Economics, Finance & Accounting

Economics, Finance & Accounting

When thinking of economics, the words supply and demand spring to many minds. And why would they fail to do so, if these are indeed the forces that control the free market? Most of the world’s markets today are mixed, they are largely free but there is some state involvement. Since the fall of the USSR and opening of the Chinese market, only a few exceptions keep operating as centrally planned economies. All in all, a centrally planned economy proved inefficient economically. However, not all free markets are competitive markets governed by what consumers want to buy, and what producers are willing to sell. For example, a firm that is a perfect monopoly plays by a different set of rules.

Economists have been criticized on many fronts. Apparently, they often disagree with each other and see individuals as more mercenary than they really are. Well, while most economists would certainly agree on mathematical concepts and many theoretical economics constructs, they often do have divergences of opinion on what ought to be done, this is the realm of normative economics.

Manhattan One Plaza. Photo by Elena

Also, most economists do recognize that although the ultimate goal of a business is to earn a profit, many other incentives are relevant and even more so at the personal level.

Around 2006, the profession Financial Consultant was one of the better remunerated and most sought after occupation in the United States of America. Although with the advent of the 2008 financial crisis, the industry may have lost some of its prestige (and a lot of persons in and out of the industry have been laid off), finance, as a field, is still important and may even hold the key to future economic prosperity.

In today’s day and age, accounting professionals are some of the people for whom it is easiest to find employment. Senior accountants working as Chief Financial Officers, Vice Presidents of Finance, Controllers and Treasurers, are also well paid. However, as most appealing prospects, the getting there can be quite tough. Some of the requirements are outlined in this part of the website.

Working in Finance or Economics

Finance is a branch of economics destined to study investing and financing operations of business firms. Economics, in turn is a social science focusing on attempting to satisfy an unlimited number of human wants with a finite amount of resources. Economics is subdivided into several disciplines, including macroeconomics, microeconomics, financial econometrics and finance.

Corporate finance is one of the branches of finance and deals with investing and financing activities of operating a business. Most businesses, regardless of their size need a healthy cash flow to survive and prosper. Indeed, firms are in business to make money, that is the reason why they entered the business world in the first place.

A squirrel posting with a business profit. Image: Elena

Costs can and have to be controlled in order for a business to ultimately record profits. Microeconomic theory focuses on costs. Thus, according to microeconomic theory cost can be variable, fixed or mixed. Naturally, mixed costs include elements of both fixed and variable costs.