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GDP is the measure of the market value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in one year. It is the “benchmark” of a nation’s economy, and its growth or contraction is widely followed by investors, analysts, and policymakers. “Real” or “chained” GDP estimates adjust for inflation, allowing comparisons of economic output over time. The BEA publishes these figures for the United States, as well as for metropolitan areas, states, countries and territories around the world.

What is excluded from GDP?

A number of activities are not included in the calculation of GDP, including some types of household production and bartering. Some work is also excluded that is not performed for market exchange (as measured by the gross domestic product) but for private or public consumption or investment. This includes activities like growing vegetables, brewing beer, or building houses for personal use. The buying and selling of corporate shares and bonds is also not counted as a part of GDP because it is viewed as a swapping of ownership claims rather than an investment in products.

The White House and Congress monitor GDP to gauge the health of the economy, and state and local governments rely on these numbers when planning spending and taxation. Businesses watch GDP trends to decide on investments and expansions. Central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, often use GDP data when setting monetary policies. If GDP is growing too quickly, they might raise interest rates to slow down the economy and ward off inflation.

A special report is an in-depth investigation of a particular subject. It can be a political story, such as exposing wrongdoing or corruption, or it could be a more technical subject matter that requires a high level of expertise to understand. Special specialized reporting can increase a journalist’s credibility and provide valuable insight into complex subjects for their audience.

A type of auditor’s report that attempts to explain, elaborate, or present in a prescribed manner certain sections, accounts, or items of a financial statement; compliance with aspects of contractual agreements or regulatory provisions related to audited financial statements; financial presentations to comply with the requirements of a comprehensive basis of accounting other than gaap; and internal audits performed by a firm for clients or governmental entities. Special reports require an understanding of user needs and reporting objectives while maintaining professional standards and clarity.

Research reports are a form of special report that presents the results of a systematic investigation. They typically include quantitative data and are written in a formal language. They should be readable and concise, and they should also contain relevant illustrations. Graphs and pie charts are commonly used in research reports to provide a visual representation of the information. They can be written for either a general or specialized audience, and the tone will differ depending on the target audience. Special reports should be thoroughly vetted to ensure that they are accurate and factual, as well as free of any bias.

A political campaign is an operation designed to support the election of a candidate or passage of a ballot initiative. The operations vary in size, with some involving only a few volunteers and others employing hundreds of paid and volunteer staff. Every two years (a “cycle”), campaigns are organized to fill a wide range of offices, including 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 100 U.S. Senators, tens of thousands of state legislators, and local mayors and city councilmembers.

Identify key issues and develop a stance on those issues. The stances serve as the central messaging during voter and donor outreach, speeches, debates, interviewing and more. Ensure the message is simple, clear and repeatable. Use the party registration data from your local elections office to help target the messages and find your audience.

Start volunteering on the campaign early in the cycle. This provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience and connections and gives you the time to understand how the campaign works. Often, senior campaign staff will reward those who have made a commitment to the campaign by offering them jobs later in the cycle.

Assess your career goals and needs, including work-life balance, and determine if campaign work is the best fit for you. Consider the political parties with which you want to affiliate and be prepared for the limited space in most campaigns for substantive policy work. Many positions are partisan, and switching to another party may carry significant reputational or career costs.

A good economic forecast is one of the most important inputs for policy makers. It is an art and science that is constantly evolving. At the core are the basic time series methods. Those range from judgmental methods that use expert judgement to adjust forecasts produced by a suite of models to dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) models that use modern economic theory.

At the most basic level, these methodologies predict the behavior of a set of economic variables—for example GDP, consumption, investment, interest rates, and industry employment—viewed as statistical time series. This approach requires a large amount of knowledge of the behavioral patterns of these variables, and not a little faith that the estimated behavioral patterns will persist.

As a practical matter, economic forecasts are typically reported on a quarterly basis. However, for a number of reasons it is often more useful to have information on an annual basis—particularly if the information is being used to inform policies that will impact the economy over several years.

Real GDP growth is expected to slow this year and next in response to a rise in trade barriers and heightened policy uncertainty. Global economic activity is projected to pick up over the longer term, reflecting an expected recovery in oil-producing countries and a stabilization of armed conflicts. However, downside risks include the possibility that global trade tensions reescalate or that inflationary pressures resurge. In addition, higher delinquency rates on credit cards and auto loans could restrain consumer spending.

An exclusive report is an article that gives one journalist or media outlet first dibs on a story. It can be a powerful tool for PR pros to use to drive attention and engagement for impactful news or initiatives.

This strategy can be especially effective for brands that are concerned their announcements may fall on deaf ears amid the din of competing messages and events. With an exclusive, journalists typically have more time to work closely with you and your team to thoroughly understand the story and its nuances, which can result in more thorough coverage than a broadly distributed press release might generate.

It’s important to keep in mind, however, that exclusives do carry risks. It’s essential to use this approach only for genuinely newsworthy moments and to be transparent about the exclusivity of your pitch with journalists. Otherwise, you could burn bridges with other members of the media and damage your reputation moving forward.

To write a good exclusive report, start by doing your research and gathering all of the relevant information on the topic, including facts and figures. You can find this information through a variety of sources, including interviews and public records. Once you have all of your information together, focus on writing a clear and concise summary that is easy for readers to read and digest. Also, be sure to include any upcoming events or timelines related to your topic. Then, check the spelling and grammar to make sure your report is as error-free as possible.

News coverage is the reporting of events and issues in media, including newspapers, television, radio, magazines, and online. It is an important form of public relations that can influence people’s perceptions and understanding of major social issues. For example, television news coverage of the civil rights movement helped to mobilize support for new legislation and increase public awareness of racial inequality.

Journalists often work on tight deadlines, so make yourself available to provide additional details or quotes about your story. It is one of their biggest pet peeves when sources cannot be reached or do not reply to emails in a timely manner. Also, avoid being flippant or using humor, as it may not go over well with the audience. Finally, do not expect a journalist to show you the finished article before it is published; they generally view this as an infringement of their right to freedom of speech and may feel that your request undermines their credibility as impartial observers.

Think about how your business or event relates to the community and why it deserves media attention. This will help you identify a newsworthy angle and craft your press release.

Remember that newsworthiness is subjective and can change from day to day. Do not be discouraged if your story idea does not get picked up; many journalists file good ideas for pursuit at a later date, when there is a lull in the onrush of deadlines. Maintaining good long-term relationships with reporters can help you make your group’s voice heard.

A well-constructed news bulletin should be a combination of stories, short pieces of actuality and sound clips. It should also have a theme, a short piece of music used to announce the bulletin and possibly to separate different sections of it (often called stabs or stings). A news bulletin is usually a fixed length of time such as five, 10 or 15 minutes so it is important that stories and other components such as headlines are arranged in order to fit the time available.

In addition, the overall balance or order of the stories should be considered and the pace should vary to keep listeners interested. For example, too many economic stories at the beginning could lose listeners’ attention. Similarly, too much dull news may bore the audience. It is therefore helpful to rank each story in order of importance before putting the bulletin together. This allows the presenter to see how each item will fit in the time available and to re-order them if necessary.

When arranging the order of stories, it is good to include dramatic or interesting stories at the start. This is particularly important for long bulletins as the lead story will determine whether or not listeners stay tuned to the rest of the bulletin. The lead story should be written in such a way that it promotes the drama, for example by using a ‘teaser’ style headline and by using short snappy sentences to convey simple ideas.

Even after the failure of regime change in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, many in the US policy community continue to call for ousting illiberal governments. Advocates argue that such missions are cheaper, quicker and less risky than sustained diplomatic pressure and engagement and will not escalate into broader military action. However, the empirical record suggests that these claims are wrong. A look at the scholarly literature shows that regime-change operations are more likely to fail than succeed. In addition, they often spiral into decades-long state-building projects and often do not achieve predetermined goals.

Regime change is a dangerous strategy that undermines America’s ability to promote human rights and democracy abroad and harms the nation’s security. Instead of promoting American interests, it fosters resentment toward the United States. This resentment can sour the public’s attitude toward democracy, making it more difficult for democratic leaders to govern effectively. It can also undermine the ability of democratic and nondemocratic countries to cooperate and reduce the likelihood of a global peaceful order based on multilateralism.

The popular argument for regime change is that the current government in question does harm to its citizens and that if a chance at democracy were granted, the people would vote out the bad guys. This is a logical argument but it does not take into account that for democratization to work, necessary conditions must be in place. Instead of attempting to force regime change, it is best for policymakers to use normal means to control malfeasant states – including limited military action and non-military tools like sanctions and engagement.

The practice of representing a nation’s interests in the world, through peaceful negotiation and dialogue. Diplomacy aims to shape foreign policy and promote international cooperation in trade, culture, science, and security. It is the primary—but far from the only—instrument of statecraft. Diplomats are the principal–but not only–practitioners of this craft, specialists in carrying messages and negotiating adjustments in relations, as well as the resolution of quarrels among states, their peoples, and other entities.

Diplomacy grew in importance over the centuries as nations expanded and consolidated their power through military expansion, colonization, and commerce. The development of religions, ideologies, and cultures further shaped the international system and its actors. Diplomacy evolved to reflect and support the broader goals of a country’s foreign policy by means of international treaties, agreements, and alliances.

The word “diplomacy” derives from the ancient Greek word diplo, meaning folded paper or a document conferring privileges—often a permit to travel—on the bearer. By the 18th century, it had come to refer to all solemn documents issued by chancelleries, and later came to include any formal negotiations between sovereigns. The direct link to papers lapsed when diplomacy became synonymous with international relations, though the concept still has some association with the practice of authenticating old official documents.

In the modern sense, diplomacy includes all of a country’s efforts to shape its image in the world. It includes the activities of diplomats (or ambassadors) and of other officials who carry out diplomatic missions. It also entails embassy staff, who often act as openly acknowledged spies for their home countries, and the various “supply centers”—cities or regions that can be claimed by diplomats to expand a country’s resources in trade and warfare.

Whether it’s an international business career or working for a non-governmental organization, pursuing a degree in international relations allows you to work closely with people from all over the world. This collaborative approach to work helps you build strong relationships and develop your global perspective. Often, working internationally also requires mastering another culture’s language and traditions, which can be both challenging and rewarding.

The field of international relations encompasses multiple disciplines including political science, history, economics, sociology and law. Some of the most popular schools of thought within IR include realism, liberalism and constructivism. Each perspective focuses on different factors that influence how states interact with one another and the ways in which we can improve the way the world works for all.

Aside from being an incredibly fulfilling career path, working in international relations offers the opportunity to shape and impact global policies that can positively affect the lives of people across the globe. Whether you want to tackle issues like terrorism, natural disasters, human trafficking or world hunger, there are plenty of opportunities in the field of international relations to make a difference in the lives of others.

Depending on your career goals, you might need to gain specific qualifications or certifications before starting in the field of international relations. Most entry-level positions require at least a bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, while specialized roles such as working as a diplomat or an international business executive will require more advanced qualifications like a Master’s degree in your particular area of expertise. If you need help preparing for your postgraduate studies, a pre-Masters programme can be the ideal starting point.