One decade after the global financial crisis, the global economic recovery is finally underway. However, the uncertainty of the macro environment is growing due to major geopolitical, economic and cyber-security risks. Doing business in today’s complex and interconnected global marketplace has never been more challenging. This is especially the case of many emerging economies highly integrated into the global economy such as the UAE.
The UAE has successfully implemented a diversification of its economy away from oil to become a regional trade and transportation hub and a major tourism destination. This economic growth model, even though successful, resulted in higher vulnerability to regional and international economic fluctuations.
At MODUL University our aim is to prepare students to adapt to such changes in national and international policies and to deal with complex economic issues. Economics courses provide the students with the knowledge and the analytical skills to identify the impact of changes to the economic environment and reflect it on business decision making. Economics courses are designed in a way that connects the theory to real world context with an emphasis on regional economic issues such as:
- The rising protectionism and the risk of a global trade war weigh significantly on the prospects of the global economic growth. To what extent would this affect the UAE economy and the UAE exporting firms?
- Because the UAE currency is pegged to the US Dollar, the expected future interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve will result in an interest rate increase by the UAE Central Bank. To what extent the raise in borrowing costs would affect business investment decisions and the consumers spending in the UAE?
- How would a stronger Dollar (and consequently a stronger Dirham) affect the tourism and the retail sectors, in the UAE?
- Would the current weaker regional economic perspectives be a constraint to the UAE economic growth?
Beyond the subject knowledge, economic courses at Modul University are designed to provide the students with independent learning, problem solving and critical thinking skills.