4 November 2010: Page 455 Directed Freewrite

Discipline of Finance

Money. All over the world people use some form of exchange in order to trade goods and in a majority of cultures, money is used to make and regulate these trades. Everyone needs money to live and also so they can experience certain enjoyments in life. Not only do people need money; they want it. The desire to have money, and a lot of it, is one characteristic of western cultures. Due to this need and this desire that our culture has, the discipline of finance emerged, a field absolutely necessary in our world and economy today.

            Finance is studying how money is acquired and invested. People have predictive behaviors in relation to some things. Finance tries to predict these behaviors and translate it into mathematical descriptions. The world of finance emerged directly after World War II. Since the end of that war to the place we are now, our society has experienced extreme advancements in technology. World War II helped the United States get out of debt due to the large amount of factories that produced weapons and machinery for the war effort. This boosted the economy in a way that had never been seen before. After the war, the economy was at an all time high; people realized. When people have money, they want more. Hence, investing was created. Also since that time, copious amounts of businesses have opened, with the myriad of businesses, money needed to be better managed, thus came the emergence of finance.

Due to all of these changes, the practitioners of finance were able to find their way into the world of academics. The reason for this was due to the large number of jobs that were able to be created due to the advances made. These jobs require training and knowledge, things that can be obtained through academic training. Prior to entering the work field, people pursing this field need a background of what this field is and need to understand it before entering it. The academic world does this, thus the discipline easily carves a niche for itself in the academic world, a niche that is essential.

In the tumultuous world that we live in, finance is essential to understanding business, which is what our culture is built on, corporate America. It has created jobs and expanded our understanding of the one thing we need to live, money.