Category
In the News
Global Development - The Importance of Remittances
This IMF clip looks at remittances, and their impact on developing economies. It acknowledges the greater ease of transferring resources, and the importance of this income in boosting growth and...
De-merit goods - possession of laughing gas to be made illegal
Nitrous oxide is the second most commonly used drug among 16 to 24-year-olds in England. The UK government has announced that possession of the drug will be made illegal by the end of 2023.
Nigeria cuts fuel subsidies and the traffic jams disappear!
This sort of article is economic gold dust: it could be microeconomic, looking at the effect of removing fuel subsidies and efficiency, or macroeconomic, looking at how microeconomic policy has...
Is the Chinese economy a ticking time bomb?
The BBC carries an article about the state of the Chinese economy, noting its "low growth, record youth unemployment, low foreign investment, weak exports and currency, and a property sector in...
Information Failure - Better Labelling Needed to Reduce Water Use
Efficient policymaking is driven by the quality of information associated with it, and this Guardian article flags up the fact that Britons consume the most water in Europe, perhaps as a...
Robert Reich - Why Biden's departure from free trade is a good thing
Normally, economists are in favour of free trade arguing that it brings with it more benefits than costs. That's not the view of Robert Reich who seems to argue here that this ignores the...
France to spend €200m on destroying excess wine as demand falls
There's lots to think about here - however, let's start with a simple application of marginalist principles. Can you explain how the French government might justify spending 200 million euros...
Update on the Chinese Economy
Plenty happening in the Chinese economy - so here are some links to news, comment and analysis.
China's Deflation Problem
This is an important issue to follow in the weeks and months ahead. While many western countries and their governments grapple with high inflation in the wake of the pandemic, China faces a growing...
Is Tesla doing to the motor industry what Apple did to Nokia?
I'm not entirely sure that the parallels drawn by John Naughton between Apple/Nokia, Tesla and the motor industry are necessarily correct - however, this article does cover some interesting ground...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have told the UK's High Street banks that they will adopt a more pro-active regulatory role as regards their savings rates. They've asserted that those banks...
This Guardian piece about the EBar highlights the substitutability of labour and capital, although it's interesting that there's a clear delineation between the use of the vending machines at...
UK Economy - Inflation Falls to Below 8%
A welcome fall in UK inflation lifts hopes that interest rates may peak at six per cent or less in the coming weeks and months. UK annual CPI inflation rate dropped from 8.7% in May 2023 to 7.9% in...
UK councils call for total ban on disposable vapes by 2024
The Local Government Association has called for a ban on the sale of disposable vapes, with 1.3m of them being thrown away every week.
The IFS and Joseph Rowntree Foundation have investigated the government's cost of living support package for the poor, and concludes that the £19 billion spent wasn't terribly effective at...
Price Gouging? Rise in airport drop-off fees is criticised
Drop-off fees have increased at many UK airports in the last year, according to new research from the RAC.
Rising interest rates - zombie firms may get wiped out
A zombie business is a company that is technically alive but is not economically viable. Zombie businesses are typically highly indebted and are only able to survive by borrowing money to service...
An interesting take on the negative externalities of urban air pollution, with Paris seemingly on the point of charging SUV drivers higher parking fees. It strikes me that this is a good move,...
Might the steep rise in mortgage interest rates and other costs such as energy bills and property repair prices cause thousands of landlords to have to sell their properties? Selling might...
UK Unemployment Rises to 4%
There are signs of a softening in the UK labour market with news that unemployment for March to May 2023 increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4% of the labour force.