A Difference between The Man Booker Prize and The Man Booker International Prize

The Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and success; therefore, the prize is of great significance for the book trade.

In contrast to literary prizes in the United States, the Booker Prize is greeted with great anticipation and fanfare. It is also a mark of distinction for authors to be selected for inclusion in the shortlist or even to be nominated for the "long list".

The winner of the Man Booker Prize receives £50,000 and, like all the shortlisted authors, a cheque for £2,500 and a designer bound copy of their book. Fulfilling one of the objectives of the prize - to encourage the widest possible readership for the best in literary fiction - the winner and the shortlisted authors now enjoy a dramatic increase in book sales worldwide.

History

The prize was originally known as the Booker-McConnell Prize, after the company Booker-McConnell began sponsoring the event in 1968. It became commonly known as the "Booker Prize" or simply "the Booker." When administration of the prize was transferred to the Booker Prize Foundation in 2002, the title sponsor became the investment company Man Group, which opted to retain "Booker" as part of the official title of the prize. The foundation is an independent registered charity funded by the entire profits of Booker Prize Trading Ltd., of which it is the sole shareholder. The prize money awarded with the Booker Prize was originally £21,000, and was subsequently raised to £50,000 in 2002 under the sponsorship of the Man Group, making it one of the world's richest literary prizes.

The rules of the Booker changed in 1971; previously, it had been awarded retrospectively to books published prior to the year in which the award was given. In 1971 the year of eligibility was changed to the same as the year of the award; in effect, this meant that books published in 1970 were not considered for the Booker in either year. The Booker Prize Foundation announced in January 2010 the creation of a special award called the "Lost Man Booker Prize," with the winner chosen from a longlist of 22 novels published in 1970. Before, 2001, each year's longlist of nominees was not publicly revealed.

Controversies

In 1972, the winning author John Berger, known for his Marxist worldview, protested during his acceptance speech against Booker McConnell. He blamed Booker's 130 years of sugar production in the Caribbean for the region's modern poverty. Berger donated half of his £5,000 prize to the British Black Panther movement, because they had a socialist and revolutionary perspective in agreement with his own.

In 1980, Anthony Burgess, author of Earthly Powers, refused to attend the ceremony unless it was confirmed to him in advance whether he had won. He was one of two books considered likely to win, the other being Rites of Passage by William Golding. The judges decided only 30 minutes before the ceremony, giving the prize to Golding. Both novels had been seen as favorites to win leading up to the prize and the dramatic "literary battle" between two senior authors made front page news.

In 1993, two of the judges threatened to walk out when Trainspotting appeared on the longlist; Irvine Welsh's cult classic was pulled from the shortlist to satisfy them.

The award has been criticized for the types of books it covers. In 1981, nominee John Banville wrote a letter to The Guardian requesting that the prize be given to him so that he could use the money to buy every copy of the longlisted books in Ireland and donate them to libraries, "thus ensuring that the books not only are bought but also read — surely a unique occurrence."

In 1994, journalist Richard Gott described the prize as "a significant and dangerous iceberg in the sea of British culture that serves as a symbol of its current malaise."

 Judging

The selection process for the winner of the prize commences with the formation of an advisory committee which includes an author, two publishers, a literary agent, a bookseller, a librarian, and a chairperson appointed by the Booker Prize Foundation. The advisory committee then selects the judging panel, the membership of which changes each year, although on rare occasions a judge may be selected a second time. Judges are selected from amongst leading literary critics, writers, academics and leading public figures. The winner is usually announced at a ceremony in London's Guildhall, usually in early October.

Winners

Year	Author	Titel	Genere(s)	Nationality
1969	P. H. Newby	Something to Answer For	Novel	United Kingdom
1970	Bernice Rubens	The Elected Member	Novel	United Kingdom
1970	J. G. Farrell	Troubles	Novel	United Kingdom Ireland
1971	V. S. Naipaul	In a Free State	Short story	United Kingdom Trinidad and Tobago
1972	John Berger	G.	Experimental novel	United Kingdom
1973	J. G. Farrell	The Siege of Krishnapur	Novel	United Kingdom  Ireland
1974	Nadine Gordimer Stanley Middleton	The Conservationist Holiday	Novel Novel	South Africa United Kingdom
1975	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala	Heat and Dust	Historical Novel	United Kingdom Germany
1976	David Storey	Saville	Novel	United Kingdom
1977	Paul Scott	Staying On	Novel	United Kingdom
1978	Iris Murdoch	The Sea, the Sea	Philosophical Novel	Ireland United Kingdom
1979	PenelopeFitzgerald	Offshore	Novel	United Kingdom
1980	William Golding	Rites of Passage	Novel	United Kingdom
1981	Salman Rushdie	Midnight's Children	Magical realism	India United Kingdom
1982	Thomas Keneally	Schindler's Ark	Biographical novel	Australia
1983	J. M. Coetzee	Life & Times of Michael K	Novel	South Africa
1984	Anita Brookner	Hotel du Lac	Novel	United Kingdom
1985	Keri Hulme	The Bone People	Mystery novel	New Zealand
1986	Kingsley Amis	The Old Devils	Comic novel	United Kingdom
1987	Penelope Lively	Moon Tiger	Novel	United Kingdom
1988	Peter Carey	Oscar and Lucinda	Novel	Australia
1989	Kazuo Ishiguro	The Remains of the Day	Historical Novel	United Kingdom Japan
1990	A. S. Byatt	Possession	Novel	United Kingdom
1991	Ben Okri	The Famished Road	Magic realism	Nigeria
1992	Michael Ondaatje Barry Unsworth	The English Patient Sacred Hunger	Historiographic metafiction Historical novel	Canada Srilanka United Kingdom
1993	Roddy Doyle	Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha	Novel	Ireland
1994	James Kelman	How Late It Was, How Late	Stream of consciousness	United Kingdom
1995	Pat Barker	The Ghost Road	War novel	United Kingdom
1996	Graham Swift	Last Orders	Novel	United Kingdom
1997	Arundhati Roy	The God of Small Things	Novel	India
1998	Ian McEwan	Amsterdam	Novel	United Kingdom
1999	J. M. Coetzee	Disgrace	Novel	South Africa
2000	Margaret Atwood	The Blind Assassin	Novel	Canada
2001	Peter Carey	True History of the Kelly Gang	Historical Novel	Australia
2002	Yann Martel	Life of Pi	Fantasy Novel	Canada
2003	DBC Pierre	Vernon God Little	Novel	Australia Mexico
2004	Alan Hollinghurst	The Line of Beauty	Historical Novel	United Kingdom
2005	John Banville	The Sea	Novel	Ireland
2006	Kiran Desai	The Inheritance of Loss	Novel	India
2007	Anne Enright	The Gathering	Novel	Ireland
2008	Aravind Adiga	The White Tiger	Novel	India
2009	Hilary Mantel	Wolf Hall	Historical Novel	United Kingdom
2010	Howard Jacobson	The Finkler Question	Novel	United Kingdom
2011	Julian Barnes	The Sense of an Ending	Novel	United Kingdom
2012	Hilary Mantel	Bring Up the Bodies	Historical Novel	United Kingdom

The Man Booker International Prize

Worth £60,000, the prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published fiction either originally in English or whose work is generally available in translation in the English language. The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel and there are no submissions from publishers.

 It launched in 2005, the Man Booker International Prize has already established itself as a major player in the literary world and has literary excellence as its sole focus.

The Man Booker International Prize is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer's overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. In seeking out literary excellence, the judges consider a writer's body of work rather than a single novel.

Writers from across the globe are eligible for the bi-annual prize, provided their work is available in English.

While the Man Booker Prize is only open to writers from the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe, the International Prize is open to all nationalities. The award is worth £60,000 and an author can only win once. The Man Booker International prize also allows for a separate award for translation. The winning author can choose a translator of their work into English to receive a prize sum of £15,000. A similar prize to the Man Booker International Prize is the Neustadt International Prize for Literature which is like the Man Booker International Prize awarded biennially. In contrast, the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Franz Kafka Prize are both awarded annually.

Award winners

Year	Name	Country	Languages	Literary tradition
2011	Philip Roth	U.S.	English	American
2009	Alice Munro	Canada	English	Canadian
2007	Chinua Achebe	Nigeria	English	Nigerian
2005	Ismail Kadare	Albania	Albanian	Albanian

The History of Sustainable Development- An Informative Approach

1972

In 1972, the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm brought the industrialized and developing nations together to delineate the ‘rights’ of the human family to a healthy and productive environment. A series of such meetings followed, e.g. on the rights of people to adequate food, to sound housing, to safe water, to access to means of family planning. The recognition to revitalize humanity’s connection with Nature, led to the creation of global institutions within the UN system.

1980

In 1980, the International Union for the Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) published the World Conservation Strategy (WCS) which provided a precursor to the concept of sustainable development. The Strategy asserted that conservation of nature cannot be achieved without development to alleviate poverty and misery of hundreds of millions of people and stressed the interdependence of conservation and development in which development depends on caring for the Earth. Unless the fertility and productivity of the planet are safeguarded, the human future is at risk.

1982

Ten years later, at the 48th plenary of the General Assembly in 1982, the WCS initiative culminated with the approval of the World Charter for Nature. The Charter stated that "mankind is a part of nature and life depends on the uninterrupted functioning of natural systems".

1983

In 1983, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) was created and, by 1984, it was constituted as an independent body by the United Nations General Assembly. WCED was asked to formulate ‘A global agenda for change’. In 1987, in its report Our Common Future, the WCED advanced the understanding of global interdependence and the relationship between economics and the environment previously introduced by the WCS. The report wove together social, economic, cultural and environmental issues and global solutions. It reaffirmed that "the environment does not exist as a sphere separate from human actions, ambitions, and needs, and therefore it should not be considered in isolation from human concerns. The environment is where we all live; and development is what we all do in attempting to improve our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."

1992

In June 1992, the first UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in RiodeJaneiro and adopted an agenda for environment and development in the 21st Century. Agenda 21: A Programme of Action for Sustainable Development contains the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, which recognizes each nation’s right to pursue social and economic progress and assigned to States the responsibility of adopting a model of sustainable development; and, the Statement of Forest Principles. Agreements were also reached on the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Framework Convention on Climate Change. UNCED for the first time mobilized the Major Groups and legitimized their participation in the sustainable development process. This participation has remained a constant until today. For the first time also, the lifestyle of the current civilization was addressed in Principle 8 of the Rio Declaration. The urgency of a deep change in consumption and production patterns was expressly and broadly acknowledged by State leaders. Agenda 21 further reaffirmed that sustainable development was delimited by the integration of the economic, social and environmental pillars.

The spirit of the conference was captured by the expression "Harmony with Nature", brought into the fore with the first principle of the Rio Declaration: "Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature".

1993

In 1993, UNCED instituted the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) to follow-up on the implementation of Agenda 21.

1997

In June 1997, the General Assembly dedicated its 19th Special Session (UNGASS-19) to design a "Programmed for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21".

2002

In 2002, ten years after the Rio Declaration, a follow-up conference, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) was convened in Johannesburg to renew the global commitment to sustainable development. The conference agreed on the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI) and further tasked the CSD to follow-up on the implementation of sustainable development.

2009

On 24th December 2009 the UN General Assembly adopted a Resolution agreeing to hold the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in 2012 - also referred to as 'Rio+20' or 'Rio 20'. The Conference seeks three objectives: securing renewed political commitment to sustainable development, assessing the progress and implementation gaps in meeting already agreed commitments, and addressing new and emerging challenges. The Member States have agreed on the following two themes for the Conference: green economy within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and institutional framework for sustainable development

Since UNCED, sustainable development has become part of the international lexicon. The concept has been incorporated in many UN declarations and its implementation, while complex has been at the forefront of world’s institutions and organizations working in the economic, social and environmental sectors.

The concept of sustainable development emerged from the post-War environmental movement, which recognized the negative impacts of human growth and development on the environment and communities.

Since publishing the first ever national strategy for sustainable development in 1994, the UK Government has played a lead role in promoting sustainable development at home and overseas.

1972: Limits to Growth

Commissioned by the Club of Rome, Limits to Growth attempts to model the consequences of a growing human population in a world of finite resources, concluding that current patterns of growth cannot be sustained indefinitely.

1987: Our Common Future

The term sustainable development came to prominence through the United Nations Brundtland Commission. The commission’s 1987 report, Our Common Future defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.

1992: Rio conference

The concept received further attention at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the first international attempt to develop strategies for a more sustainable pattern of development.

Representatives of 178 national governments, including more than 100 heads of state, and many organizations representing civil society attended the conference. The world had never previously witnessed a larger gathering of national leaders.

At the summit, governments around the world committed to sustainable development. The UK government was the first to produce its national strategy in 1994.

1999: A Better Quality of Life

In 1999, the UK government outlined how it proposed to deliver sustainable development in A Better Quality of Life. This set out a vision of simultaneously delivering economic, social and environmental outcomes as measured by a series of headline indicators.

2002: Johannesburg summit

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) took place in Johannesburg from 26 August to 4 September 2002.

The summit delivered three outcomes: a political declaration, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the establishment of numerous partnership initiatives. Key commitments covered sustainable consumption and production, water and sanitation, and energy.

The outcomes complemented the Millennium Development Goals, reinforce Doha and Monterrey agreements and set challenging global goals and targets on accessing water, sanitation and modern energy services; increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy; sustainable fisheries and forests; reducing biodiversity loss on land and in our oceans; chemicals management; and decoupling environmental degradation from economic growth – that is, achieving sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

The UK’s international priorities on sustainable development have principally been framed by the Millennium Development Goals, the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization, the Monterrey Consensus on Financing for Development and the Plan of Implementation of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).

Securing the Future

2005 saw the publication of Securing the Future, a revised UK Government strategy for sustainable development.

At the same time, a strategic framework was agreed by the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, providing a consistent approach and focus across the UK for the period up to 2020.

(Vaibhav rajdeep)

Ecosystem- An Informative approach

                                           

It was Ernst Haeckel who introduced the term Ecology to us. There were many scientists who were in interest of giving the theories and putting forth the concepts of ecology in 18th and 19th century. Different types of ecosystem of nature, constituting the giant ecosystem – the biosphere. These may be artificially categorized as follows:

 Natural ecosystem

These operate by themselves under natural conditions without any major interference by man. Based upon the particular kind of habitat, these are further divided as:

1. Terrestrial, as forest, grassland, desert etc.

2. Aquatic (water-open), may be further distinguished as:

(a)  Freshwater, which may be lotic (running-  water as spring, stream, or rivers) or lentic (standing water as  lake, pond, pools, puddles, puddles, ditch,  swamp etc.).

(b) Marine, such deep bodies as an ocean or shallow ones as a sea or estuary etc.

 Artificial (man-engineered) ecosystems

These are maintained artificially by man where, by addition of energy and planned manipulations, natural balance is disturbed regularly. For example croplands like maize, wheat, rice-fields etc. where man tries to control the biotic community as well as the physiso –chemical environment, are artificial ecosystem.

In addition to above the rapid progress made during recent years led to the recognition of some other such types of ecosystem as space ecosystem etc.

Structure and Function of as Ecosystem

The two major aspects of an ecosystem are, the structure and function. By structure we mean

(1) The composition of biological community including species, numbers, biomass, life history and distribution in space etc.

(2) The quantity and distribution of the non-living materials, such as nutrients, water etc. and

(3) The range or gradient of condition of existence, such as temperature, light etc.

 By function we mean

(1) The rate of biological energy flow i.e., the production and respiration rates of the community,

(2) Rate of materials or nutrient cycles, and

(3) Biological or ecological regulation of organisms by environment (photoperiodic etc.) and regulation of environment by the organism,(nitrogen fixing organisms etc.) Thus in any ecosystem, structure and function are studied together.

STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem has two major components:

Abiotic (non-living) component

It includes

 1 The amount of inorganic substances as P,S,C, N, H, etc. involved in material cycles. The amount of these inorganic substances, present at quality,

 2 Amount and distribution of inorganic chemicals, such as chlorophylls etc. and of organic materials, as proteins, carbohydrates, lipids etc. present either in the biomass or in the environment i.e. biochemical structure that link the biotic and biotic components of the ecosystem,

3 The climate of the given region.

 Biotic (living) component

This is needed the trophic structure of any ecosystem, where living organisms are distinguished on the basic of their nutritional relationships. From this trophic (nutritional) standpoint, an ecosystem has two components:

1. Autotrophic component. In which fixations of light energy, use of simple are inorganic substances and buildup of complex substances predominate. The component is constituted mainly by green plants, including photosynthetic bacteria. To some lesser extent, chemosynthetic to the buildup of organic matter. Members of the autotrophic component are known as Producers.

2. Heterotrophic component. In which utilization, rearrangement and decomposition of complex materials predominate. The organisms involved are known as consumers, as they consume the matter built up by the producers (autographs). The consumers are further categorized as:

(a) Macro consumers- These are the consumers, which in an order as they occur in a food chain are, herbivores, carnivores (or omnivores). Herbivores are also known as primary consumers. Secondary and tertiary consumers, if present, are carnivores or omnivores. They all are photographs which include chiefly animals that ingest other organic and particulate organic matter.

(b) Micro consumers- These are popularly known as decomposers. They are saprotrophs (osmotrophs) and include chiefly bacteria, actinomycetes and fungi. They breakdown complex compounds of dead or living protoplasm absorb some of the decomposition or breakdown products and release inorganic nutrients in environment, making them available again to autographs.

 The biotic component of any ecosystem may be thought of as the functional kingdom of nature, since they are based on the type of nutrition and the energy source used. The trophic structure of an ecosystem is one kind of producer consumer arrangement, which each “food” level is known as trophic levels or in a component population is known as the standing crop, a term applicable to both plants as well as animals. The standing crop may be expressed in terms of

(1) Number of organisms per unit area, or

(2) Biomass i.e. organism mass in unit area, which can be measured as living weight, dry weight, as-free dry weight, or calories any other convenient unit suitable for comparative purposes.

Ecological pyramids

                    Trophic structure, i.e. the interaction of food chain and the size metabolism relationship between the linearly arranged various biotic components of an ecosystem is characteristic of each type of ecosystem.   The trophic structure and function at successive trophic levels, i.e. produces-herbivores-carnivores, may be shown graphically by means of ecological pyramids where the first or producer level constitutes the base of the pyramid and the successive levels, the tiers making the apex.  Ecological pyramids are of three general types-

(1) Pyramid of numbers, showing the number of individual organisms at each level

(2) Pyramid of biomass, showing the total dry weight and other suitable measure of the total amount of living matter, and

 (3) Pyramid of energy, showing the rate of energy flow and/or productivity at successive tropic levels. The pyramids of numbers and biomass may be upright or inverted depending upon the nature of the food chain in the particular ecosystem, whereas pyramids of energy are always upright.

 Pyramids of numbers- They show the relationship between producers, herbivores and carnivores and carnivores at successive tropic levels in terms of their number. The pyramids of numbers in three different kinds of ecosystems are shown in.  This number then shows a decrease towards apex, as the primary consumers (herbivores) like rabbits, mice etc. are lesser in number than grasses; the secondary consumers, snakes and lizards are lesser in number than the rabbits and mice. Finally, the top (tertiary) consumer’s hawks or other birds are least in number. Thus, the pyramid becomes upright.  Similary, in a pond ecosystem the pyramid is upright.  Here the producers, which are mainly the phyto-planktons as algae, bacteria etc. are maximum in number; the herbivores, which are smaller fish; rotifers etc lesser in number than the producers; and the secondary consumers (carnivores), such as small fish eating each other, water beetles etc, are lesser in number than the herbivores. Finally, the top (tertiary) consumers, the bigger fish are lease in number. In a forest ecosystem, however the pyramid of numbers is somewhat different in shape. The producers, which are mainly large- sized stress, are lesser in number, and form the base of the pyramid. The herbivores which are the fruit- eating birds, elephants, deer’s, etc. are more in number the producers. Then there is a gradual decrease in the number of successive carnivores, thus making the pyramid again upright. However, in a parasitic food chain the pyramids are always inverted.   This is due to the fact that a single plant may support the growth of many herbivores and each herbivore in turn may provide nutrition to several parasites, which support many hyper parasites. Thus, from the producer towards consumers, there is a reverse position, i.e. the number of organisms gradually shows an increase, making the pyramid inverted inverted in shape.

Actually the pyramids of numbers do not give a true picture of the food chain as they are not very functional.  They do not indicate the relative effects of the geometric food chain and size factors of the organisms. They generally vary with different communities with different types of food chains in the same environment. It becomes sometimes very difficult to represent the whole community on the same numerical scale (as in forests).

 Pyramids of biomass: They are comparatively more fundamental as they, instead of geometric factor, show the quantitative relationships of the standing crops. The pyramids of biomass in different types of ecosystem are shown in Figure.  In grassland and forest there is generally a gradual decrease in biomass of organisms at successive levels from the producers to the top carnivores. Thus pyramids are upright.  However, In a pond as the producers are small organism, their biomass is least, and this value gradually shows an increase towards the apex of the pyramid, thus making the pyramid inverted in shape.

 Pyramids of energy:  Of the three types of ecological pyramids, the energy give the best picture of overall nature of the ecosystem. Here, number and weight of organisms at any level depends not on the amount of fixed energy present at any one times in the level just below but rather on the rate at which food is being produced. In contrast with the pyramids of numbers and biomass, which are pictures of the standing situations (organisms present at any moment), the pyramids of energy is a picture of the rates of passage of food mass through the food chain.  In shape it is always upright, as in most of the cases there is always a gradual decrease in the energy content at successive tropic levels from the producers to various consumers.

Functional of Ecosystem

The foregoing account presents the gross structure of an ecosystem of an ecosystem.  But for a fuller understanding of nature functions (particularly rate functions) must also be investigated. Both, structure and function are best studied together and now we shall consider a brief outline of gross function of an ecosystem i.e. how an ecosystem works or operates under natural conditions? 

From the operational viewpoint the living and nonliving and non-living components of ecosystem are so interwoven into the fabric of nature that their separation from each other becomes practically very much difficult.  The mode of movement of materials and energy in an ecosystem is shown in simple model presented in Figure.  The producers, green plants, fix radiant energy and with the help of minerals (C, H, N, P, L, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, etc.) taken from their soil and aerial environment (nutrient pool) they build up complex organic matter (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, nucleic acids etc.). Some ecologists prefer to call the green plants as converters or transducers, since they feel that the term ‘producer’ from energy viewpoint is somewhat misleading.  Their viewpoint is that green plants produce carbohydrates and not energy and since they convert to transducer radiant energy into chemical form, they must be better called the converters or transducers. However, the term ‘producer’ is so widely used that it is preferred to retain it as such. The two ecological processes of energy flow and mineral cycling, involving interaction between the psycho-chemical environment and the biotic communities, may be thought as the “heart” of the ecosystem dynamics. According to the model shown in Figure energy flows in non-cyclic manner (unidirectional) from sun to the decomposers via producers and macro consumers( herbivores and carnivores), whereas the minerals keep on moving in a cyclic manner. The cycling of the minerals is accomplished by different biogeochemical cycles super-imposed upon the unidirectional energy flow through the biotic component of the ecosystem.  It would become, however, clear later that energy not only flows unidirectional but also lost from the system in several in ways and that minerals too similarly show a net loss in several ways.

Productivity of ecosystem

The productivity of an ecosystem refers to the rate of production i.e. the amount of organic matter accumulated in any unit time.  Productivity is of the following types:

Primary productivity It is associated with the producers which are autotrophic, most of which are photosynthetic, and to a much lesser extent the chemosynthetic microorganisms.  These are the green plants, higher macrophytes as well as lower forms, the phytoplankton and some photosynthetic bacteria. Primary productivity id defined as “the rate at which radiant energy is stored by photosynthetic and chemosynthetic activity of activity of producers.”  Primary productivity further distinguished as:

(a) Gross primary productivity It is the total rate of photosynthesis including the organic matter used up in respiration during the measurement period.  This is also sometimes referred to as total (gross) photosynthesis or total assimilation.  It depends on the chlorophyll content.  The rates of primary productivity are estimated in terms of either chlorophyll contents as, Chl/g dry/weight/unit area, or photosynthetic number i.e. amount of Co2 fixed/g Chl/hour.

(b)Net primary productivity It is the rate of storage of organic matter in plant tissues in excess of the respiratory utilization by plants during the measurement period.  This is thus the rate of increase of biomass and is also known as apparent photosynthesis or net assimilation.  Thus, net primary productivity refers to balance between gross photosynthesis and respiration and other plant losses as death etc.

 Secondary productivity  It refers to the consumers or heterotrophs. These are the rates of energy storage at consumer’s level.  Since consumers only utilize food materials (already produced) in their respiration, simply converting the food matter to different tissues by an overall process, secondary productivity is not divided into ‘gross’ and ‘net’ amounts.  Thus, some ecologists as Odum (1971) prefer to use the term assimilation rather than production at this level the consumer’s level.  Secondary productivity actually remains mobile (i.e. keeps on moving from one organism to another) and does not live in situ like the primary productivity.

 Net productivity it refers to the rate of storage of organic matter not used by the heterotrophs (consumers) i.e. equivalent to net production minus consumption by the heterotrophs during the unit period, as a reason or year etc.  It is thus the rate of increase of biomass of the primary producers which has been lift over by the consumers. Net productivity is generally is expressed as production of Cg/m2/day which may then be consolidated on month, season or year basis.

ECOLOGICAL FOOD CHAIN

The transfer of food energy from the producers, through a series of organisms (herbivores to carnivores to decomposers) with repeated eating and being eaten, is known as a food chain.  Producers utilize the radiant energy of sun which is transformed to chemical form, ATP during photosynthesis.  Thus green plants occupy, in any food chain, the first trophic (nutrition) level- the producer’s level, and are called the primary producers.  The energy, as stored in food matter manufactured by green plants, is then utilized by the plant eaters- the herbivores which constitute the second trophic level- the primary consumers level, and are called the primary consumers(herbivores). Herbivores in turn are eaten by the carnivores, which constitute the third trophic level the secondary consumers level, and are called the secondary consumers (carnivores).  These turn may be eaten still by other carnivores at tertiary consumers level i.e. by the tertiary consumers (carnivores).  Some organisms are omnivores eating the organisms the producers as well as the carnivores at their lower level in thee food chain.  Such organisms thus may occupy more than one trophic levels in the food chain.  This classification of all the living organisms of any ecosystem is one of their functions and not of species.  Species that are taxonomically widely different from each other may occupy the same tropic levels as all have a common function in the food chain. Typha, Nymphaea, Chara, Volvex, Nostoc, photosynthetic

Vaibhav Rajdeep

Fiscal Deficit in the light of Fiscal policy and Growth

The Fiscal Deficit

The fiscal deficit is the difference between the government's total expenditure and its total receipts (excluding borrowing). The elements of the fiscal deficit are (a) the revenue deficit, which is the difference between the government’s current (or revenue) expenditure and total current receipts (that is, excluding borrowing) and (b) capital expenditure. The fiscal deficit can be financed by borrowing from the Reserve Bank of India (which is also called deficit financing or money creation) and market borrowing (from the money market, that is mainly from banks).

Thus we can infer that we need an objective fiscal policy to manage the same. Before moving on with the Fiscal Deficit lets’ understand fiscal policy and how it impacts fiscal deficit and growth.

Stances of fiscal policy

The three main stances of fiscal policy are:

Neutral fiscal policy is usually undertaken when an economy is in equilibrium. Government spending is fully funded by tax revenue and overall the budget outcome has a neutral effect on the level of economic activity.

Expansionary fiscal policy involves government spending exceeding tax revenue, and is usually undertaken during recessions.

Contractionary fiscal policy occurs when government spending is lower than tax revenue, and is usually undertaken to pay down government debt.

However, these definitions can be misleading because, even with no changes in spending or tax laws at all, cyclic fluctuations of the economy cause cyclic fluctuations of tax revenues and of some types of government spending, altering the deficit situation; these are not considered to be policy changes. Therefore, for purposes of the above definitions, "government spending" and "tax revenue" are normally replaced by "cyclically adjusted government spending" and "cyclically adjusted tax revenue". Thus, for example, a government budget that is balanced over the course of the business cycle is considered to represent a neutral fiscal policy stance.

Methods of funding

Governments spend money on a wide variety of things, from the military and police to services like education and healthcare, as well as transfer payments such as welfare benefits. This expenditure can be funded in a number of different ways:

• Taxation
• Seigniorage, the benefit from printing money
• Borrowing money from the population or from abroad
• Consumption of fiscal reserves
• Sale of fixed assets (e.g., land)
• Borrowing

A fiscal deficit is often funded by issuing bonds, like treasury bills or consols and gilt-edged securities. These pay interest, either for a fixed period or indefinitely. If the interest and capital requirements are too large, a nation may default on its debts, usually to foreign creditors. Public debt or borrowing : it refers to the government borrowing from the public.

Consuming prior surpluses

A fiscal surplus is often saved for future use, and may be invested in either local currency or any financial instrument that may be traded later once resources are needed; notice, additional debt is not needed. For this to happen, the marginal propensity to save needs to be strictly positive.

Economic effects of fiscal policy

Governments use fiscal policy to influence the level of aggregate demand in the economy, in an effort to achieve economic objectives of price stability, full employment, and economic growth. Keynesian economics suggests that increasing government spending and decreasing tax rates are the best ways to stimulate aggregate demand, and decreasing spending & increasing taxes after the economic boom begins. Keynesians argue this method be used in times of recession or low economic activity as an essential tool for building the framework for strong economic growth and working towards full employment. In theory, the resulting deficits would be paid for by an expanded economy during the boom that would follow; this was the reasoning behind the New Deal.

Governments can use a budget surplus to do two things: to slow the pace of strong economic growth, and to stabilize prices when inflation is too high. Keynesian theory posits that removing spending from the economy will reduce levels of aggregate demand and contract the economy, thus stabilizing prices.

Economists debate the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus. The argument mostly centers on crowding out, whether government borrowing leads to higher interest rates that may offset the stimulative impact of spending. When the government runs a budget deficit, funds will need to come from public borrowing (the issue of government bonds), overseas borrowing, or monetizing the debt. When governments fund a deficit with the issuing of government bonds, interest rates can increase across the market, because government borrowing creates higher demand for credit in the financial markets. This causes a lower aggregate demand for goods and services, contrary to the objective of a fiscal stimulus. Neoclassical economists generally emphasize crowding out while Keynesians argue that fiscal policy can still be effective especially in a liquidity trap where, they argue, crowding out is minimal.

Some classical and neoclassical economists argue that crowding out completely negates any fiscal stimulus; this is known as the Treasury View, which Keynesian economics rejects. The Treasury View refers to the theoretical positions of classical economists in the British Treasury, who opposed Keynes' call in the 1930s for fiscal stimulus. The same general argument has been repeated by some neoclassical economists up to the present.

In the classical view, the expansionary fiscal policy also decreases net exports, which has a mitigating effect on national output and income. When government borrowing increases interest rates it attracts foreign capital from foreign investors. This is because, all other things being equal, the bonds issued from a country executing expansionary fiscal policy now offer a higher rate of return. In other words, companies wanting to finance projects must compete with their government for capital so they offer higher rates of return. To purchase bonds originating from a certain country, foreign investors must obtain that country's currency. Therefore, when foreign capital flows into the country undergoing fiscal expansion, demand for that country's currency increases. The increased demand causes that country's currency to appreciate. Once the currency appreciates, goods originating from that country now cost more to foreigners than they did before and foreign goods now cost less than they did before. Consequently, exports decrease and imports increase.

Other possible problems with fiscal stimulus include the time lag between the implementation of the policy and detectable effects in the economy, and inflationary effects driven by increased demand. In theory, fiscal stimulus does not cause inflation when it uses resources that would have otherwise been idle. For instance, if a fiscal stimulus employs a worker who otherwise would have been unemployed, there is no inflationary effect; however, if the stimulus employs a worker who otherwise would have had a job, the stimulus is increasing labor demand while labor supply remains fixed, leading to wage inflation and therefore price inflation.

Fiscal straitjacket

The concept of a fiscal straitjacket is a general economic principle that suggests strict constraints on government spending and public sector borrowing, to limit or regulate the budget deficit over a time period. The term probably originated from the definition of straitjacket (anything that severely confines, constricts, or hinders).  Various states in the United States have various forms of self-imposed fiscal straitjackets.

Does a Fiscal Deficit Necessarily Lead to Inflation?

No. Two arguments are generally given in order to link a high fiscal deficit to inflation. The first argument is based on the fact that the part of the fiscal deficit which is financed by borrowing from the RBI leads to an increase in the money stock. Some people hold the unsubstantiated belief that a higher money stock automatically leads to inflation since "more money chases the same goods". There are, however, two flaws in this argument. Firstly, it is not the "same goods" which the new money stock chases since output of goods may increase because of the increased fiscal deficit. In an economy with unutilized resources, output is held in check by the lack of demand and a high fiscal deficit may be accompanied by greater demand and greater output. Secondly, the speed with which money "chases" goods is not constant and varies as a result of changes in other economic variables. Hence even if a part of the fiscal deficit translates into a larger money stock, it need not lead to inflation.

The second argument linking fiscal deficits and inflation is that in an economy in which the output of some essential commodities cannot be increased, the increase in demand caused by a larger fiscal deficit will raise prices. There are several problems with this argument as well. Firstly, this argument is evidently irrelevant for the Indian economy in 2002 which is in the midst of an industrial recession and which has abundant supplies of foodgrains and foreign exchange. Secondly, even if some particular commodities are in short supply, rationing and similar strategies can check a price increase. Finally, if the economy is in a state which the proponents of this argument believe it to be in, that is, with output constrained by supply rather than demand, then not just fiscal deficits but any way of increasing demand (such as private investment) is inflationary.

 India's Fiscal and Growth position

ECONOMIC EQUILIBRIUM

Economic equilibrium

In economics, economic equilibrium is a state of the world where economic forces are balanced and in the absence of external influences the (equilibrium) values of economic variables will not change. For example, in the standard text-book model of perfect competition, equilibrium occurs at the point at which quantity demanded and quantity supplied are equal. Market equilibrium in this case refers to a condition where a market price is established through competition such that the amount of goods or services sought by buyers is equal to the amount of goods or services produced by sellers. This price is often called the competitive price or market clearing price and will tend not to change unless demand or supply changes.

Properties of equilibrium

Three basic properties of equilibrium in general have been proposed by Huw Dixon, these are:

Equilibrium property P1: The behaviour of agents is consistent.

Equilibrium property P2: No agent has an incentive to change its behaviour.

Equilibrium Property P3: Equilibrium is the outcome of some dynamic process (stability).

Example: The competitive equilibrium.

In a competitive equilibrium, supply equals demand. Property P1 is satisfied, because at the equilibrium price the amount supplied is equal to the amount demanded. Property P2 is also satisfied. Demand is chosen to maximize utility given the market price: no one on the demand side has any incentive to demand more or less at the prevailing price. Likewise supply is determined by firms maximizing their profits at the market price: no firm will want to supply any more or less at the equilibrium price. Hence, agents on neither the demand side nor the supply side will have any incentive to alter their actions.

To see whether Property P3 is satisfied, consider what happens when there the price is above the equilibrium. In this case there is an excess supply, with the quantity supplied exceeding that demanded. This will tend to put downward pressure on the price to make it return to equilibrium. Likewise where the price is below the equilibrium point there is a shortage in supply leading to an increase in prices back to equilibrium. Not all equilibria are "stable" in the sense of Equilibrium property P3. It is possible to have competitive equilibria that are unstable. However, if an equilibrium is unstable, it raises the question of how you might get there. Even if it satisfies properties P1 and P2, the absence of P3 means that the market can only be in the unstable equilibrium if it starts off there.

In most simple microeconomic stories of supply and demand in a market a static equilibrium is observed in a market; however, economic equilibrium can be also be dynamic. Equilibrium may also be economy-wide or general, as opposed to the partial equilibrium of a single market. Equilibrium can change if there is a change in demand or supply conditions. For example, an increase in supply will disrupt the equilibrium, leading to lower prices. Eventually, a new equilibrium will be attained in most markets. Then, there will be no change in price or the amount of output bought and sold — until there is an exogenous shift in supply or demand (such as changes in technology or tastes). That is, there are no endogenous forces leading to the price or the quantity.

Example: Nash equilibrium

The Nash equilibrium is widely used in economics as the main alternative to competitive equilibrium. It is used whenever there is a strategic element to the behavior of agents and the "price taking" assumption of competitive equilibrium is inappropriate. The first use of the Nash equilibrium was in the Cournot duopoly as developed by Antoine Augustin Cournot in his 1838 book. Both firms produce a homogenous product: given the total amount supplied by the two firms, the (single) industry price is determined using the demand curve. This determines the revenues of each firm (the industry price times the quantity supplied by the firm). The profit of each firm is then this revenue minus the cost of producing the output. Clearly, there is a strategic interdependence between the two firms. If one firm varies its output, this will in turn affect the market price and so the revenue and profits of the other firm. We can define the payoff function which gives the profit of each firm as a function of the two outputs chosen by the firms. Cournot assumed that each firm chooses its own output to maximize its profits given the output of the other firm. The Nash equilibrium occurs when both firms are producing the outputs which maximize their own profit given the output of the other firm.

In terms of the equilibrium properties, we can see that P2 is satisfied: in an Nash equilibrium, neither firm has an incentive to deviate from the Nash equilibrium given the output of the other firm. P1 is satisfied since the payoff function ensures that the market price is consistent with the outputs supplied and that each firms profits equal revenue minus cost at this output.

Is the equilibrium stable as required by P3? Cournot himself argued that it was stable using the stability concept implied by best response dynamics. The reaction function for each firm gives the output which maximizes profits (best response) in terms of output for a firm in terms of a given output of the other firm. In the standard Cournot model this is downward sloping: if the other firm produces a higher output, your best response involves producing less. Best response dynamics involves firms starting from some arbitrary position and then adjusting output to their best-response to the previous output of the other firm. So long as the reaction functions have a slope of less than -1, this will converge to the Nash equilibrium. However, this stability story is open to much criticism. As Dixon argues: "The crucial weakness is that, at each step, the firms behave myopically: they choose their output to maximize their current profits given the output of the other firm, but ignore the fact that the process specifies that the other firm will adjust its output...". There are other concepts of stability that have been put forward for the Nash equilibrium, evolutionary stability for example.

Interpretations

In most interpretations, classical economists such as Adam Smith maintained that the free market would tend towards economic equilibrium through the price mechanism. That is, any excess supply (market surplus or glut) would lead to price cuts, which decrease the quantity supplied (by reducing the incentive to produce and sell the product) and increase the quantity demanded (by offering consumers bargains), automatically abolishing the glut. Similarly, in an unfettered market, any excess demand (or shortage) would lead to price increases, reducing the quantity demanded (as customers are priced out of the market) and increasing in the quantity supplied (as the incentive to produce and sell a product rises). As before, the disequilibrium (here, the shortage) disappears. This automatic abolition of non-market-clearing situations distinguishes markets from central planning schemes, which often have a difficult time getting prices right and suffer from persistent shortages of goods and services.

This view came under attack from at least two viewpoints. Modern mainstream economics points to cases where equilibrium does not correspond to market clearing (but instead to unemployment), as with the efficiency wage hypothesis in labor economics. In some ways parallel is the phenomenon of credit rationing, in which banks hold interest rates low to create an excess demand for loans, so they can pick and choose whom to lend to. Further, economic equilibrium can correspond with monopoly, where the monopolistic firm maintains an artificial shortage to prop up prices and to maximize profits. Finally, Keynesian macroeconomics points to underemployment equilibrium, where a surplus of labor (i.e., cyclical unemployment) co-exists for a long time with a shortage of aggregate demand.

On the other hand, the Austrian School and Joseph Schumpeter maintained that in the short term equilibrium is never attained as everyone was always trying to take advantage of the pricing system and so there was always some dynamism in the system. The free market's strength was not creating a static or a general equilibrium but instead in organising resources to meet individual desires and discovering the best methods to carry the economy forward.

Solving for the competitive equilibrium price

To solve for the equilibrium price, one must either plot the supply and demand curves, or solve for their equations being equal (Qs = Qd).

An example may be:

In the diagram, depicting simple set of supply and demand curves, the quantity demanded and supplied at price P are equal.

At any price above P supply exceeds demand, while at a price below P the quantity demanded exceeds that supplied. In other words, prices where demand and supply are out of balance are termed points of disequilibrium, creating shortages and oversupply. Changes in the conditions of demand or supply will shift the demand or supply curves. This will cause changes in the equilibrium price and quantity in the market.

Consider the following demand and supply schedule:

Price ($)        Demand        Supply

8.00               6,000            18,000

7.00               8,000            16,000

6.00               10,000          14,000

5.00               12,000          12,000

4.00               14,000          10,000

3.00               16,000          8,000

2.00               18,000          6,000

1.00               20,000          4,000

The equilibrium price in the market is $5.00 where demand and supply are equal at 12,000 units

If the current market price was $3.00 – there would be excess demand for 8,000 units, creating a shortage.

If the current market price was $8.00 – there would be excess supply of 12,000 units.

When there is a shortage in the market we see that, to correct this disequilibrium, the price of the good will be increased back to a price of $5.00, thus lessening the quantity demanded and increasing the quantity supplied thus that the market is in balance.

When there is an oversupply of a good, such as when price is above $6.00, then we see that producers will decrease the price to increase the quantity demanded for the good, thus eliminating the excess and taking the market back to equilibrium.

Influences changing price

A change in equilibrium price may occur through a change in either the supply or demand schedules. For instance, starting from the above supply-demand configuration, an increased level of disposable income may produce a new demand schedule, such as the following:

Price ($)        Demand        Supply

8.00              10,000          18,000

7.00              12,000          16,000

6.00              14,000          14,000

5.00              16,000          12,000

4.00              18,000          10,000

3.00              20,000          8,000

2.00              22,000          6,000

1.00              24,000          4,000

Here we see that an increase in disposable income would increase the quantity demanded of the good by 4,000 units at each price. This increase in demand would have the effect of shifting the demand curve rightward. The result is a change in the price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded. In this case we see that the two now equal each other at an increased price of $6.00. Note that a decrease in disposable income would have the exact opposite effect on the market equilibrium .

We will also see similar behaviour in price when there is a change in the supply schedule, occurring through technological changes, or through changes in business costs. An increase in technological usage or know-how or a decrease in costs would have the effect of increasing the quantity supplied at each price, thus reducing the equilibrium price. On the other hand, a decrease in technology or increase in business costs will decrease the quantity supplied at each price, thus increasing equilibrium price.

The process of comparing two static equilibria to each other, as in the above example, is known as comparative statics. For example, since a rise in consumers' income leads to a higher price (and a decline in consumers' income leads to a fall in the price — in each case the two things change in the same direction), we say that the comparative static effect of consumer income on the price is positive. This is another way of saying that the total derivative of price with respect to consumer income is greater than zero.

Dynamic equilibrium

Whereas in a static equilibrium all quantities have unchanging values, in a dynamic equilibrium various quantities may all be growing at the same rate, leaving their ratios unchanging. For example, in the neoclassical growth model, the working population is growing at a rate which is exogenous (determined outside the model, by non-economic forces). In dynamic equilibrium, output and the physical capital stock also grow at that same rate, with output per worker and the capital stock per worker unchanging. Similarly, in models of inflation a dynamic equilibrium would involve the price level, the nominal money supply, nominal wage rates, and all other nominal values growing at a single common rate, while all real values are unchanging, as is the inflation rate.

The process of comparing two dynamic equilibria to each other is known as comparative dynamics. For example, in the neoclassical growth model, starting from one dynamic equilibrium based in part on one particular saving rate, a permanent increase in the saving rate leads to a new dynamic equilibrium in which there are permanently higher capital per worker and productivity per worker, but an unchanged growth rate of output; so it is said that in this model the comparative dynamic effect of the saving rate on capital per worker is positive but the comparative dynamic effect of the saving rate on the output growth rate is zero.