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In the News
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.
Who do privatised water companies serve? Their customers or their shareholders?
Economics Weekly Quiz | 07 July 2023
Here's our final weekly economics news quiz of the academic year.
This report by Oxfam and Action Aid highlights the concept of windfall profits. But what are they? And how large is the estimated level of windfall profits generated by the world's biggest companies?
Environmental Economics - News Update
There is so much happening in the environmental economics news space at the moment. Here are some links to and reflections on a range of topical news stories ranging from New Zealand banning...
Economics Weekly Quiz | 30 June 2023
Here's our weekly economics news quiz.
Digital Divide - Calls for VAT cut for low cost broadband
This is an inequality issue - with a House of Lords Committee suggesting that digital exclusion is a major problem and that the government should try to do something to close this gap, not least...
Will Thames Water have to be nationalised?
Privatisation (and possible nationalisation) in the spotlight again, in that the UK's largest water company, Thames Water appears to be on the point of collapsing under the weight of its own debt....
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