Economics at Easter - econoMAX

The latest edition of econoMAX - tutor2u’s digital magazine for A Level Economics Teachers and Students - is now available…

The Easter 2012 Edition articles for econoMAX are outlined below:

Economic growth: an obsession that needs rethinking? (Mark Preen)

Recently it seems to be that whenever you switch the news on there are concerns being raised about economic growth , whether it be in the UK, the euro zone or the rest of the world. This is particularly true since the Global Economics Crisis began in 2008. The media, the government and the public, seem to be in a constant state of anxiety about the growth of our economies. However have we become obsessed with economic growth by placing too much importance on it? Could the recent economic crisis be a ‘wake up call’ and an opportunity to rethink economic growth and rebalance government macroeconomics objectives?

High Oil Price (Andy Reeve)

The price of petrol at the pumps has reached an average high of £1.3744, according to industry analysts. This is higher than the averages of £1.3943 in May 2011. So why is the cost of filling the car with fuel rising?

Does Australia have a Plan B? (Mark Johnston)

The world economy still struggles to release itself from the shackles of recession. The US economy has had only a very small increase in growth and European economies still struggle with the sovereign debt issue. However, Australia continues to grow, largely as a result of the strong demand for its commodities from the number two economy in the world, China.

Resource Nationalistion – not as easy as you think! (Mark Johnston)

Since the financial crisis of 2008 many countries have struggled to maintain manageable budget deficits as their economies contract. With revenue down from reduced economic activity and increasing expenditure on items such as social welfare, governments around the world are either tightening their belts or finding new sources of revenue. In a number of producer nations, concerns over ‘Dutch disease’ or two-speed economies have led to plans to tax resource extraction more heavily, and provide tax relief to other sectors.

Japan – One Year On (Andy Reeve)

March 2011 saw extreme natural devastation in Japan, with a large earthquake of magnitude 9.0 on the Richter scale triggering a tsunami that led to the deaths of over 18,000 people and caused a large scale nuclear crisis. Since the Tsunami of 2011, Japanese manufacturers have had to deal with several issues that have hampered recovery. The Tsunami damaged large parts of the socio-economic infrastructure of the eastern parts of the nation, leading to disruptions in the supply chain and whereby damaging the productive capacity of the region.

Youth Unemployment – Spain’s malfunctioning Labour Market (Mark Johnston)

For many countries increasing levels of youth unemployment is a major concern. To be unemployed from an early age has a damaging impact on a workers career by depressing wages in the future and increasing the chance that they become unemployed once more. The issue of youth unemployment is one of the major problems facing the eurozone countries as on average over 20% of those between the ages of 16 to 24 are unemployed. However this varies greatly between countries with German youth unemployment at 8% compared to Portugal at 30% and Spain’s at a staggering 48%. In particular what have been the prevailing reasons for such high levels in Spain?

Dastardly ‘Debt, Debt and Double Debt’ (Liz Veal)

If Dick Dastardly had been an economist, rather than a Wacky Racer, looking in at the UK economy over the last few years, his catchphrase may well have been ‘Debt, debt and double debt’! And Muttley the dog wouldn’t have been muttering and sniggering, but would have been wideeyed with horror as the total indebtedness of the UK reaches almost five times the size of UK real GDP!

Is there a case for hypothecation of certain taxes? (Robert Nutter)

Many years ago, before car ownership became widespread, the tax revenue collected from what is now known as vehicle excise duty was used to maintain and improve the road network. This is known as hypothecation, where the revenue from a certain tax is earmarked for a specific purpose, which is known to the public. This ‘ring fencing’ of tax revenue has been used in more recent years in the UK but has never been widely popular with governments of all political persuasions, and certainly not in HM Treasury.