Bashkir state university

The Bashkir State University was founded in 1957 on the basis of the Bashkir State Pedagogical Institute named after К.А.Timiryazev. The University is actually the legal successor of the Ufa Teachers' Training Institute (est. 1918) - the first higher education institution of the Republic of Bashkortostan, which in 1920 was transformed into the Institute of Public Education and later into the Pedagogical Institute. Today this major scientific, educational and cultural centre of the Republic ranks among the top ten classical universities of the Russian Federation.

The University currently employs about 700 instructors, including 90 Doctors and 373 Candidates of Sciences. 28 Doctors have been elected Full Members and Corresponding Members of various academies.

More than 5,000 full-time students are trained in 32 trades, with 3,500 students studying рart time. The University incorporates 12 departments in Ufa and three branches located in Sibai, Neftekamsk and Sterlitamak. Instruction is effected by 73 chairs. The University provides post-graduate training in 38 specialties and doctorate training in 6, there being 11 boards for theses defence.

Science is represented by the R&D centre, three problem and multi-branch laboratories, the R&D Institute for Sociology, the Bashkir Patent Centre, the "Zaryad" experiment and design bureau focusing on building computer systems, measuring instruments and machine tools for the engineering industry.

The University instructors annually issue 30 titles of monographs, textbooks and teaching aids.

The Bashkir University participates in international integration activities, cooperating on а contractual basis with universities in the U.S.А., Turkey, Germany, France, Italy, Egypt, Hungary and Japan in the sphere of science and higher education.

The Bashkir University is а vibrantly growing institution. The transition is currently accomplished to а multi-level system of higher professional training. The high standard of theoretical and methodological background of the professor an instructor staff supported by academic traditions facilitates training highly-qualified specialists.

The University is justly proud of its graduates. More than 53,000 specialists have been trained here since 1957 thus contributing significantly to Bashkortostan's intellectual potential. Over а thousand University graduates have been awarder honorary titles of the Russian Federation and those of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and 67 of them are members of the Writers' Union of Russia

Inflation

Inflation is the loss in purchasing power of a currency unit usually expressed as a general rise in the prices of goods and services. In modern times inflation continues to be blamed on private greed, and govern­ments still seek to restrain it by laws and regulations, sometimes even devaluating their currencies as they do so. The United States has expe­rienced much inflation during the twentieth century, especially since official efforts to maintain the gold price at thirty-five dollars an ounce did not succeed during the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson and Rich­ard Nixon,

There are many measures of inflation. The most widely watched measure is the consumer price index (CPI). Other popular indicators of inflation include producer prices and unit-value indexes for imports and exports. As we move back through the distribution chain from the consumer toward the supplier of raw materials, a more complicated picture of inflation is revealed at each step. Commodities, which prices can be monitored continuously on centralized exchanges, and which are easy to measure, are the most volatile indicators of all. An index of commodity prices, when plotted on a graph, looks much like an index of stock prices.

Still more difficult than measuring inflation is the problem of iden­tifying its causes. In spite of its long and rich history, few subjects in the field of economics are more confused. Professional economists have not reached agreement as to the origins of the inflation process. Two camps dominate the debate. Some see inflation as a malady of the currency, .In the words of Milton Friedman, "Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary problem."-Others see non-monetary forces at work, such as monopolies, union demands for higher wages_, or the wage-price policy.

Non-monetary theories of inflation traditionally separate "de­mand-pull" factors from "cost-push" factors like oil, monopoly power, or wages. A surge in the demand for goods and services in general (ag­gregate demand) is thought to "pull" prices up across the board, es­pecially when aggregate supply is held back by inertia or capacity limitations. Skeptics rightly question how demand could constantly outstrip supply. Surely, demand must originate from purchasing power, purchasing power from wealth, wealth from income, and income from the ability to produce goods and services.

Other logical objections to the idea of demand-pull inflation center on the importance of money. How could prices rise without a commen­surate increase in the quantity of money in private hands? If such a thing happened, the purchasing power of the quantity of money would have declined involuntarily, and that would not be consistent with market equilibrium.

The monetarist argue that increases in the quantity of money cause inflation. Critics of this view point out that the quantity of money is difficult to define, especially when funds can be transferred electroni­cally and credit cards can substitute for cash.