Friday, March 12, 2010

Rules: Googol--Macro Economic Simulation

Rules: Please go through these Instructions. You are allotted 10 minutes specifically for this purpose. You won’t be allowed to play this game for the next 10 minutes.

1) Each game will be played over a period of 5 year terms i.e.; 25 news items will be displayed in 25 turns.

2) You need to have maximum approval ratings[election results] in order to win the game.

3) Here are the 2 cases of the game :

· Case 1 In case if you steer the Indian Economy to a very terrible position you will be removed from the position of the Finance Minister. You can play the game again.

· Case 2: You have completed all the 25 turns of the game. Call the EFA Invigilators immediately and make sure that your final score is noted .However if you are not happy with your score you can play the game again but your previous scores will not be counted again.

4) As soon as the 120 minutes of the game is completed. You have to leave the room immediately.

5) See the Basic Definitions of the Macro Economic Variables . It will help you in the game.

6) As soon as you reach the last page the Election Result will be announced [like 10 %; 17 %, etc]. Make sure you do not mouse click or touch the keyboard when you reach this page. The results would disappear.

Basic Definitions you must know before playing the game:

GDP: The gross domestic product (GDP) or gross domestic income (GDI) is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy. It is the total value of all final goods and services produced in a particular economy; the dollar value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a given year.

BUDGET DEFICIT: A budget deficit occurs when an entity spends more money than it takes in. The opposite of a budget deficit is a budget surplus. Debt is essentially an accumulated flow of deficits. In other words, a deficit is a flow and debt is a stock.

An accumulated deficit over several years (or centuries) is referred to as the government debt. Government debt is usually financed by borrowing, although if a government's debt is denominated in its own currency it can print new currency to pay debts. Monetizing debts, however, can cause rapid inflation if done on a large scale. Governments can also sell assets to pay off debt. Most governments finance their debts by issuing long-term government or shorter term notes and bills. Many governments use auctions to sell government bonds.

NATIONAL DEBT :Government debt (also known as public debt or national debt) is money (or credit) owed by any level of government; either government, federal, municipal government or local government.

As the government draws its income from society as a whole, government debt can be seen as an indirect debt of the taxpayers. Government debt can be categorized as internal debt, owed to lenders within the country, and external debt, owed to foreign lenders. Governments usually borrow by issuing securities, government bonds and bills. Less credit worthy countries sometimes borrow directly from supranational institutions. Some consider all government liabilities, including future pension payments and payments for goods and services the government has contracted but not yet paid, as government debt.

VAT: Value added tax (VAT), or goods and services tax (GST), is a consumption tax levied on value added. In contrast to sales tax, VAT is neutral with respect to the number of passages that there are between the producer and the final consumer; where sales tax is levied on total value at each stage, the result is a cascade (downstream taxes levied on upstream taxes). A VAT is an indirect tax, in that the tax is collected from someone who does not bear the entire cost of the tax.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS are payments made by governments to unemployed people. It may be based on a compulsory para-governmental insurance system. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be meagre, covering only basic needs (thus a form of basic welfare), or may compensate the lost pay somewhat proportionally to the previous earned salary. They often are part of a larger social security scheme.

Unemployment benefits are generally given only to those registering as unemployed, and often on conditions ensuring that they seek work and do not currently have a job.

APPROVAL RATING: An approval rating is a percentage determined by a polling which indicates the percentage of respondents to an opinion poll who approve of a particular person or program. Most often an approval rating is given to a political figure based on responses to a poll in which a sample of people are asked whether they approve or disapprove of that particular political figure

Googol----Macro Economic Simulation Game

Googol : Google was derived from the name “GOOGOL” which implies a very large number [10 power 100] . Here we want to see if you have the ability of impacting billion lives by acting the finance minister of India.

Every time the monetary Budget is announced a few people start criticizing the Finance Minister.

Finance Minister has got a tough role and has to go with many factors while deciding the Policies of the Country: - GDP; Inflation and Unemployment rate are the main factors which should be taken in to account for every nation. Moreover a very high value of one factor would decrease the value of the other factors. So he/she has to adjust all the three factors in such a way that the country becomes powerful.

You are considered more powerful if you are able to bring out a change in the whole industry; whole

economy. Managing a country is supposed to be a true test of leadership; on one hand you have to manage

the Country’s Deficit and on the other hand take care of your rating among the people. Some time people

might not understand your idea or motive behind your strategies...One section of the society might be happy

with your plans and the other section of the society might be annoyed as the policies applied are against

them.

As said by Sanjot Mahlia( The Yale Sponsored Guy): The ‘educated’ Indian is well aware of the

condition of the poor, the apathy of the corrupt politician and the flawed system, but is too self centred, busy in making the most of the ever ballooning stock market to be bothered about changing the system or making an effort to be part of the ‘dirty game’ that is politics. He will go to any extent to criticize the government, its policies, policy makers and the fact that elections are fought on the wrong criteria of caste and creed and that people vote for the same wrong reasons, but will do nothing more. It is perhaps talk and actions (or the lack thereof) of this sort that renders their education futile and perhaps advocates their labelling as mere literates and not educated. Needless to say these are the very same people who are presently reaping the benefits of the growth of the Indian economy. It is perhaps for the very same reason they bear an apathetical outlook towards the system and its flaws.

Managing India might bring out your true leadership skill forward. Welcome to Googol. Manage India in your 5 year terms and make it happy and prosperous in terms of Lower Unemployment rate; Lower Inflation and High GDP. [Simultaneously take care of your approval ratings]