Reflective Report
As a student from Saudi Arabia, I bring somewhat different views to the course and to my education. My background is quite important to me and it has helped to shape me in my quest for learning and deeper meaning. Where I come from, the majority of people are Muslims. What that means is that we have a deep respect for religion in general. Though we follow the Islam faith, we respect all other religions. That respect is mutual, though, as we expect to receive the same level of respect from others. Though my background is admittedly very different from many of the students around me, I feel that it has provided me with a worldly perspective that has been helpful in many studies, including the one I completed on the economic crisis.
What happened
I set forth on a journey to uncover some new, original insight on the economic crisis, which was something of an expansion for me. As a student, it can sometimes be difficult to fully grasp all that is going on in the world around you. Especially when talking about the economic crisis, it can be difficult to come to a full understanding of all of the implications, since students have not yet been exposed to many of the realities of the current economic crisis. Additionally, it can be difficult to form a complete analysis of the global economy without having studied all of the worlds systems and more importantly, how they interact with one another.
Though this was a somewhat ambitious effort on my part and I am not sure that I was prepared for the depth of analysis necessary when I began the study, it helped me to grow and develop some essential critical thinking skills. My ability to identify trends and recognize global indicators was enhanced, as this study was most certainly a positive for me as a student. Additionally, I learned to critically organize my own thoughts and perspectives, using my heritage as a basis for understanding the global economic situation.
What I learned
My learning stretched into both the specifics and the generalities of the global economic dynamic. Specifically, I learned that the economic crisis has a major effect on all of the central banks across the world, regardless of country. This is one of they key ideas of the module, as I learned that despite all of the economic differences and the philosophical differences that might exist between different nations, a crisis of this kind can serve to hit all nations equally hard. I learned that those countries with a solid central economic system and a solid foundation of economic thinkers would have the ability to resolve issues in much less time than those banks that did not.
Additionally, I took a hard look at what the practical implications of the study happened to be. Though it is easy to look at something from the outside and decide what is wrong with it, it is much more difficult to look for solutions and to figure out what a skilled economist might be able to do. I came to understand what a good economist might be able to do to actively fix the problems at hand in the global economic system. Another important element that I studied and discovered insights into was that economists had the power to keep such a crisis from happening in the future. With solid decisions and by carrying out a well-dictated plan, economists can keep the worlds economies from running into the problems that they have faced recently.
Another key element of what I learned was that the global economy hinges on what the American economy is able to do. When the American economy is not performing at its highest levels, economies all over the world are destined to struggle. This is because of the global trade and the fact that America is a major consumer of goods made in many other countries. Being a student from Saudi Arabia, I am not sure that I completely understood the full scope of the United States influence on the global economy until I dug into this study. I now understand that American prosperity is something that ultimately helps many other countries, and that there are plenty of countries that have a vested stake in seeing America succeed.
What I will do as a result
One of the best things about the study is that I can use both my experiences and my findings to shape my future as a student. Though it is unlikely that I will be able to go out and change the global economy on my own over the next few months, I do now have an understand that I can use to shape dialogue in the future. Additionally, I will be able to take what I have learned to better understand some of the arguments being posed about the global economy in the future.
As a student, the pure and honest act of uncovering new information and shaking aside my personal feelings on the issue is something that I found to be quite value. As I move forward, I will be able to take the individual research skills that I sharpened while completing this module, and I will apply them to everything that I do. This should enable me to produce more complete work and gain a deeper understanding of some of the resource material that I will be required to study over the next few months. I will use this study as a springboard for more looks into the global economic situation in the future, perhaps taking a more in-depth picture of individual economic relationships among relevant countries.