“Freakonomics: A Roadmap to Success in Economics”

          

                                 “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”                                         

                                (Everything has a value and you pay for it.)

                                       *Well, this is Economics summed up*  

                                                                                                          Total Questions/Marks- 18

Hello Junta!!! Now it’s time to discuss some Economics which is an important component in the General Studies section. This section can be easily cracked by studying some recommended readings and newspapers (the ‘Business and Economy’ section). This section comprises Indian Economy as well as Micro and Macroeconomics. (PS. Science students, don't freak out, there are sites like khanacademy.org that can help you learn the basics quite effortlessly, for free)

ECONOMICS

The subject of economics will be quite familiar to all of us. Even if not, we are here to simplify it for you. As far as HSEE is concerned, this section mainly concentrates on Indian economy since Independence. To attain mastery in this section it is good enough to start from NCERT textbook of Class 11. Which will give you complete understanding of basic economics and its contents. Get a clear idea of the development roadmap chartered by the economic planners of India including Jawaharlal Nehru to P.V. Narasimha Rao and subsequent Liberalisation, Privatisation, Globalisation policies in 1991. Get a clear picture of all the five-year plans, its objectives and achievements as well as failures (Remember the years properly). Also try to understand the success and failure of the economic roadmap till 1991 and post-1991.

 Focus on the problems faced by the Indian economy and the reasons for the backwardness of our economy like unemployment, poverty, rural underdevelopment, inequality as well as low productivity. Also learn the schemes, programmes and  initiated by the government to address these problems like MGNREGA, NABARD, SIDBI. It will also be better to study about different sectors of the economy, that is agriculture, manufacturing and services. Try to mug up some data like the sectoral contribution of these sectors to India’s national income. Make yourself well-aware about the institutions that play an important role in our economic governance and reforms like Planning Commission, RBI, NITI AAYOG, SEBI, etc.    

 The next important part is that of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. For this, the NCERT textbook of class 12 is mostly referred. The areas you have to go through are the fundamentals of demand and supply, the concept of elasticity, the concepts of cost, revenue and production. Also go through consumer’s and producer’s equilibrium. As far as macroeconomics is concerned, go through basic concepts like GDP, GNP, etc, measurement of national income, the role of central banks, commercial banks and financial system, functions of money, money supply, government budgeting, revenue and expenditure of government, foreign exchange, balance of trade and payments. For studying Macro you have to be cautious about fluctuations in economy that be different ups and downs for that get subscribed to daily magazines, newspapers, online reliable data. There are chances that the essay might be relatable to latest Demonitisation issue so have preparations on it, make your opinion on the issue that will help you.

Thinking of all this economic terms and concepts, For greenhorns it might feel like quite a heavy burden to cover up all these topics in time span of now less than 45 days that too while managing with your boards and other exams. IF you really need help with the basics, try KHAN ACADEMY (khanacademy.org). They have FREE classes where you can learn all of Economics quite effortlessly, even if you don't know anything in it, as of yet. Summing up, in short economics is nothing but just common reaction to human behaviour in monetary terms. When studying micro economics, we learn about individual behaviour in market economy and while in macro we understand concepts in bigger level as comprising of nation as a whole. Example, Forest is an economics. Micro is like studying each individual part of forest like tree or animal whereas Macro is like studying forest as a whole. So, you start studying forest from each individual tree then to reach to a study of complete forest. So, in the end just apply simple concepts in your practical life and then economics is whole yours. Economics section will become a cake walk in HSEE. I am sure!

                                                         ALL THE BEST!