econoMAX - latest edition now available

The latest edition of econoMAX, our digital magazine for A Level Economics students and teachers, is now available to subscribers on the econoMAX website. Details of the latest articles below.

School / college subscriptions to econoMAX remain at just £50 per year (for the 7th year running!) - your subscription allows whole-school access and distribution of econoMAX articles, including the entire archive dating back to 2004.

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Difficulties on the High Street (Andy Reeve)

Barratts, Blacks, Burtons, Carpet Right, Comet, Currys, HMV, JJB Sports, Oddbins, Thorntons – These are all High Street names and all facing difficulties of varying degrees in 2011. The latest casualty of the continuing economic slowdown is the shoe retailer; Barratts. It entered into administration on 8th December 2011 and it cannot find a buyer. The most likely outcome will be that the administrators Deloitte will make 1610 employees of Barratts concession stores redundant and continue to try and sell on the remaining 173 stores to a potential buyer.

High Speed Rail in Britain: the economic case against HS2 (Tom White)

The improved West Coast Main Line was designed to allow many extra journeys and shave up to 30% off journey times between some of the country’s biggest cities. Although work on the upgrade was expected to cost around £2 billion, problems caused costs to balloon to £9 billion and the project was finished years overdue. Now the British government is raising the stakes by planning a new £32 billion high speed link from London to the north of England.

US Productivity – looking good! (Mark Johnston)

Job creation has been a major concern for the United States economy as it tries to avoid a double-dip recession. US President Barack Obama recently promised to implement new tax incentives for companies that create jobs within the domestic economy – rewarding those that bring jobs into the US and eliminating tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas. Although the unemployment rate in the US fell to 8.5% in December 2011, the lowest since February 2009, it is the impressive productivity figures which have gone largely unnoticed.

Dental care - an imperfect market (Robert Nutter)

The vast majority of people do not like going to the dentist. Indeed 12% of us have a phobia about it. Visiting the dentist only has some attraction if we have a raging toothache and a dentist can relieve the pain. Currently about 60% of the adult population visit a dentist on a regular basis, but the demand for dental care has fallen in the recent economic climate suggesting that it is a normal good..

Credit – is it still too tight for a sustained recovery in the housing market? (Andy Reeve)

The publication of the Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey on 5th January 2012 suggests that the supply of credit for secured loans to individuals (mortgages) was broadly unchanged during the final quarter of 2011. Lenders expect there to be a small increase in the availability of credit during the first three months of 2012, although they point to poor forecasts for the economic performance of the economy as a negative factor on the level of credit that will be available to individuals.

Canada and Kyoto (Mark Johnston)

The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), aimed at reducing global warming. The Protocol was initially adopted on 11 December 1997 in Kyoto and Canada was one of the proactive countries in its implementation. However, on 13th December 2011, Peter Kent, the environment minister, announced that Canada was withdrawing from the agreement becoming the first country to do so. So, why the reversal of the commitment to the cause of reducing CO2 emissions? Furthermore, will Canada be the first of many that take the same course of action?

Competition and contestability in the UK bus market (Tom White)

Economic theory suggests that competition will often lead to improved economic efficiency, with this logic supporting the moves made in the 1980s to deregulate much of the UK bus market. So it’s disappointing to hear that 25 years later, the chairman of the Competition Commission’s local bus market investigation group has announced that the “reality is that in too many areas of the country, competition has stagnated and the incumbent providers know that they face little in the way of serious challenge”.

What’s best for developing countries – aid or remittances? (Mark Johnston)

In the current economic climate of austerity and government cut backs there has been some debate as to whether the aid budget to help developing countries will be a victim. However, is aid the best policy to assist those countries? Some have suggested that remittances from immigrants living abroad are a more effective tool for assisting those countries that are of developing status.