text
stringlengths 0
21.4k
|
|---|
Mainstream economics is a term used to distinguish economics in general from heterodox approaches and schools within economics. It begins with the premise that resources are scarce and that it is necessary to choose between competing alternatives. That is, economics deals with tradeoffs. With scarcity, choosing one alternative implies forgoing another alternative—the opportunity cost. The opportunity cost expresses an implicit relationship between competing alternatives. Such costs, considered as prices in a market economy, are used for analysis of economic efficiency or for predicting responses to disturbances in a market. In a planned economy comparable shadow price relations must be satisfied for the efficient use of resources, as first demonstrated by the Italian economist Enrico Barone. |
Economists believe that incentives and costs play a pervasive role in shaping decision making. An immediate example of this is the consumer theory of individual demand, which isolates how prices (as costs) and income affect quantity demanded. Modern mainstream economics builds primarily on neoclassical economics, which began to develop in the late 19th century. Mainstream economics also acknowledges the existence of market failure and insights from Keynesian economics. It uses models of economic growth for analyzing long-run variables affecting national income. It employs game theory for modeling market or non-market behavior. Some important insights on collective behavior (for example, emergence of organizations) have been incorporated through the new institutional economics. A definition that captures much of modern economics is that of Lionel Robbins in a 1932 essay: "the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." Scarcity means that available resources are insufficient to satisfy all wants and needs. Absent scarcity and alternative uses of available resources, there is no economic problem. The subject thus defined involves the study of choice, as affected by incentives and resources. |
Mainstream economics encompasses a wide (but not unbounded) range of views. Politically, most mainstream economists hold views ranging from laissez-faire to modern liberalism. There are also divergent views on particular issues within economics, such as the effectiveness and desirability of Keynesian macroeconomic policy. Although, historically, few mainstream economists have regarded themselves as members of a "school", many would identify with one or more of neoclassical economics, monetarism, Keynesian economics, new classical economics, or behavioral economics. |
Controversies within mainstream economics tend to be stated in terms of: |
Heterodox economics refers to some schools of thought are at variance with the microeconomic foundations of modern new classical economics. Heterodox economists instead emphasize the influence of history, natural systems, uncertainty, and power. Among these, we have institutional economics, Marxian economics, feminist economics, socialist economics, binary economics, ecological economics, bioeconomics and thermoeconomics. |
In the late 19th century, a number of heterodox schools contended with the neoclassical school that arose following the marginal revolution. Most survive to the present day as self-consciously dissident schools, but with greatly diminished size and influence relative to mainstream economics. The most significant are Institutional economics, Marxian economics and the Austrian School. |
The development of Keynesian economics was a substantial challenge to the dominant neoclassical school of economics. Keynesian views eventually entered the mainstream as a result of the Keynesian-neoclassical synthesis developed by John Hicks. The rise of Keynesianism, and its incorporation into mainstream economics, reduced the appeal of heterodox schools. However, advocates of a more fundamental critique of orthodox economics formed a school of Post-Keynesian economics. |
More recent heterodox developments include evolutionary economics (though this term is also used to describe institutional economics), feminist, Green economics, Post-autistic economics, and Thermoeconomics. |
Heterodox approaches often embody criticisms of the "mainstream" approaches. For instance: |
Most heterodox views are critical of capitalism. The most notable exception is Austrian economics. |
Georgescu-Roegen reintroduced into economics, the concept of entropy from thermodynamics (as distinguished from what, in his view, is the mechanistic foundation of neoclassical economics drawn from Newtonian physics) and did foundational work which later developed into evolutionary economics. His work contributed significantly to thermoeconomics and to ecological economics. |
Other viewpoints on economic issues from outside mainstream economics include dependency theory and world systems theory in the study of international relations. |
Proposed radical reforms of the economic system originating outside mainstream economics include the participatory economics movement and binary economics. |
Modern macro- and microeconomics are young sciences. But many in the past have thought on topics ranging from value to production relations. These forays into economic thought contribute to the modern understanding, ranging from ancient Greek conceptions of the role of the household and its choices to mercantilism and its emphasis on the hoarding of precious metals. |
Islamic economics is the practice of economics in accordance with Islamic law. The origins can be traced back to the Caliphate, where an early market economy and some of the earliest forms of merchant capitalism took root between the 8th–12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism". |
Islamic economics seeks to enforce Islamic regulations not only on personal issues, but to implement broader economic goals and policies of an Islamic society, based on uplifting the deprived masses. It was founded on free and unhindered circulation of wealth so as to handsomely reach even the lowest echelons of society. One distinguishing feature is the tax on wealth (in the form of both Zakat and Jizya), and bans levying taxes on all kinds of trade and transactions (Income/Sales/Excise/Import/Export duties etc.). |
Another distinguishing feature is prohibition of interest in the form of excess charged while trading in money. Its pronouncement on |
use of paper currency also stands out. Though promissory notes are recognized, they must be fully backed by reserves. Fractional-reserve banking is disallowed as a form of breach of trust. |
It saw innovations such as trading companies, big businesses, contracts, bills of exchange, long-distance international trade, the first forms of partnership ("mufawada") such as limited partnerships ("mudaraba"), and the earliest forms of credit, debt, profit, loss, capital ("al-mal"), capital accumulation ("nama al-mal"), circulating capital, capital expenditure, revenue, cheques, promissory notes, trusts (see "Waqf"), startup companies, savings accounts, transactional accounts, pawning, loaning, exchange rates, bankers, money changers, ledgers, deposits, assignments, the double-entry bookkeeping system, lawsuits, and agency institution. |
This school has seen a revived interest in development and understanding since the later part of the 20th century. |
Economic policy in Europe during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance treated economic activity as a good which was to be taxed to raise revenues for the nobility and the church. Economic exchanges were regulated by feudal rights, such as the right to collect a toll or hold a fair, as well as guild restrictions and religious restrictions on lending. Economic policy, such as it was, was designed to encourage trade through a particular area. Because of the importance of social class, sumptuary laws were enacted, regulating dress and housing, including allowable styles, materials and frequency of purchase for different classes. Niccolò Machiavelli in his book "The Prince" was one of the first authors to theorize economic policy in the form of advice. He did so by stating that princes and republics should limit their expenditures and prevent either the wealthy or the populace from despoiling the other. In this way a state would be seen as "generous" because it was not a heavy burden on its citizens. |
The Physiocrats were 18th century French economists who emphasized the importance of productive work, and particularly agriculture, to an economy's wealth. Their early support of free trade and deregulation influenced Adam Smith and the classical economists. |
Classical economics, also called classical political economy, was the original form of mainstream economics of the 18th and 19th centuries. Classical economics focuses on the tendency of markets to move to equilibrium and on objective theories of value. Neo-classical economics differs from classical economics primarily in being utilitarian in its value theory and using marginal theory as the basis of its models and equations. Marxian economics also descends from classical theory. Anders Chydenius (1729–1803) was the leading classical liberal of Nordic history. Chydenius, who was a Finnish priest and member of parliament, published a book called "The National Gain" in 1765, in which he proposes ideas of freedom of trade and industry and explores the relationship between economy and society and lays out the principles of liberalism, all of this eleven years before Adam Smith published a similar and more comprehensive book, "The Wealth of Nations". According to Chydenius, democracy, equality and a respect for human rights were the only way towards progress and happiness for the whole of society. |
The American School owes its origin to the writings and economic policies of Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury Secretary of the United States. It emphasized high tariffs on imports to help develop the fledgling American manufacturing base and to finance infrastructure projects, as well as National Banking, Public Credit, and government investment into advanced scientific and technological research and development. Friedrich List, one of the most famous proponents of the economic system, named it the National System, and was the main impetus behind the development of the German Zollverein and the economic policies of Germany under Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck beginning in 1879. |
The French Liberal School (also called the "Optimist School" or "Orthodox School") is a 19th-century school of economic thought that was centered on the Collège de France and the Institut de France. The Journal des Économistes was instrumental in promulgating the ideas of the School. The School voraciously defended free trade and laissez-faire capitalism. They were primary opponents of collectivist, interventionist and protectionist ideas. This made the French School a forerunner of the modern Austrian School. |
The Historical school of economics was an approach to academic economics and to public administration that emerged in the 19th century in Germany, and held sway there until well into the 20th century. The Historical school held that history was the key source of knowledge about human actions and economic matters, since economics was culture-specific, and hence not generalizable over space and time. The School rejected the universal validity of economic theorems. They saw economics as resulting from careful empirical and historical analysis instead of from logic and mathematics. The School preferred historical, political, and social studies to self-referential mathematical modelling. Most members of the school were also Kathedersozialisten, i.e. concerned with social reform and improved conditions for the common man during a period of heavy industrialization. The Historical School can be divided into three tendencies: the Older, led by Wilhelm Roscher, Karl Knies, and Bruno Hildebrand; the Younger, led by Gustav von Schmoller, and also including Étienne Laspeyres, Karl Bücher, Adolph Wagner, and to some extent Lujo Brentano; the Youngest, led by Werner Sombart and including, to a very large extent, Max Weber. |
Predecessors included Friedrich List. The Historical school largely controlled appointments to Chairs of Economics in German universities, as many of the advisors of Friedrich Althoff, head of the university department in the Prussian Ministry of Education 1882-1907, had studied under members of the School. Moreover, Prussia was the intellectual powerhouse of Germany and so dominated academia, not only in central Europe, but also in the United States until about 1900, because the American economics profession was led by holders of German Ph.Ds. The Historical school was involved in the "Methodenstreit" ("strife over method") with the Austrian School, whose orientation was more theoretical and a prioristic. In English speaking countries, the Historical school is perhaps the least known and least understood approach to the study of economics, because it differs radically from the now-dominant Anglo-American analytical point of view. Yet the Historical school forms the basis—both in theory and in practice—of the social market economy, for many decades the dominant economic paradigm in most countries of continental Europe. The Historical school is also a source of Joseph Schumpeter's dynamic, change-oriented, and innovation-based economics. Although his writings could be critical of the School, Schumpeter's work on the role of innovation and entrepreneurship can be seen as a continuation of ideas originated by the Historical School, especially the work of von Schmoller and Sombart. |
Although not nearly as famous as its German counterpart, there was also an English Historical School, whose figures included William Whewell, Richard Jones, Thomas Edward Cliffe Leslie, Walter Bagehot, Thorold Rogers, Arnold Toynbee, William Cunningham, and William Ashley. It was this school that heavily critiqued the deductive approach of the classical economists, especially the writings of David Ricardo. This school revered the inductive process and called for the merging of historical fact with those of the present period. |
Georgism or geoism is an economic philosophy proposing that both individual and national economic outcomes would be improved by the utilization of economic rent resulting from control over land and natural resources through levies such as a land value tax. |
Ricardian socialism is a branch of early 19th century classical economic thought based on the theory that labor is the source of all wealth and exchange value, and rent, profit and interest represent distortions to a free market. The pre-Marxian theories of capitalist exploitation they developed are widely regarded as having been heavily influenced by the works of David Ricardo, and favoured collective ownership of the means of production. |
Marxian economics descended from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. This school focuses on the labor theory of value and what Marx considered to be the exploitation of labour by capital. Thus, in Marxian economics, the labour theory of value is a method for measuring the exploitation of labour in a capitalist society rather than simply a theory of price. |
Anarchist economics comprises a set of theories which seek to outline modes of production and exchange not governed by coercive social institutions: |
Thinkers associated with anarchist economics include: |
Distributism is an economic philosophy that was originally formulated in the late 19th century and early 20th century by Catholic thinkers to reflect the teachings of Pope Leo XIII's encyclical "Rerum Novarum" and Pope Pius's XI encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno". It seeks to pursue a third way between capitalism and socialism, desiring to order society according to Christian principles of justice while still preserving private property. |
Institutional economics focuses on understanding the role of the evolutionary process and the role of institutions in shaping economic behaviour. Its original focus lay in Thorstein Veblen's instinct-oriented dichotomy between technology on the one side and the "ceremonial" sphere of society on the other. Its name and core elements trace back to a 1919 "American Economic Review" article by Walton H. Hamilton. |
Neoclassical economics is the dominant form of economics used today and has the highest amount of adherents among economists. It is often referred to by its critics as Orthodox Economics. The more specific definition this approach implies was captured by Lionel Robbins in a 1932 essay: "the science which studies human behavior as a relation between scarce means having alternative uses." The definition of scarcity is that available resources are insufficient to satisfy all wants and needs; if there is no scarcity and no alternative uses of available resources, then there is no economic problem. |
Austrian economists advocate methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments, the subjective theory of value, that money is non-neutral, and emphasize the organizing power of the price mechanism (see "Economic calculation debate") and a "laissez faire" approach to the economy. |
The Stockholm School is a school of economic thought. It refers to a loosely organized group of Swedish economists that worked together, in Stockholm, Sweden primarily in the 1930s. |
The Stockholm School had—like John Maynard Keynes—come to the same conclusions in macroeconomics and the theories of demand and supply. Like Keynes, they were inspired by the works of Knut Wicksell, a Swedish economist active in the early years of the twentieth century. |
Keynesian economics has developed from the work of John Maynard Keynes and focused on macroeconomics in the short-run, particularly the rigidities caused when prices are fixed. It has two successors. Post-Keynesian economics is an alternative school—one of the successors to the Keynesian tradition with a focus on macroeconomics. They concentrate on macroeconomic rigidities and adjustment processes, and research micro foundations for their models based on real-life practices rather than simple optimizing models. Generally associated with Cambridge, England and the work of Joan Robinson (see Post-Keynesian economics). New-Keynesian economics is the other school associated with developments in the Keynesian fashion. These researchers tend to share with other Neoclassical economists the emphasis on models based on micro foundations and optimizing behavior, but focus more narrowly on standard Keynesian themes such as price and wage rigidity. These are usually made to be endogenous features of these models, rather than simply assumed as in older style Keynesian ones (see New-Keynesian economics). |
The Chicago School is a neoclassical school of economic thought associated with the work of the faculty at the University of Chicago, notable particularly in macroeconomics for developing monetarism as an alternative to Keynesianism and its influence on the use of rational expectations in macroeconomic modelling. |
New institutional economics is a perspective that attempts to extend economics by focusing on the social and legal norms and rules (which are institutions) that underlie economic activity and with analysis beyond earlier institutional economics and neoclassical economics. It can be seen as a broadening step to include aspects excluded in neoclassical economics. It rediscovers aspects of classical political economy. |
Notable schools or trends of thought in economics in the 20th century were as follows. These were advocated by well-defined groups of academics that became widely known: |
In the late 20th century, areas of study that produced change in economic thinking were: risk-based (rather than price-based models), imperfect economic actors, and treating economics as a biological science (based on evolutionary norms rather than abstract exchange). |
The study of risk was influential, in viewing variations in price over time as more important than actual price. This applied particularly to financial economics, where risk/return tradeoffs were the crucial decisions to be made. |
An important area of growth was the study of information and decision. Examples of this school included the work of Joseph Stiglitz. Problems of asymmetric information and moral hazard, both based around information economics, profoundly affected modern economic dilemmas like executive stock options, insurance markets, and Third-World debt relief. |
Finally, there were a series of economic ideas rooted in the conception of economics as a branch of biology, including the idea that energy relationships, rather than price relationships, determine economic structure. The use of fractal geometry to create economic models (see Energy Economics). In its infancy the application of non-linear dynamics to economic theory, as well as the application of evolutionary psychology explored the processes of valuation and the persistence of non-equilibrium conditions. The most visible work was in the area of applying fractals to market analysis, particularly arbitrage (see Complexity economics). Another infant branch of economics was neuroeconomics. The latter combines neuroscience, economics, and psychology to study how we make choices. |
= = = Diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Women's 3 metre springboard = = = |
The women's 3 metre springboard, also reported as "springboard diving", was one of four diving events on the diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. |
The competition was held on Saturday July 31, on Monday August 2, and on Tuesday August 3. It was split into two sets of dives: |
Sixteen divers from eight nations competed. |
= = = Gargoyle (module) = = = |
Gargoyle is an adventure module for the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons", set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module has the code WG9 and was published by TSR, Inc. in 1989 for the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules. |
In "Gargoyle", which is set in the City of Greyhawk, the player characters are hired by a pair of gargoyles to find their stolen wings. |
The adventure is set in The Tors, between the Yeomanry and the Crystalmists, and was one of the first 2nd edition modules published. |
WG9 "Gargoyle" was written by David Collins with Skip Williams, with cover art by David Dorman, and was published by TSR in 1989 as a 32-page booklet with an outer folder. The module features interior art by David Dorman and Karl Story. |
= = = Ashok Amritraj = = = |
Ashok Amritraj (born 22 February 1956) is Chairman and CEO of the Hyde Park Entertainment Group, and was formerly CEO of National Geographic Films. |
An internationally renowned award-winning producer, Amritraj has made over 100 films during the span of his 35-year career, with worldwide revenues in excess of $2 billion. He has partnered with every major studio in Hollywood and produced films starring the likes of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson , Robert De Niro , Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, Sylvester Stallone, Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett, Dustin Hoffman, Andrew Garfield, Steve Martin, Antonio Banderas , Jennifer Aniston , Nicolas Cage, and many more. |
Amritraj’s extraordinary career from Wimbledon tennis player to billion dollar Hollywood producer (chronicled in his autobiography Advantage Hollywood ) is matched only by his commitment to education, diversity, and gender equality. Dedicating a significant amount of his time to philanthropic endeavors worldwide, in 2016 Amritraj was appointed as the first United Nations India Goodwill Ambassador for the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals . In December 2018, by decree of the President of the Republic of France, Amritraj was appointed a Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre National du Merité . |
Amritraj has grown Hyde Park into a cutting-edge independent alternative to the traditional Hollywood system, fully realizing his vision for a progressive global company that incorporates the most essential elements of a full-fledged studio. Hyde Park’s mandate encompasses feature film, television, digital, documentary, and local language content, with the Company possessing development, production, and financing capabilities in addition to handling worldwide sales and marketing. |
Amritraj has had box office hits such as GHOST RIDER: SPIRIT OF VENGEANCE, starring Nicolas Cage , BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE, starring Steve Martin , PREMONITION, starring Sandra Bullock , WALKING TALL starring The Rock, and many more, as well as critically acclaimed titles including 99 HOMES starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, BLUE VALENTINE starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams , and SHOPGIRL, starring Steve Martin and Claire Danes . |
Amritraj’s current projects include: supernatural thriller, PREY, in partnership with Blumhouse Productions , PASHMINA, a Major Animated Musical in partnership with Netflix, to be directed by Gurinder Chadha and with music by Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman and FORDLANDIA, a Television event series, to be directed by Werner Herzog at AMC Studios . |
Hyde Park Entertainment Group and its artists have received awards and recognition from the major award shows and film festivals including the Oscars, the BAFTA awards, the Emmys, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes, and many more. |
Amritraj serves on the Producers Executive Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and on the advisory board for the Dodge Film School at Chapman University . In 2015, he was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of the Arts from the University of East London . |
= = = Qala i Kah District = = = |
Qala i Kah district is located in the western part of Farah Province, in western Afghanistan. Its western border is with Iran. The population is 29,900. The main town is Qala i Kah (Do Kal'eh) (). |
On 30 August 2014, a group of Taliban deliberately shot 16 labourers, killing 12 and injuring four. All 16 civilians were from the same village and were on their way to work when the Taliban stopped their vehicles and shot them. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings on their website. |
= = = Sunanda Murali Manohar = = = |
Sunanda Murali Manohar was an Indian-British film producer and entrepreneur, based in London England. She has produced, along with her husband, Dr. J. Murali Manohar (an ENT Surgeon), several Indian, American and British films, including "Indian Summer" (British 1987), "Blood Stone" (US 1988), "Jungle Boy" (US 2001), "Tropical Heat" (US 2002), "Inferno" (US 2006), "Jeans" (1998 film), "Jeans" (Tamil 1998), "JODI" (Tamil 1999), "Minnale" (Tamil 2001), "Majnu" (Tamil 2002), "Arasatchi" (Tamil 2003), "Backwaters" (English/UK 2004), "Ramji Londonwale" (Hindi/UK 2005), "Telling Lies" (English/UK 2005), "Provoked" (English/UK 2006), "Sajni" (Kannada/ UK 2006), "Dhaam Dhoom" (Tamil 2008), "Mirattal" (2008), "Chikku Bukku" (Tamil 2010), and "Kochadaiiyaan" (2014). |
In 2001, she launched "South for You", a south Indian Tamil Channel on Sky network in Great Britain, and was running it till 2011. When she sold it, the channel was taken over by UTV. |
She is the daughter of R. N. Mandre, a veteran in Production, Distribution and Exhibition of Hindi and Kannada films for more than 50 years, who built the first air-conditioned theater Sangam, in Bangalore and Mysore. Sharmila Mandre, a popular Kannada actor, is her niece. |
She died on 30 December 2017 due to lymphomas. |
= = = Nine on a Ten Scale = = = |
Nine on a Ten Scale is the debut studio album by American rock musician Sammy Hagar, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records. After his departure from Montrose, he began a solo recording and touring career with increasing success. |
= = = When Seconds Count = = = |
When Seconds Count is the sixth album by the American rock band Survivor, released on October 9, 1986. It is the second album featuring vocalist Jimi Jamison. The album included the hit single, "Is This Love", which peaked at #9 in the US on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in early 1987. The album reached #49 on the "Billboard" 200 album chart. |
This is one of the many Survivor albums briefly taken out of print in 2009. However, it was remastered and reissued in 2011 and distributed by Rock Candy Records. |
= = = Vital Signs (Survivor album) = = = |
Vital Signs is the fifth studio album by American rock band Survivor and their first with vocalist Jimi Jamison released on August 1, 1984. The album was their second most successful in the U.S., reaching #16 on the Billboard Album charts and being certified platinum by the RIAA. This album includes the singles "I Can't Hold Back", "High on You", "The Search Is Over" and "First Night." Outside of the singles, the other songs on "Vital Signs" keep up with the effective formula. |
This is one of the very few studio albums that remained commercially available by Volcano Entertainment after they took a great deal of their releases out of print in August 2009. Rock Candy Records also remastered the content of "Vital Signs" and reissued it in 2010, adding "The Moment of Truth" (from "The Karate Kid" soundtrack) as a bonus track. |
= = = Angle Ring = = = |