certain resources in order to produce various goods as well as services, then the best program to take is an online economics degree. The work of an economist varies depending on the sector he is working on.

Generally, they are into research and into the analysis of economics. They can work in finance and government organizations as well as in academics. They conduct research on certain issues like energy costs, employment levels, business cycles, inflation, exchange rates, taxes and interest rates.

Economists are trained to think critically and analytically in order to solve complex problems. It is for this reason that universities and institutions offering an online Economics degree program aim to prepare their students for high paying positions either in government or business sectors.

Matter of fact, after receiving education and training from an accredited online school, you can land in a job in various facets of the business world such as in mining, insurance, banking, retailing and manufacturing.

For those who want to enter into a master’s degree program in Business Administration, an Economics degree is one of the best majors to consider. This is because an economics degree can help you develop certain skills which business schools are looking for. Furthermore, a degree in Economics is considered as one of the most ideal preparations for law school.

A career in economics has gone a long way throughout the years. These days, at a time of economic globalization, small to large firms continuously hire economists. Most large firms have large divisions that are dedicated for economic research. For smaller firms, they hire economists for planning, forecasting and finance.

An online Economics degree has become a global phenomenon with its rising popularity. Many people now see economics as the most suitable field in finding a promising career with good pay and security. You can even specialize in certain areas of economics. This includes industrial economics, financial economics, labor economics, international economics, public finance economics and from microeconomics to macroeconomics.

Industrial economics deal with the study of economics on specific industries while looking at the number of monopolies, competitors as well as market decisions of firms. Financial economics is the study of changing interest rates. International economics also look into exchange rates but they also study international markets and tariffs.

Labor economics focus on the determination of wages as well as the demand & supply of labor. When it comes to public finance, it is the study of how the government affects the economy such as with budget deficits, tax cuts and welfare policies.

As for microeconomics and macroeconomics; microeconomics deals with the supply & demand for firms and individuals while macroeconomics focus on history trends which are for forecasting future inflation, unemployment and various other economic trends.

An online Economics degree can provide you with the knowledge as well as the training that can help you succeed in various related fields. It is different from online finance degree programs because it primarily focuses on monetary resources. This means, an economics degree program is more focused on diverse resources like land, labor, raw materials and machinery. When you graduate, the coursework narrows down to specific areas of economics.

With a bachelor’s degree, you can land in entry level positions such as administrative, sales and research assistant positions for consulting firms, research organizations or government sectors. However, with a master’s degree, you can qualify for administrative and research positions.

For higher economics positions, you would need a PhD. Thus, the career training would involve econometrics, computer science, macroeconomics, history of economic thought, microeconomics, statistics, sampling theory and survey design as well as mathematics & statistics.

The thing is – with a background in economics, there are more job opportunities. Economists with bachelor degrees are paid ,000++ per year as a starting rate. Those with master’s degrees usually get paid around ,000++ annually as a starting offer while PhD’s are mostly offered with ,000++ a year.

If you don’t get a job in scientific, management and even technical consulting services after graduating from an online Economics degree program, there are other options such as being a financial analyst, market analyst, purchasing manager or public policy consultant. Then again, with a specialized knowledge in any secondary area you will most likely get the best career opportunities.

Study Economics: Multidisciplinary Harvard Conferences

December 25, 2010 - 7:34 am No Comments

 

Conference series on various economic issues are prevalent among higher educational institutions and the whole scientific world. It is a good way to discuss new theories and well-known basics of social sciences. Harvard University is one of the world leading educational centers of economics and other social sciences. This university provides the graduate study in economics that is rated as one of the most prestigious and demanding.

You can seize the chance to improve your knowledge of economics and attend one of the conference series at Harvard University. You can participate in sessions provided by outstanding professors and researchers, and listen to lectures of the Nobel laureates.

How can Harvard conference series broaden your economics knowledge?

Firstly, a student will have once-in-lifetime opportunity to gain new knowledge of economics in such scopes:

Business and economics

Economy theory

Econometrics

Mathematical methods in economics

Statistics in economics

All above-mentioned scopes are part and parcel of economics as a social science. It will be an advantage to attend lectures at Harvard conferences for a student who is planning to conduct a research in one of these areas.

Secondly, Harvard University is well-known for a high number of Nobel laureates among its graduates. So, a student can have a brief window of opportunity to listen to new approaches in economics from the outstanding scientists. It is a way to keep up with the times and broaden knowledge in economics.

Thirdly, participants of economics conferences at Harvard University can get the information about the methods of economics teaching, educational psychology and curriculum.

An obligatory curriculum of economics studies is not a comprehensive base of knowledge. To make a step forward you have to participate in conferences. Moreover, Harvard University is recognized as one of the best educational centers of economics.

Conference series on various economic issues are prevalent among higher educational institutions and the whole scientific world. It is a good way to discuss new theories and well-known basics of social sciences. Harvard University is one of the world leading educational centers of economics and other social sciences. This university provides the graduate study in economics that is rated as one of the most prestigious and demanding.

You can seize the chance to improve your knowledge of economics and attend one of the conference series at Harvard University. You can participate in sessions provided by outstanding professors and researchers, and listen to lectures of the Nobel laureates.

How can Harvard conference series broaden your economics knowledge?

Firstly, a student will have once-in-lifetime opportunity to gain new knowledge of economics in such scopes:

Business and economics

Economy theory

Econometrics

Mathematical methods in economics

Statistics in economics

All above-mentioned scopes are part and parcel of economics as a social science. It will be an advantage to attend lectures at Harvard conferences for a student who is planning to conduct a research in one of these areas.

Secondly, Harvard University is well-known for a high number of Nobel laureates among its graduates. So, a student can have a brief window of opportunity to listen to new approaches in economics from the outstanding scientists. It is a way to keep up with the times and broaden knowledge in economics.

Thirdly, participants of economics conferences at Harvard University can get the information about the methods of economics teaching, educational psychology and curriculum.

An obligatory curriculum of economics studies is not a comprehensive base of knowledge. To make a step forward you have to participate in conferences. Moreover, Harvard University is recognized as one of the best educational centers of economics.

Become Wise to Choose the Best among Different Economic Dissertation Topics

November 24, 2010 - 5:15 pm No Comments

Before going into the details of how you can choose your topic among different economic dissertation topics, let’s have a little explanation about what the Economics is and how you can outline your economics dissertation .

Economics is that branch of knowledge that falls in the area of social sciences. Economics mainly deals in production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Economic scientists have divided economics into two main areas; one is Microeconomic, which is concerned with individual areas of economic activities, and other is Macroeconomics, which is concerned with the major and general features of a country’s economy. Economics is also subdivided into a branch called Home Economics, in which students study to run a house well and efficiently.

When it comes to writing an economic dissertation for your degree, you need to understand the basic pattern of economics dissertations before going into an actual phase of writing it.

You will need to choose a topic first, and then you can divide your dissertation into the following parts.

1.Title Page

2.Abstract

3.Literature Review

4.Research Design

5.Methodology

6.Conclusion and Limitation

7.Recommendation for further research

8.References

9.Appendices

Besides the basic components of an economic dissertation, the most important matter is to select an ideal topic among various economic dissertation topics. Deciding an economic dissertation topic could be a difficult task, but with appropriate guidelines, you can choose the best dissertation topic for yourself.

Find the area you are most interested in: Choosing the area for economic dissertation that creates a deep interest of you is very important. You will want to enjoy the entire dissertation writing, therefore focus on finding a topic which is not only significant for the society but also a fascinating experience for you.

Discuss the topics with your Friends: Once you find an area of interest among several economics dissertation topics, talk to your friends and class mates about the area of research you have selected and take their point of views and ideas to go further specific with the topic.

Research on Internet: Search the internet for relevant material to go into more specific areas of economic dissertation. Check the already written economics dissertations and other resources to find a gap that you can fill with your economic dissertation.

Talk to your Course Supervisor: When you are done with short listing some topics among several economic dissertation topics ,bring these topics to your economic dissertation supervisor to further discuss and to finalize the one economic dissertation topic, so you can further carry on with your economic dissertation.

Once you finalize an ideal topic for your economic dissertation, the entire dissertation would become easy for you during the whole dissertation writing tenure. You will not lose your interest at any point of time and in the end you will come up with the accurate findings of the topic on time.

Economic and Financial Crisis

September 2, 2010 - 2:51 am No Comments

 

Karachi dated 09-09-2009

 

 

ECONOMIC / FINANCIAL CRISIS

 

Introduction: The financial crisis which started from July, 2007 can be attributed to indifferent and inefficient credit policy as well as under-regulated and over-regulated economies of the world above all economic injustices and economic disobediences.  On cause of the crisis can also be endorsed to misbalanced interest rate which caused increasing the extra-ordinary expenditure beyond the optimal level and flooded the money supply to the market causing inflationary tendency to the economy.  It may be kept in mind that if outflows continue and inflow is stopped the giant stock is also ceased to exist causing occurrence of crisis which tells us to keep balance between inflows and outflows.  The foundation of the world economy is interest based which does not bring true happiness to grass-root level and neither helpful to alleviate poverty as it is against the nature and exploits the poor rather relief them therefore ‘interest based economy’ should be converted into “service-based economy” i.e. instead interest “service charges” should occupy the economy as “service” has blessing of Allah. The activity viz “Service” should remain “Service” not become “self-service” which would hurt the economy.  It is pertinent to mention here that the economies of those countries which are holding to the properties of nature such as Japan, China and other oil producers are in surplus.  Moreover, the interest based economy is helpful in increasing the volume of billionaire and degree of poverties whereas the world economy should be helpful in increasing the volume of thousanaire (terminology used for the people counted average and above average income groups).  Economy flourishes if middle and poor class segments of the society flourish.  If opposite is occurred and only upper class flourishes no one can prevent the revolution which might be bloody as economic inequity creates turmoil and catastrophe.  It is spiritual truth that unless we increase the volume of middle-class by reducing the level of billionaire and millionaire as well as the poor class we cannot alleviate the poverty from the world. 

 

            It has been reported that due to low interest rate the estate industry of USA witnessed growth amid 2001 to 2005 and during this period a large number of Americans achieved loans and invested real estate business owing to this the estate demand increased manifold.  But it did not keep the figure intact and stable as when interest rate increased by the Federation from 1% to 5.25% the US Banking Sector had also increased the interest rates caused to liquidity problems by the borrowers of mortgaged loans.  Due to high interest rate the US Capital Market collapsed.  The major part of loans by the US banking sector consisted sub-prime loans granted without considering the paying capacity of the borrowers.  Data on mortgage loans show that about 21 per cent of all mortgage loans extended during 2004 to 2006 considered under “Sub-prime Classification”.  The figure of mortgaged loans rose to 0 billion in 2006 which indicated one-fifth of the home loans in USA. 

 

            As we know that sub-prime loans are those loans which are granted to the borrowers without considering their credit history and credit worthiness whether they are in a position to pay off their outstanding liability efficiently or not causing piled up inactive loans go on bad debts.  Such imprudent economic decisions lead to bankruptcy and unemployment to a great extent.

When we analyse the world economies the following irregularities and discrepancies have come into picture:-

i)Non-commercial & non Productive decision by economic managers and Govt.

Causing loss of productivity and unemployment

ii)Interest rate below the prudential & optimal level

 Causing bankruptcy of Banking Sector and other business entity (s)

iii)Flood of sub-prime Credits

 Causing bankruptcy of banking sector  

iv)Inactive Loans – non productive loans

Causing production loss

v)Beyond the optimal level of consumer financing

 Causing piled up unproductive loans

vii)Lack of small and medium enterprise loans

 Causing low production and unemployment

viii)Long-lasting low saving in parallel to income

 Causing lack of capital formation

ix)Long-lasting over consumption beyond income

 Causing extra-ordinary increase in prices – Inflation

x)Low investment

Caused lack of financial and economic activities

xi)Risk oversight

Causing loss to economy

xii)Energy generation on the grave of agricultural products

 Caused great shortage of food products leading starvation and sky-touching prices

xiii)No core attention has been given to Integrated Agricultural Sector which is vital for the economy and poverty reduction

Caused up-gradation of poverty

xiv)Non-adoption of middle & moderate ways to tackle the war-on-terror

 Causing spread of terrorist activities all over the world  leading in squeezing the economy of the world

Indifferent and inefficient fiscal policy, un-productive and non-performance loans and sub-prime mortgage as well as low savings and over consumption have hit badly the US lenders and US economy resultantly its effects have affected the international economy.  The number of mortgage defaults increased due to reduction in paying capacity on account of interest hike.  Resultantly a large number of sub-prime mortgage lenders in USA say New Century Financial Corporation Countrywide Financial Corp. and Ameri-quest Mortgage, HSBS Holdings plc faced foremost troubles in their mortgage loan folders.  It is pertinent to mention that due to increased defaults New Century Financial Corporation had to file for bankruptcy caused to lead collapse in the shares values of a large number of companies in sub-prime mortgage industry say Countrywide Financial and Washington Mutual.  In addition liquidity shortages in the market have also affected the investment plans of US companies which have one-third share of the US GDP as a whole.

IMPACT OF SUB-PRIME LOANS

It was reported on June, 2007 that the Merrill Lynch seized 0 million assets of hedge funds Bear Stearrns in USA.  The funds were associated with the business of securities attached by sub-prime credit.
The Citibank faced loss about 0 million in 2007 caused lay-off its employees to a great extent globally.
In 2007 American Home Mortgage Investment Corporation reported to bankruptcy after sacking its employees.
The Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation in USA declared purchase discontinuation of Radian Group after facing billion loss.
It was reported that BNP Paribas freezing the assets of three funds attached to the US mortgage securities.
Due to US banking sector crisis the European Central Bank filled 94.8 billion Euros into European Financial System by way of increase the paying off capacity in the system.
It was also reported that Accredited Home Lenders in USA faced million loss.

Impact on Asian Economies

Due to crisis of USA banking sector the Asian Stock Markets reduced to great extent in 2007 and faced losses.  Japan’s Nikkei reduced by 5.42% the biggest point of loss since 2000 while Hong Kong’s HanSeng lowered by 1.38%.
The Japanese export wallet reduced to great extent.
The India economy faced very lower impact as it was not so much attached to us economy portfolio.  The Asian Commercial Banks also did not face loss due to lower exposure to us banking sector.
Due to lower exposure to American banking sector the Chinese economy was also not affected.  Moreover the Chinese strong economy can provide life-line to US economy as it has great liquidity strength due to a growth rate averaging nearly 10% per year and surplus in current account level.  Pakistan economy is also not much affected by US banking sector crisis but Pakistani exports faced a large number of problems due to sub-prime crisis of US economy which reduced the import capacity of US to great extent. 
The US Sub-prime crisis has also affected the Karachi Stock Exchange of Pakistan (KSE).  The selling aspiration of KES witnessed a downfall due to sub-prime mortgage crisis in USA.  The local share marked showed a negative way in international share market also the foreign investors drew their investments from KSE.
The Pakistan Government was also affected by US Sub-prime Mortgage Crisis by way of privatization of Public Sector Enterprises / banks sovereign bonds etc.
Due to sub-prime crisis of US Mortgage Loans the portfolio of Foreign Direct Investment was reduced caused to slow down the economic progress of the Asian Economies particularly Pakistan. 
Due to USA economy crisis the export income of Asian Economies witnessed a great loss as their exports depend more on US Economy which is the biggest economy of the World.

DIFFERENT ECONOMY MODELS & ANALYSIS :

From the beginning of the world changes are being taken place and till the end it will continue and one who does not hold changes lags behind.  Changes are blessings as stagnant spoils the way of life if there is no change there is no development and innovation.  Changes are also taken place in the economic world – once there was Laisseze-Fair economy presented by classical economists such as Adam Smith and his followers.  They believed in full employment and also had concept that whatever produced sold out.  In this parameter the economy was free from all rules and

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