The IUP Journal of Monetary
Economics* is a quarterly economics journal
focusing on macroeconomic policy issues, money markets,
monetary standards and regimes, government and monetary
system, monetary policy and central banking, monetary
policy designs and consistency, stabilization policy.
*Indexed
by the London School of Economics.
Privileged access to Online edition for Subscribers.
Non-Performing Assets of Commercial Banks:
A Case Study
-- Rosy Kalra
Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in the Indian banking system have assumed astronomical dimensions through the introduction of the concept of asset classification, income recognition and provisioning norms by Reserve Bank of India to assess the credit risk of a bank. High level of NPAs in banks has attracted public as well as foreign financial institutions to analyze the reasons for it. In this paper, an attempt has been made to find out the various factors responsible for the huge NPAs. Further, the different characteristics of NPAs on the basis of industry and area (i.e., state-wise as well as region-wise) have been analyzed.
Savings, Investment and Economic Growth in Nigeria:
An Empirical Analysis
-- Ben Obi, Gobna Obida Wafure and Auta Elisha Menson
This paper empirically examines the relationship among savings, investment and growth rate using cointegration and Error Correction Model (ECM) approach. Specifically, savings and investment models are estimated. The series are integrated of order two, i.e., [I(2)]. Long-run relationship among variables is established using Johansen maximum likelihood methods. The econometric analysis shows that investment-GDP ratio lagged by one year, real growth rate of GDP lagged by one year, gross domestic savings lagged by one year and cost of capital lagged by two years are significant determinants of investment. Similarly, real growth rate of GDP, gross domestic investment-GDP ratio lagged by one year and economic liberalization are significant determinants of savings. A robust relationship among savings, investment and growth is identified. The study suggests that given the prevalence of low saving rate and invariably low investment rate, there is the need to adopt a proactive measure that will enhance savings and investment capacity in Nigeria, which in turn, will impact growth significantly. This can be achieved through a policy framework that will ensure an investor-friendly environment and develop human capacity and technology.
Inflation Targeting and Economic Stability
in East Asian Countries
-- G Babu Rao
The present study empirically investigates the success of inflation targeting in reducing inflation uncertainty in East Asian countries, especially South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand. An attempt is made to examine whether inflation targeting has any impact on inflation variability in the countries adopting inflation targeting in East Asia. The study makes use of monthly data on Consumer Price Index. The study period spans from January 1970 to May 2010. This provides a rich dataset for the analysis, but some of the indices were introduced recently. The present study has undertaken a comprehensive set of econometric techniques, such as unit root tests, parametric tests (autocorrelation and variance ratio tests) and ARCH-GARCH tests. Towards this end, empirical results of parametric tests provided largely show inflation uncertainty. Finally, the study concludes that inflation targeting has good impact in reducing inflation variability and improving economic growth in South Korea, the Philippines and Thailand.
An Interview on
The Global Environment of Business:
New Paradigms for International Management
Effective
Executive
An
interview with —Carlo Strenger
Carlo Strenger is Chair of the Clinical Graduate Program, Department of Psychology at Tel Aviv University. He serves on the Permanent Monitoring Panel on Terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists, the Seminar of Existential Psychoanalysis in Zurich, and the Scientific Board of the Sigmund Freud Foundation, Vienna in addition to maintaining a part-time practice in existential psychoanalysis.
Strenger's research focuses on the impact of Globalization on Identity and Meaning. His latest book is, The Fear of Insignificance: Searching for Meaning in the Twenty-first Century
His work has been reported on, and he has been interviewed by among others, in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Time Magazine as well as hundreds of newspapers and websites in more than twenty languages.
He blogs on the Huffington Post, regularly writes in Haaretz, both for the print edition and on his blog, `Strenger than Fiction', Britain's The Guardian, and The New York Times
For more info see his website at http:/freud.tau.ac.il/~strenger/
Dr. Strenger, why did you start studying the Phenomenon that you call "Fear of Insignificance"?
In the late 1990s, I began to notice that my clients became ever more concerned whether they were leading lives of significance, and there were ever more reports in the research literature on a rise of depression and anxiety. I was wondering why this was happening, particularly because many of my clients led interesting and rewarding lives: many of them were high achievers, some of them are celebrities. Nevertheless, they were anxious that they weren't doing well enough; that they were not leading meaningful lives. I presented preliminary results in my previous book, The Designed Self (2004), but felt that a more interdisciplinary approach was needed to fully understand the phenomenon.
How is today's fear of insignificance expressed?
I think we live in a time in which people live under strong pressure to live spectacular lives. You see, people who are doing quite well: executives, lawyers, physicians, who feel that they are missing out something. Many of them feel their lives are grey; they feel they are not getting enough out of life.
They feel they need to do extraordinary things, primarily in their careers, but also in their private lives. They feel that they need to participate in extreme sports, amass lot of experiences, as otherwise their lives are devoid of insignificance. They keep comparing their lives to the spectacular success stories of global celebrities _ and they often feel that in comparison, their lives are not of significance.
February '12
