Hello everyone! I have a little question for those of you who are interested in economics. From fall 2009 to spring 2010 I would like to write my own high school work (project/essay) on the topic of economics and nowdays I am looking round for some interesting topic. Although I am still a high school student (and I live in Europe) I think I learned quite a lot of information and knowledge about how world economy works, what is behind the financial crisis and so on but I would like to move on and make my own scientific work. So, would you be so kind and suggest some great idea that would be up-to-date and popular in the next year? I am looking for something useful and interesting. No matter how difficult it is I will work hard. So far, I have come up with two potential topics: 1) Hedge Funds and their strategies or changes after financial crisis 2) Inflation and its effect on the world within the next few years. What do you think about that? Thank you very much! I would appreciate any comments!
you could look into social security and benefits and how they are changing. very topical with the new gov in america. also minimum income and negative taxation could be useful for you to investigate as heterodox methods of providing benefits. in relation to your ideas hedge funds would be difficult. if you are still interested in pursuing it look at the derivative modernization act by jesse helms. inflation is also difficult because it is likely that hyper inflation will occur but due to the monetarist argument of inflation is a monetary occurrence a lot of macro economists would argue with you although it is likely to happen, if you do chose that biflation may be good option. good luck.
Both of your topics are very broad. I personally would choose to study inflation... there is much more data available. It is also more relevant to the financial crisis and in the future. Study interest rates, commodity prices (especially gold), and the value of the US dollar relative to other currencies. Study the actions of the FED, TARP, and the increase of the money supply. That route is better than researching hedge funds. First of all their strategies are secretive, so you won't get much. The algo programs are just one tiny piece of the puzzle. Use wsj.com to get your data. It is free and there is ton of it.
hedge funds are an interesting topic. a bird's eye view of the hedge fund industry and other new international players can be found at: www.mckinsey.com/mgi/publications/The_New_Power_Brokers/
Perfect! Thank you so much. I will go over it but I think I will try to investigate the inflation. I see it as a really big problem in the future.