BESS Thread

EGaffney

I agree with zaraba, Dudley is a decent chap.

ApeXaviour

Question for you economy heads (came up in the office today): what's the difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy?

xebec

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Question for you economy heads (came up in the office today): what's the difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy?

My understanding:

Monetary policy is set by a central bank. Fiscal policy is set by the government. Both can be used to affect the performance of the economy.

(But I'm not really an economics head)

Marshy

Fiscal relates to government policies such as spending or taxation whereas monetary is to do with how the supply of money is managed, usually by the central bank.

europerson

ApeXaviour wrote: »

Question for you economy heads (came up in the office today): what's the difference between fiscal policy and monetary policy?

Put simply, fiscal policy refers to policy concerning government expenditure or taxation, and monetary policy refers to changes made to the money market, which isn't always the easiest thing for non-economists to understand.

Right, so that out of the way...

The primary aim of fiscal policy is to stimulate the level of aggregate demand in the economy. More simply, that refers to the level of economic activity. Aggregate demand (AD) is often expressed as follows:

Y = C + I + G
which is
AD = consumption + investment + government expenditure.

So, the economy can be stimulated by increased consumption (day-to-day spending), increased investment (capital expenditure), or increased government spending. For simplicity, this model ignores foreign trade and taxation.

If the government wants to increase its spending in an attempt to stimulate the economy, it has a number of options for financing it, including:

• taxation (this is why fiscal policy is often taken by economic agents to refer more often to tax affairs than spending affairs)
• seigniorage (basically the difference in value between the cost of bullion and the face value of the coin made from it or (derived from notes) is the difference between the interest earned on securities acquired in exchange for bank-notes and the costs of producing and distributing those bank-notes: it's the net revenue from the issuing of currency)
• borrowing (issuing bonds: borrowing from people and foreign agents)

A famous economist, called J. M. Keynes, after whom Keynesian economics is named, suggested that adjusting government spending and tax rates was the best way to stimulate AD.

(Just to point out to my fellow economists, I know I've ignored several key issues, notably crowding-out, time lags, the dynamics of expansion and contraction, etc., but I'm just trying to be nice to our beloved friends in the East End).

Much like there are markets for goods and services, there is also a market for money! You may be familiar with the concepts of supply and demand in goods markets; well, supply and demand also exist in the money market. Economists tend to think of a money market existing alongside the market(s) for goods and/or services, and that's the foundation for much of our economic analysis today. Supply of money is controlled by a central bank (CB). It can make changes to levels of money supply (monetary expansion or contraction), or it can change the 'price' of money by what's called the interest rate. Higher interest rates discourage borrowing and encourage saving. (Again, economists, please don't give out to me for ignoring reserve requirements, etc., in this discussion). Monetary policy refers to the decisions made by a CB to control money supply and the interest rate. You may be wondering what effect this has on the real economy. Well, monetary changes affect inflation (increase in price levels), which, in turn, affects demand for wages.

Monetary policy can be classified in a number of ways, which means describing different 'types' of monetary policy can be difficult. A common form is inflation-targeting monetary policy, which seeks to ensure a given rate of change in price levels. Another common form is what's sometimes called a 'mixed' policy, for example, that pursued by the US Federal Reserve (their CB). A mixed policy not only looks at inflation, but also at issues like unemployment of potential workers.

I don't know if any of that made sense. I'll leave it to better economists like Ibid, b.ie polar, EGaffney, zaraba, defiantshrimp, etc. to fill in the gaps and correct probable mistakes.

europerson

And, whilst I was typing that, two posters have managed to answer the question far more succinctly.

Running Bing

europerson wrote: »

And, whilst I was typing that, two posters have managed to answer the question far more succinctly.

Whens reading week chaps?



Im sure Ive just missed the whole glut of information flowing from the department to let us know such things:rolleyes:


Or do I have to use Euclids theorem to work out which week of whatever term it is now we are in?

shay_562

Well, next week will be the fifth week of Hillary Term, so all going according to plan reading week should be then...

europerson

Babybing wrote: »

Whens reading week chaps?

Next week is Reading Week.

Im sure Ive just missed the whole glut of information flowing from the department to let us know such things:rolleyes:

Remember that, if you take International Economics, Prof Lane is having his tutorial on Reading Week Monday at nine o'clock in the IIIS Seminar Room.

Or do I have to use Euclids theorem to work out which week of whatever term it is now we are in?

How knowing that there is an infinite number of prime numbers helps I don't know, but a simple way of remembering when Reading Week is follows: Reading Week is the nth week of the ith term of the academic year, where n is an element of {5} and i is an element of {1,2}.

xebec

Babybing wrote: »

Or do I have to use Euclids theorem to work out which week of whatever term it is now we are in?

You could try that, but it's much easier just to count them. Maybe count the Mondays? Or even the Fridays? And if you don't have class it might turn out to be reading week. Or as Shay said, it's week 5 next week so BESS reading week

europerson

europerson wrote: »

Reading Week is the nth week of the ith term of the academic year, where n is an element of {5} and i is an element of {1,2}.

Huzzah for the oneth and twoth terms!

xebec

europerson wrote: »

Reading Week is the nth week of the ith term of the academic year, where n is an element of {5} and i is an element of {1,2}.

Classic!

*Bow's to superior thought processes*

Panicked

Myth wrote: »

Huzzah for the oneth and twoth terms!

The threeth term is my favourite. Sunny pav afternoons spent not studying. The faint aroma of the semen tree encroaching over that of freshly cut grass and a newly opened can of bavaria. The coexisting guilt and euphoria melding to make a radioactive super emotion that can only be dulled with alcohol and mild sunburn.

greengoose

Hey, this is my first post!

I'm in JF BESS, finding it pretty tough at the moment especially with this Business essay! Just wondering what other JFs think of the course so far. Does it live up to your expectations?

I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, but hopefully things will improve next year when we can drop some subjects.

What is everyone thinking about choices for next year? I'm still really unsure All I know is I want to drop Sociology!

What do you guys think of the BESS stereotype? Do many of us fit the bill this year haha!

Tricity Bendix

greengoose wrote: »

Hey, this is my first post!

I'm in JF BESS, finding it pretty tough at the moment especially with this Business essay! Just wondering what other JFs think of the course so far. Does it live up to your expectations?

I'm a bit disappointed to be honest, but hopefully things will improve next year when we can drop some subjects.

What is everyone thinking about choices for next year? I'm still really unsure All I know is I want to drop Sociology!

What do you guys think of the BESS stereotype? Do many of us fit the bill this year haha!

I'm not a fellow Fresher (I'm an ancient SS) but I am interested in what exactly dissappoints you. Is it the subject matter, the teaching, level of difficulty, or something else entirely?


I can tell you that I didn't really like first year. A mix of doing subjects I didn't like and having lecturers I couldn't stand.

greengoose

b.ie polar wrote: »

I'm not a fellow Fresher (I'm an ancient SS) but I am interested in what exactly dissappoints you. Is it the subject matter, the teaching, level of difficulty, or something else entirely?


I can tell you that I didn't really like first year. A mix of doing subjects I didn't like and having lecturers I couldn't stand.

Hmm it's hard to say, I guess I just find a lot of lectures quite boring. I was particularly disappointed with Business, doesn't seem up to scratch really, I think I'll end up dropping it. Most others think I'm mental though! They all picked BESS specifically to do business. Some are saying the reason they wont do a moderatorship is because they want a BBS not a BA! What difference does it make?

A lot of the people in the course are complete ****ers aswell. I didn't think people like these actually existed!!! I think they're all doing single honours business though:)

Most people are really nice though!

Maybe I'm still not used to the whole 'university' atmosphere, I find it really hard to motivate myself to work these days.

I think I'll try to get more involved in societies next year. I'm kind of intimidated by the Hist but I'd love to be able to speak in public.

Awayindahils

greengoose wrote: »

I think I'll try to get more involved in societies next year. I'm kind of intimidated by the Hist but I'd love to be able to speak in public.

Get involved now. It's still early in first year. If you're interested in getting involved in the Hist the Freshers Masters a novice, mace-style competition is on Tuesday. yes you do have to skip a whole day of lectures, but I did it when I was in first year, and you don't really miss that much as a result of skipping the odd/frequent sociology or political science lecture. It's usually all on the internet anyway.

Speaking in public is a great thing to learn to do. A few of the BESS heads on here, myself included, are involved in the Hist or the Phil or both. They may appear intimidating but they're both eager to get people involved and the only way to learn how to speak in public is to get practising.

greengoose

greengoose wrote: »

Hmm it's hard to say, I guess I just find a lot of lectures quite boring. I was particularly disappointed with Business, doesn't seem up to scratch really, I think I'll end up dropping it. Most others think I'm mental though! They all picked BESS specifically to do business. Some are saying the reason they wont do a moderatorship is because they want a BBS not a BA! What difference does it make?

A lot of the people in the course are complete ****ers aswell. I didn't think people like these actually existed!!! I think they're all doing single honours business though:)

Most people are really nice though!

Maybe I'm still not used to the whole 'university' atmosphere, I find it really hard to motivate myself to work these days.

I think I'll try to get more involved in societies next year. I'm kind of intimidated by the Hist but I'd love to be able to speak in public.

I am also in final year however I had was pretty much the same in the JF BESS.

I had gone in the with the intention of doing single honours Business, however when I started business I didn't really like it. I then switched to Joint Honours Bussiness and Economics and finally cut the business out altogether.

The courses do get more interesting next year - you could really compress the whole of first year into a months worth of lecturing. Also - you should get involved in as many Clubs and Societies. This way you get to meed loads of new people and see a different side of campus

Real clubs link is here.

manicmonoliths

Awayindahils wrote: »

Get involved now. It's still early in first year. If you're interested in getting involved in the Hist the Freshers Masters a novice, mace-style competition is on Tuesday. yes you do have to skip a whole day of lectures, but I did it when I was in first year, and you don't really miss that much as a result of skipping the odd/frequent sociology or political science lecture. It's usually all on the internet anyway.

Speaking in public is a great thing to learn to do. A few of the BESS heads on here, myself included, are involved in the Hist or the Phil or both. They may appear intimidating but they're both eager to get people involved and the only way to learn how to speak in public is to get practising.

Hey is this Hist thing on this Tuesday, as in the 4th?

Might make an appearance myself actually, been meaning but the thought of 7 minute speeches seems quite scary, the most I've ever done is 3 (and half of that was me going 'em...')

Sorry to get off the BESS Topic (I am in JF BESS btw!) but will this thing be all newbies? Seems a bit late in the year to have events for complete newcomers, but I'd be well up for it aslong as I'm not the only (relative) first timer.

Reading week means no lectures so I'd be free on Tuesday anyway!

Running Bing

Deleted User wrote: »

I am also in final year however I had was pretty much the same in the JF BESS.

I had gone in the with the intention of doing single honours Business, however when I started business I didn't really like it. I then switched to Joint Honours Bussiness and Economics and finally cut the business out altogether.

The courses do get more interesting next year - you could really compress the whole of first year into a months worth of lecturing. Also - you should get involved in as many Clubs and Societies. This way you get to meed loads of new people and see a different side of campus

Real clubs link is here.

Some very good points there Zaraba.


I was definately underwhelmed by JF. Its pretty ****. Sociology and PolSci were dire, simple maths was made to look like rocket science and the main thing I did the course for, Business, involved an hour every monday and a perverse 3000 word essay when the most I had ever written was 300 words on "What I did during my summer holidays". The microecon with Ruane was very good but the combination of Sommerville and that hideous begg book still makes my head spin.


SF is much better though. You get to drop what you dont like and a lot of the subjects are very interesting. Also your more used to 3rd level work so things like essays are'nt as jarring.

Id say relax a bit and dont get too stressed out about subject choices or stuff like that. Just enjoy the year put in some steady work(nothing mad is needed really) and dont worry too much about the essay(you'll be surprised how you get through it;))


Finally GET INVOLVED! It doesnt get any easier after first year and my biggest regret is not getting involved in more things when I had the time.


Bite the bullet, after college its the stuff you didnt do that you regret not the stuff you did.


P.S. Dont know if Im in the majority here but I still find lectures really really boring.

shay_562

Babybing wrote:

P.S. Dont know if Im in the majority here but I still find lectures really really boring.

You're not alone there.

bunches of people wrote:

JF BESS kinda sucks

Not much to add on this topic, but yeah, everyone's right - first-year BESS courses are mostly pretty superficial, and not always that interesting. I loathed Sociology, and thought the Business course was a pile of cack, but even Business gets a lot better in second year once you start into accounting and in third year with finance and, ya know, real subjects that aren't crap. And economics gets a lot better once they move past the basics and start explaining things properly rather than just saying "Demand curves go this way, supply ones this way, now try not to fail". And yeah, there are a high proportion of crap people in the course, but there's plenty of nice ones too - you're more likely to meet the nice BESS people by getting involved with clubs and societies, since the crap ones don't really do college involvement. Either way, I'd say stick with it (and even give Business a chance, just avoid management theory courses), it does get better.

manicmonoliths wrote:

Hey is this Hist thing on this Tuesday, as in the 4th?

Might make an appearance myself actually, been meaning but the thought of 7 minute speeches seems quite scary, the most I've ever done is 3 (and half of that was me going 'em...')

Think it's the 5th, technically, but yeah, this Tuesday coming. The page of info about the final is here - to the best of my knowledge, it's 5 minute speeches, and everyone's in their first year of speaking, so the standard isn't too ridiculously high (there'll be some people who are naturally talented and scary, but just as many who say "em..." a lot). Plus, it's done in pairs (if you don't know anyone, there's half a dozen people looking for partners, just e-mail the guy mentioned on that web page and he'll sort you out), so there's someone else to panic with if you can't think of any points. Definitely worth a look in - if you end up hating it, it's just one day of lectures, and there's free pizza. Me, Awayindahils, b.ie_polar and defiant_shrimp all did it a couple of years ago, and none of us are permanently scarred...right?
(Sorry for the massive OT-ness, I'll stop now)

So yeah, BESS...

Tricity Bendix

shay_562 wrote: »

Me, Awayindahils, b.ie_polar and defiant_shrimp all did it a couple of years ago, and none of us are permanently scarred...right?

As an unhelpful aside, I hated debating. Partially cus I didn't really get it, partially because I got kicked out of my first competition twice.

Randomness

wow this thread hasn't been used in 2 months, craziness!

anyway you may have guessed from the title but i would really appreciate it if the "senior" hahaha, agh no the wise/knowledgable bess boardsies could advise a lil fresher on what subjects to pick for SF.

here's the story,
i know you can change around next oct and nothing is set in stone plus no one has even spoken to us about all this yet but i like to be well informed.

i'm open to doing any if the following in my degree:
economics
business
politics

i myself have a leaning towards doing a degree in business and politics however i'm not excluding econ, more "exploring other possibilities"!.

i like business this year, for some strange reason, like how it's divided up, as in lots of different elements combine for the final grade. i think the reading are interesting and i've worked hard to do well in seminars etc.

have done accouting for leavin cert and did well, so i get that end of things, just wondering will i have forgotten it next year and how is learning it in college land?

i reckon i could deal with all that "buzzwords" malarky etc.

so it's kinda starting off like;

BU2510- mgt1
BU2520- mgt2
EC2040- maths n stats

then on the politics side, i'm not sure bout the options because we were just briefly told the other day that we will have the option of doing international relations next year, i'm presuming then we chose between that, west or russian.

would choosing the new subject be bad? as in, new course, new methods, teething problems, uncertainty of exams, etc etc, harder for schols - or is all that stupid?

then i'm gonna do french cos i love it, plus so handy to have a language and also good for schols, but given that we have kinda been through a "funny" year this year in BESS french, i hope it'll be more structured etc next year.

emmm economics, i like it, it's interesting, but for some reason unknown to me and the majority of the class, we ain't doing too good in it, examwise.

i would't want to regret not doing it when i could have the potential to become and economics nerd in the future with better courses etc in further years. however being realistic, given i didn't do it for the leaving cert and i ain't flying at it now maybe i should just let it go?

anyway, if you've kept reading , thanks - as our chief says weekly!!lol

anyone doing the bus/pol root it would be great to here from you. anyone else your great also.

just really in terms of general feelings, thinking about further years, course load within different combinations, schols, jobs etc.

also I’m equally divided as a person between loving numbers and words so I figure the business/maths for the numbers and the odd random essay for politics will keep me going and I can vent my feelings about stuff, what I’ve read, through them.

ok wow, i need a break........

Tricity Bendix

Accounting in 2nd year is easy. I hadn't done it since the Junior Cert (which hardly counts) and I got a 2.I in schols after putting in very little work. I hear the rest of business has changed utterly since my time, so I can't comment.

Economics tends to be hard to get good grades in. And it can get very mathsy by the end. Having done it for the leaving wouldn't help you one whit. In fact, I can barely remember what I learnt in 1st year. It changes quite a bit after 2nd year, so I wouldn't necessarily rely on 1st year grades as an indicator of how good you are. Doing well in maths and stats would probably be more important, unless you plan to structure your courses in 3rd and 4th year to avoid mathsy stuff.

Randomness

hmmm interesting.

so looks like accounting should be fine so.

no probs with maths but stats has been a little strange to say the least, although i think it might actually be clicking around now!

i think i would like to have a maths along the way just so that i don't get bogged down in essays and the like.

do many people do bus/pol do you know? i think it might be my best option given i may not end up going into business in the long run but it's always an option.

Bartronilic

greengoose wrote: »

Hmm it's hard to say, I guess I just find a lot of lectures quite boring. I was particularly disappointed with Business, doesn't seem up to scratch really, I think I'll end up dropping it. Most others think I'm mental though! They all picked BESS specifically to do business. Some are saying the reason they wont do a moderatorship is because they want a BBS not a BA! What difference does it make?

A lot of the people in the course are complete ****ers aswell. I didn't think people like these actually existed!!! I think they're all doing single honours business though:)

Most people are really nice though!

Maybe I'm still not used to the whole 'university' atmosphere, I find it really hard to motivate myself to work these days.

I think I'll try to get more involved in societies next year. I'm kind of intimidated by the Hist but I'd love to be able to speak in public.

First year Business is nothing like the rest of it even though you use those readings in places. Don't drop it based on first year a lot of people do. I liked it in first year but 90% find it strange/not businessy.

Bartronilic

Randomness wrote: »

hmmm interesting.

so looks like accounting should be fine so.

no probs with maths but stats has been a little strange to say the least, although i think it might actually be clicking around now!

i think i would like to have a maths along the way just so that i don't get bogged down in essays and the like.

do many people do bus/pol do you know? i think it might be my best option given i may not end up going into business in the long run but it's always an option.

A lot of people do Bus/Pol it is probably the second most popular (behind just pure business), it is seen as the easiest choice if you pick your subjects that way. Make SURE you be careful what way you pick your subjects in 2nd year though because you might end up not being able to do pure business if you end up hating politics (some people cheat the system though and don't do Economics and Maths in 2nd year but sneak into BBS, really unfair).

Randomness

Bartronilic wrote: »

A lot of people do Bus/Pol it is probably the second most popular (behind just pure business), it is seen as the easiest choice if you pick your subjects that way. Make SURE you be careful what way you pick your subjects in 2nd year though because you might end up not being able to do pure business if you end up hating politics (some people cheat the system though and don't do Economics and Maths in 2nd year but sneak into BBS, really unfair).

agh i see what ya mean, as in order to be equally able to a single honours in bus or pol i have to pick:

BU2510, BU2520, EC2010, EC2040 (bus)

&

PO2610 and one of PO2620, PO2630 (pol)

which means i wouldn't have room for french AND i'd have to do econ again. ok didn't realise that....hmmm.

but i think if i gave myself the option of a joint bus/pol degree in 2nd year i'm fairly certain i'd want to stick with it....

have you any thoughts on politics in sf or after?

also what is the general make-up of business in terms of numbers/words/buzzwords/essays etc?

manicmonoliths

So what do my fellow JFers make of this year's SF choices? 2 completely new politics courses! I might consider doing politics now, I really didn't like the look of Western or Eastern European Politics so I'm glad they're gone.

Any thoughts on Logic? The name itself has almost got me hooked. No idea what it's about though!

mizz.yelof!!!

manicmonoliths wrote: »

So what do my fellow JFers make of this year's SF choices? 2 completely new politics courses! I might consider doing politics now, I really didn't like the look of Western or Eastern European Politics so I'm glad they're gone.

Any thoughts on Logic? The name itself has almost got me hooked. No idea what it's about though!

woah what?! eastern and western are both gone? what choices do you guys have now instead? is history of political thought stilll a course option?