User:Nick Gardner
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Biography:
Nick Gardner is retired after successive careers as a flight test observer, as a professional engineer, and as an economist. He has worked in two industrial companies, a research establishment and four government departments; and served as economic adviser to four cabinet ministers. As an engineer he was engaged in aeronautical research and development including the development of new manufacturing processes, he took part in the Concorde project and he visited the Apollo project. As an economist he evaluated numerous aerospace projects, he played a part in the development of UK competition policy and he managed a major statistical series. During his working life he contributed to several professional journals and symposiums on subjects including spotwelding, launching aid and project management, and since retirement he has written a book on contemporary economic history and another on competition policy that was published in three editions. His latest book is Mistakes – how they have happened and how some might be avoided. Nick is mainly interested in how people form beliefs and how they make decisions. Pursuit of that interest has led him to explore published work in the fields of philosophy, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, genetics, economics, politics, media studies, religion and decision theory. His CZ contributions have mainly been on the economics and his principal CZ objective has been to attract constructive criticism from fellow-economists and, with their help, to develop articles that provide a wide range of readers with a clearer perception of economic issues than can be gained from other sources.
Planned contributions
Articles to complete or update
High priority
Justice: The concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, fairness, religion and/or equity. [e] add material from Sen (2009) "The Idea of Justice"
Recession of 2009: the international recession that was triggered by the Crash of 2008. [e] review and update[[1]]
Recession (economics): Conventionally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth of gross domestic product (except in the United States). [e] develop timeline and add Japanese recession [2]
Medium priority
- bank failures and rescues: an account of the occurrence , causes and consequences of bank failures, and of methods of dealing with them [e]more on Nordic and Asian crises [[3]].
- balance of payments: an accounting statement for the transactions of a country with the rest of the world. [e] expand using Wolf p201
- cost-benefit analysis: A method of evaluating projects that takes account of the preferences of those affected. [e]
- crash of 1929: the sharp fall in prices on the New York Stock Exchange that contributed to the severity of the Great Depression [e] add links to subpages and complete the tutorials subpage' use some of Gillian Tet's material
- deflation: a persistent sequence of reductions in the general level of prices. [e] add historical data from Bordo and Filado [4]
- financial system: The interactive system of organisations that serve as intermediaries between lenders and borrowers. [e] consider reference to White [5]
- Liberalism: Economic and political doctrine advocating free enterprise, free competition and free will. A shortcut word grouping a swath of people who allegedly hold similar values. The liberal ideal does not really exist, as no two people would likely define it exactly the same. Some of the generalizations that people make about liberals include that they are open to social change, not tied to traditional family values, not militaristic, lacking in fiscal restraint, and socially tolerant. [e] 'see talk page
- money supply: the economy's stock of those assets that can be quickly exchanged for goods and services. [e] add paragraphs on determinants, control and economic effects
- multiplier effect: [e]add text to existing opening
- Rent-seeking: Add brief definition or description
- World Trade Organisation: A multinational organisation that develops trade policies and resolves disputes, with an assumption that free trade is generally the best [e]
Low priority
- Market: A term used in commerce and economics to denote a conjunction of buyers and sellers. [e] add efficient market hypothesis
New articles
- Taxation: The transfer of resources from the community to the government. [e]
- Fiscal policy: Policy concerning public expenditure, taxation and borrowing and the provision of public goods and services, and their effects upon social conduct, the distribution of wealth and the level of economic activity. [e]
- Monetary policy: The economic policy instrument that is regularly used to stabilise the economy, and that has sometimes been used as a temporary expedient to relieve severe credit shortages. [e]
- Public expenditure: Spending by the public sector [e]
- Impossibility theorem: The proof that it is impossible to devise a rational democratic voting system that is guaranteed to produce a consistent set of preferences for a group from the preferences of the people in the group. [e]
- Social choice theory: The study of systems of collective decision-making. [e]
Past Contributions
Nick has made substantial contributions to CZ articles on:-
- antitrust: a policy to limit or prevent the creation of monopoly power and to preserve competition by regulating business conduct. [e]
- applied statistics: the practice of collecting and interpreting numerical observations for the purpose of generating information. [e]
- balance of payments: an accounting statement for the transactions of a country with the rest of the world. [e]
- banking: the system of financial intermediation that provides the principle source of credit to individuals and companies. [e]
- bank failures and rescues: an account of the occurrence , causes and consequences of bank failures, and of methods of dealing with them [e]
- Bank for International Settlements: A forum of central bank governors and senior executives for the discussion and policy analysis whose standing committees include the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. [e]
- Britain, history: Add brief definition or description
- crash of 1929: the sharp fall in prices on the New York Stock Exchange that contributed to the severity of the Great Depression [e]
- crash of 2008: the international banking crisis that followed the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007. [e]
- deflation: a persistent sequence of reductions in the general level of prices. [e]
- discount rate: (i) The percentage by which current value exceeds value in a year's time. (ii) The rate at which banks may borrow at their central bank's discount window. [e]
- comparative advantage: The motive for trade that arises from the fact that for each trader there are things that he does best, and things that he can better obtain by trading. [e]
- competition: The activity or condition of competing against others. Ecologically, the interaction between species or organisms which share a limited environmental resource. [e]
competition policy: Legislation which regulates business practices that restrict competition, and limits the ability of firms to combine in such a way as to enable them to restrict competition. [e]- economics: The analysis of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. [e]
- economic efficiency: Ratio of the quantity of some measure of output to the quantity of input required to bring it about. [e]
- Elasticity (economics): The ratio of the percent change in one variable to the percent change in another variable. [e]
- EU competition policy: A policy intended to ensure undistorted competition within the EU market, by increasing economic efficiency in member states and to remove barriers to trade between member states. [e]
- financial economics: the economics of investment choices made by individuals and corporations, and their consequences for the economy, . [e]
- Financial Stability Forum: An international economic group consisting of representatives of national financial authorities including finance ministers, central bankers, and senior members of other financial organisations. [e]
- Financial system: The interactive system of organisations that serve as intermediaries between lenders and borrowers. [e]
- Gold standard: a currency system in which a country's central bank is required to exchange, on demand, any currency unit for a stipulated quantity of gold. [e]
- Government Sponsored Enterprises: Legal entity created by the United States Congress to assist certain groups of borrowers such as homeowners, farmers, ranchers, and mortgage lenders gain access to capital markets. [e]
- Great Depression: the severe downturn in economic activity that started in 1929 in Germany and the United States and affected many other countries. [e]
- Great Depression in Britain: The Depression as it affected the United Kingdom. [e]
- Great Depression in the United States: an account of the origins of the Great Depression of 1929 - 1937. [e]
- gross domestic product: The total of the outputs recorded in a country’s national income accounts. [e]
- G20 summit: A meeting of the leaders of the twenty countries that are the largest in terms of economic output. [e]
- history of economic thought: the historical development of economic thinking. [e]
- inflation: An increase in the general level of the prices of goods and services. [e]
- international economics: Add brief definition or description
- International Monetary Fund: Add brief definition or description
- macroeconomics: Add brief definition or description
- microeconomics: Add brief definition or description
- money supply: the economy's stock of those assets that can be quickly exchanged for goods and services. [e]
- National Debt: Add brief definition or description
- New Deal: Add brief definition or description
- politics: Add brief definition or description
- political party: Add brief definition or description
- philosophy of economics: Add brief definition or description
- price index: Add brief definition or description
- production function: Add brief definition or description
- Public good: Add brief definition or description
- recession (economics): Conventionally defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth of gross domestic product (except in the United States). [e]
- recession of 2008: Add brief definition or description
- social capital: Add brief definition or description
- subprime mortgage crisis: Add brief definition or description
- supply and demand: Add brief definition or description
- terms of trade: Add brief definition or description
- Washington Consensus: Add brief definition or description
- welfare economics: Add brief definition or description
- World Bank: Add brief definition or description
