The theory of economics does not furnish a body of settled conclusions immediately applicable to policy. It is a method rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, a technique for thinking, which helps the possessor to draw correct conclusions. The ideas of economists and politicians, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist." (John Maynard Keynes, the General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money p 383)
Critically assess the extent to which “the ideas of economists” might improve the performance of an organisation of your choice.
Table of Contents
Introduction 3
Context 4
Literature Review 5
1. Microeconomic Concepts and the PMCN 5
1.1 Transactions Cost Theory 5
1.2 Profit Maximization 7
2. Macroeconomic Concepts and the PMCN 9
2.1 Fiscal Policy and the Budget. 9
2.2 Monetary Policy – Rules Based Framework/Taylor Rule. 11
3.Synthesis and Conclusion 13
References 14
Bibliography 18
Introduction
This paper provides a critical assessment of the performance of organizations which could be linked to economic theories and concepts. Through a review of various literature, research and conclusions of economists such as Friedman (1970), Coase (1937), Williamson (1981, 1998, 1975), Sloman et al. (2013), Powell (1990), Taylor (2011, 2012) and so on, the researcher presents a critical assessment of the microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts which were found to affect performance of a typical organizations. The concepts were also linked to other aspects of economics ...
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...ft/wp/2013/wp1365.pdf. [Accessed on 21st of April 2014].
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Tadelis, S and Williamson, O (2010). Transactions Cost Economics. University of California Bekerley
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There are two major views on the government’s role in the economy, the Keynesian view, and laissez faire. The Keynesian view is often held by liberals and democrats. This is the belief that it is the government’s responsibility to regulate and attempt to manipulate the economy. This is often characterized by taxing and subsidizing, and redistribution of wealth. The laissez faire philosophy is held by republicans and libertarians. In a laissez faire economy, the market determines where the money flows. Those who participate in the market determine the supply and demand with the way they spend their time and money.
I believe that it's’ important to use our constitution as a guiding tool to help appoint the correct people for the job.John Maynard Keynes was a British economist where he fundamentally changed the theory and practices of macroeconomics and economic policies of government. Although he was revolutionary most of his policies were controversial and used Keynesianism economic to get people to stay away from them . His approach to macroeconomic management was different since the previous traditional laissez-faire economists believed that an economy would automatically correct its imbalances and move toward a state of equilibrium, They expected the dynamics of supply and demand to help the economy adjust to recession and inflation without government action. Laissez-faire economics thus regarded layoffs, bankruptcies and downturns in the economy not as something to be avoided but as elements of a natural process that would eventually improve. However that was not the case for the great depression. Keynes also believed that a given level of demand in an economy would produce employment however he insisted that low employment during the depression resulted from inadequate
Keynes’ work: The Means to Prosperity, and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money created modern macroeconomics and influenced countries during the 1930s and 1940s towards interventionist policy and economic nationalism (Yergin, 1998.) His ideology and work led him to orchestrate the Bretton Woods conference in 1944 which, “contributed greatly to the golden age of controlled capitalism (where) even the most conservative political parties in Europe and the United States embraced some version of state interventionism” (Steger, 2003.) The Bretton Woods regime fell during the early 1970’s but Keynes economic ideology would not be abandoned until the adoption of Reagan’s Neoliberalism and the fall of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s (Steger, 2003.) Keynesian economic ideology was the predominating economic theory during Gilpin’s life and would contribute greatly to his claim of world economic nationalism.
Blair, Margaret M. (1995) Ownership and Control: Rethinking Corporate Governance for the Twenty-First Century. Washington, DC: Brookings.
The incident is related to the final assignment of PMC 210 where students have to provide solutions and recommendations for a particular case study. The team in which I was assigned, decides to do case study of Google in China. The space provided in the form is not sufficient to explain the whole incident and my justifications for the content I have submitted. Please find my answer in the next sheet of the
...more of a Keynesian thinker more than a new classical thinker. Although it might be true that having free market is the right way of having a stabled economy, but unemployment will still be high and might be increasing which is still till now one of the troublesome that governments face today. Plus, what happens if recession hits or even worse we go back to 1930’s where there was the great depression, it was proved then and will be proved again if happened that the only way to solve a sort of crises is by government intervention (basically spending). Yes it will increase inflation but creates more job opportunities and unemployment will decrease if government intervention occurs. Yes in the long run this might be bad but people care about tomorrow more than they care about 3 or 4 years from now or even more. As Lord Keynes once said “in the long run we are all dead”
Guell, Robert C. "9 Fiscal Policy." Issues in Economics Today. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. N. pag. Print.
Hubbard, R. G., & O'Brien, A. P. (2010). Economics (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Hall.
Kogut, B. and Zander, U. (1993). Knowledge of the Firm and the Evolutionary Theory of the MNC, Journal of International Business 24(4), pp. 625-645
Agency Theory or Principal Agent Theory is the relationship that involved the contractual link between the shareholders (the principals) that provide capital to the company and the management (agent) who runs the company. The principals will engage the agent to carry out some services on their behalf and would normally delegate some decision-making authority to the agents. However, as the number of shareholders and the complexity of operations grew, the agent, who had the expertise and essential knowledge to operate the business and company tend to increasingly gained effective control and put them in a position where they were prone to pursue their own interests instead of shareholder’s interest.
Born in 1858, Oxford educated John Atkinson Hobson was a “system builder” widely considered as one of the most respected economists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Despite gaining recognition mostly by the acknowledgement in Keynes’ General Theory, Hobson was an excellent and broadly relevant political economist. A self described economic heretic, Hobson was not unwilling to oppose conventional wisdom in the interests of a greater understanding of economic behaviour. His main emphasis was on the role of ideas in human action with a particular emphasis on the role of underconsumption in economic crises.
The disparities between the two views of the economy lead to very different policies that have produced contradictory results. The Keynesian theory presents the rational of structuralism as the basis of economic decisions and provides support for government involvement to maintain high levels of employment. The argument runs that people make decisions based on their environments and when investment falls due to structural change, the economy suffers from a recession. The government must act against this movement and increase the level of employment by fiscal injections and training of the labour force. In fact, the government should itself increase hiring in crown corporations. In contrast the Neoliberal theory attributes the self-interest of individuals as the determinant of the level of employment.
Economics is probably the science that arguably has had the most impact in today’s times. In fact it can barely be called a science in a strict sense, since human behavior is not governed by laws of nature unlike other non living objects, which makes the prediction and forecasting stock prices, economic conditions all the more difficult. In recent decades economists have tried to give a more structured and mathematical explanation to their theories concerning how human beings make their decisions. However these theories have come under immense criticism as they don’t hold true in real time. In reality, human beings rarely behave rationally which is the basic assumption in many of the economic theories; rather we make a lot of our decisions based on our intuition and limited knowledge available to us. When the financial crisis of 2008 came upon us, a lot of questions were raised on the apparent predictive abilities of the various economic theories. Merely 12 economists were able to foresee the massive crisis which now shows signs of deepening into a double dip recession.
Keynesian Economics was developed and founding by John Maynard Keynes. He believed and wrote in his book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” that it is essential for the Government to play a vital role in economic stability. Keynesian theorist believe Government spending, tax hikes or tax breaks are vital in economic success. Keynesian assumptions include: Rigid or Inflexible Prices, Effective Demand, and Savings-Investment Determinants. Rigid or Inflexible Prices suggest that wages increases are easier to take while wage decreases hits resistance; likewise, a producer will increase prices yet when needed will be reluctant to decrease prices.
OLLIER-MALATERRE, ARIANE; ROTHBARD, NANCY P.; BERG, JUSTIN M. Academy of Management Review (Oct2013), Vol. 38 Issue 4