Plastic - A Dirty Business
Sky News is certainly making an effective contribution to the debate over plastic packaging. There is no such thing as the throwaway society - because plastic waste doesn't go away.
Poverty and Pollution: Growing up in the world's most polluted cities
This is a vivid and powerful four minute read on the negative externalities from copper mining in Zambia and the story of one man growing up in what rapidly became one of the most polluted places...
Addressing the Infrastructure Gap - New Toll Roads in Senegal
Ed Glaeser often makes the point that introducing early the user-pays principle into infrastructure investment is a key part of the infrastructure jigsaw especially in developing countries. This...
The Estate Agent market becomes more contestable despite recent criticism of Purple Bricks
If, like me, you have been enjoying the recent adverts by online estate agency Purplebricks (apologies to anyone who only streams content these days, TV advertising must seem very yesterday) you...
Economics Weekly News Quiz - 2 February 2018
Here's this week's economics news quiz. Good luck!
Impact of further automation on jobs is uneven throughout the UK - 'Higher or Lower' activity
A report released by think tank 'Centre for Cities' has suggested that the impact of job losses from continued automation in the UK economy will not be felt equally around the country. The report...
How does Bitcoin mining work?
BBC Newsnight investigates the data mining that goes on in unearthing crypto-currencies. I'm still trying to get my head around all of this!
Rogoff On The Next Financial Crisis And The Future Of Bitcoin
Rogoff is interviewed here on fragility in the financial system and the risks posed by higher interest rates in the USA and Europe. And then there is China ....
Energy Economics - UK Electricity Use Falls
Some comparative analysis of European energy use, with the UK seeing a 9% reduction in use over the last seven years, as the rest of the EU is still seeing rises. There were a number of reasons...
Battling to save the world's bananas
The story of the banana is a remarkable one: the whole commercial global banana crop can be traced back to a particular Cavendish banana tree that originate at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, and...
The Universal Stylus Initiative - markets and complementary products
This week, Google have added their name and support to the Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) - a group of major tech companies attempting to get everyone to adopt a universal set of protocols when...
Is QE a Magic Money Tree?
I think that many A level students would agree that QE can be quite hard to get their heads around. It's a help when they realise that it is not a process of 'printing money', as many journalists...
A group of independent bookshops are considering joining forces in an attempt to be more competitive. The plan, led by the Big Green Bookshop based in London, is to create a purchasing union that...
China's smartphone market in decline
A rather remarkable bit of data from China - smartphone sales are down in the world's largest smartphone market. Has the market reached saturation point? And if so, does this mean that consumers...
Dr Pepper Snapple merges with Keurig Green Mountain
Horizontal integration in the US beverage market with Keurig Dr Pepper hoping to have access to "unrivalled distribution capability to reach virtually every point-of-sale in North America".
Shaking the Magic Money Tree
Shaking the Magic Money Tree broadcast on Radio 4 looked at the effect of Quantitative Easing on the UK economy. Is it possible to disaggregate its effects, and did it advantage some over others.
The Planet's Biggest Baked Bean Factory
We simply had to cross post this from the Business Blog! A stunning three minute video following the production process of the Heinz baked bean factory in Wigan Lancashire which can supply up to 3...
Contestable Markets: Is AirBNB cheaper than a hotel?
The platform economy business AirBNB has had a major effect on the hospitality sector of numerous cities around the world. The widespread assumption is that AirBNB offers cheaper accommodation than...
IMF predicts Economic Growth rates for 2018 - 'Dial Up' activity
The IMF have released their latest figures predicting economic growth rates around the world (as well as predicting a change in overall World output) for 2018. You can see the latest figures...
Economics Weekly News Quiz - 26 January 2018
Here's this week's news quiz for Economics. Good luck.