Category
In the News
Why Table Mountain holds a clue for the path of UK interest rates
Table Mountain is an iconic flat-topped mountain located in Cape Town. At the summit of Table Mountain, you'll find a large, nearly level plateau that stretches for approximately 3 kilometers...
AI - positive for jobs but could widen the regional divide
This is the sort of article that I love because it dispels an economic myth, in this case, the lump of labour fallacy, that says that there are a 'certain number' of jobs to go round in an economy...
Rishi Sunak set to rip up net zero policies ahead of election
A major environmental policy u-turn appears imminent judging from the steady flow of leaks hitting social media at present. Prime Minister Sunak may opt to rein back on policies such as the ban on...
Economics Weekly Quiz | 15 September 2023
Here's this week's economics news quiz.
Are loyalty cards being used to conceal price increases?
Consumer group Which? are of the view that two of the UK's biggest supermarkets - Tesco and Sainsbury's - are being less than straightforward with their pricing policies, and are using loyalty card...
What will it take to control AI?
What will life be like with another five years of deeper and wider capabilities in artificial intelligence? Two prominent figures - Yuval Noah Harari and Mustafa Suleyman - are brought together to...
Changing Global Labour Market - The Rise of Online Gig Work
This World Bank video clip looks at the rise of online gig work - the opportunities and the challenges that the growth of the sector poses. The World Bank are of the view that online gig work is...
Trade and Competitiveness - EU Launches Probe into Chinese Electric Car Subsidies
Is a new trade war in the offing? “Global markets are now flooded with cheaper Chinese electric cars, and their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies. This is distorting our...
Dynamic Pricing - Leading pub brand plans to charge more at peak times
The owners of the Slug & Lettuce and Yates’s pub brands plan to raise prices at 800 venues during peak times to help cover soaring costs. Dynamic pricing is used in many sectors ranging from...
Economics Weekly Quiz | 08 September 2023
A warm welcome back to the new term! Here's the first weekly economics news quiz of the academic year!
Competition Authority to investigate high fees and low price transparency in the UK vet market
The Competition and Markets Authority are looking into the veterinary sector, concerned about how much people are being charged for treatment, largely as a result of a lack of price transparency in...
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...