15 Charts on the UK Economy to Kickstart Lessons in September 08

A new set of A3-sized UK macro-economy posters is now available from tutor2u. This new poster collection gives Economics teachers a set of data charts offering students a sense of how the figures have moved over recent years but also bringing them up to speed with the latest developments…

Click here to order UK Economy Chartroom Volume 1

The fifteen charts in the first chartroom set cover the following data series:

1. Real GDP since 1970 - useful for teaching about the economic cycle and trend growth
2. Components of Aggregate Demand - ideal for introductory macro to give a sense of the relative importance of consumption in the UK circular flow of spending
3. Savings ratio, interest rates and jobs - factors influencing the propensity to save
4. CPI inflation and claimant count unemployment – good for showing the changing trade-off between jobs and prices
5. Dollar-Sterling exchange rate and USA-UK interest rate differentials - tracks the dollar exchange rate, do interest rate differentials have an impact?
6. Growth and Inflation - UK GDP and Consumer Price Index - data goes back to the early 1970s - helpful when teaching stagflation!
7. Two measures of inflation (RPI and CPI) - useful when teaching the measurement of inflation
8. House prices and consumer confidence - a turning point for the housing market! What drives confidence and how might it impact on the economy?
9. The cost of borrowing - overdrafts, credit cards, mortgages and base rates - useful when teaching about monetary policy - the base rate of interest is rarely the interest rate most of us face for our loans!
10. Changes in relative prices for goods and services - deflation and inflation for a selection of products including cigarettes, rail fares and clothing & footwear
11. UK government borrowing and the national debt - ideal when teaching fiscal policy - data series runs from 1990
12. Economic cycle and unemployment - is unemployment a lagging indicator of the cycle? - can unemployment rise in a growing economy?
13. Components of the UK current account (BoP) - tracks the annual balances for goods, services, investment income and transfers
14. Oil prices and the UK balance of trade in oil - the UK is now a net oil importer as this chart drawing on data from 1986 makes clear!
15. Income per head for selected EU countries - useful when teaching about living standards and the progress of convergence taking place within the EU

Each poster is provided in A3 format and is printed on 165gsm poster paper. You will also receive a link to a pdf-format A4 handout version. The posters look superb when laminated as part of a classroom display and the A4 handouts are designed in a clean style ideal for students to annotate and then include in their notes.

When you order you can be sure that the data will be completely up to speed with the latest officially published figures as we automatically refresh the poster set every 2-3 weeks. We have also designed the posters so that, as new figures become available, there is space for students to update the figures on their printed charts.