The history of the Economics Faculty dates back to 1965, when the Faculty of Economics and Philosophy was founded. In 1970 it was split into two independent faculties: the Economics Faculty and the Philosophy Faculty.
Training is provided in the following specializations:
· theory of economics;
· mathematical methods and operations research in economics;
· management.
There are seven departments:
· Department of Political Economy and Economic Policy: The Russian market economy;
· Department of Market Theory: Transition of Russian economy to a market economy;
· Department of the Theory of Economics: Reforming the Russian Economy;
· Department of Economic Cybernetics: Analysis of the tax system in Russia and ways for its improvement;
· Department of Economics and Management: Management of science and education;
· Department of Economics and Entrepreneurship: Economic methods of management and the system of free enterprise.
· Department of History of Economic Theory: History of economics and national models of economy.
Post-graduate courses are available in the five areas:
n political economy;
n regional economy:
n economy, organization, management and planning of the national economy;
n mathematical methods and operations research in economics;
n economy of natural resourses and environment protection.
The teaching staff includes 14 Doctors of Science and 55 Candidates of Science. More than 6,000 specialists have been trained since the foundation of the Faculty.
Economic Theory
Economic theory, usually referred to as simply “Economics”, is a social science concerned with the analysis of commercial activities, with how goods and services are produced, and how they are distributed. It is the study of how societies use scarce resources to produce valuable commodities and distribute them among different people. The scope of economics is indicated by the facts with which it deals. These consist mainly of data on output, income, employment, expenditure, interest rates and related magnitudes associated with activities of production, consumption, transportation and trade.
Owing to the complexity of modern society, economics has been subdivided into several specialized areas, such as macroeconomics, microeconomics, consumer economics, labour economics, international economics, banking and finance, econometrics and others.
Macroeconomics is that part of economics which examines a complete economic system rather than individual sectors. It uses agregate data for large groups of persons or products, such as gross national product, national income, total employment or money supply. This field looks at the relationships between these important economic indicators and attempts to explain the changes that have taken place over a long-term period. With this information available to them, economists are then able to make predictions about what will happen if certain economic decisions are taken.
A microeconomic study is different. It looks at an individual sector of the economy and the influences on it. It analyses a particular market in terms of a product, firm, industry or individual, such as the demand for automobiles, or employment for dock workers, or average household income. A key objective of a microeconomic study is to find out how the decisions and activities of the consumers, companies or other units being examined, affect the prices of particular goods or services. Because of its emphasis on price in the market system, microeconomics is also known as price theory. Microeconomics focuses on identifying various outcomes which result from the distribution of resources and, in turn, considers such variables as supply and demand.
One of the major sources of economic theory comes from observing economic affairs. History and facts are central to an empirical science like economic theory, but to these we must add economic analysis, for only by developing and testing economic theories can we organize the jumble of data and facts into a coherent view of reality. Economic analysis is an approach that starts with a set of assumptions and then deduces logically certain predictions about the economic behaviour of people, firms, or the overall economy. A complete understanding of economic activity relies upon the use of economic data and statistical analysis. Economists are turning also to laboratory and other controlled experiments to study economic phenomena. These four techniques - observation, economic analysis, statistical analysis and experiments - form the approach by which economic science progresses.
Economic theory provides the basis for other economic sciences, such as applied economic science in national economic planning, finance and various sectional economic sciences. Economic theory is also the methodological basis for sciences like the history of economics, international economic relations and the economics of developing countries. It is closely bound up with a new economic discipline known as economic policy.
Economic theory improves knowledge of crucial national issues. It plays two distinct roles in promoting the analysis of national economic issues. It first helps to understand our society - to describe, explain and predict economic behaviour, for example, the causes of poverty. But for many people the pay off comes when economic knowledge is applied to help design policies that will build a better society. This distinction between description and prescription is central to modern economics.
Economists have, in recent years, become the counsellors of presidents and prime ministers. Any political agenda is full of economic issues: should we raise taxes to curb the budget deficit? Should the minimum wage be raised? Should the government regulate banks more closely? Political leaders need economic advisers to help them understand these complex questions.
Increasingly, international aspects of economic activity concern policymakers. Heads of governments must constantly make vital decisions that involve economics. National leaders should have advisers who were schooled in the major economic issues and can propose solutions to the problems of the day.
Management
The speciality called “Economics and Management” has a wide horizon of applications because a manager is one of the key figures in every organization.
An o rganization consists of two or more people deliberately working together to attain a set of goals (for example, to produce goods and services). Any large organization will have managers, employees who set the goals for the organization and devise a plan to reach these goals.
Managers make up a social class which has become very important in the second half of the 20th century. There’s simple explanation to this statement. There are some huge corporations that possess such enormous financial, production and scientific potential that they may be compared with countries. That’s why the decisions of their managers may affect lives of millions of people, or even whole economic regions.
Management is the process of achieving organizational goals through engaging in the four main functions of planning, organizing, motivating and controlling. All these functions are necessary to reach the organizational goals.
There are four main types of management as a form of activity in directing people: production, marketing, finance and innovation. Some people add information management and personnel management into the group.
The term “management” can also refer to a field of study. As a science it has its own subject, object, internal and external laws and a short, though very rich, history.
Management, as a scientific and organizational phenomenon, came into being in 1911 after the issuing of Frederich Taylor’s book “Principles of Scientific Management.” In it, Taylor expressed the idea that the most important thing one should do in any organization is to set up a system of special people called organizers or managers. This idea was received by some other scientists and businessmen.
In 1926, the Rockfeller Fund (at Harvard University) started researching the problems of organization or management. The world famous company of that time, “ Western Electric Co. ” spent lots of money on the research in that field.
Various famous specialists and scientists continued working or exploring
managerial problems and their application in practice. Those were: Henry Ford, Peter Drake, James Mooney, Alan Keiley and others.
The period of the fastest development in the managerial science covered the 1950s and 60s. A lot of interesting and highly useful methods were transferred from military sciences into the civilian production of goods and services.
The following are the most important principles of managerial science in the 90s:
· A return to the ideas of the technological and material component of production.
· The development of democratic power and general decentralization.
· The increase of the international aspect of management.