Byron in financial trouble seeks cuts in rents
The restaurant chain Byron is in financial trouble and is seeking to negotiate reductions in rent on a sizeable number of their leased properties in a bid to reduce fixed costs and losses.
Clash of the Titans - National competition for students of economics
I blogged about the Economic Research Council's annual competition 'Clash of the Titans' back in November. If you haven't seen the competition yet, then I would highly recommend having a look -...
UK bans microbeads
A really good example of government intervention. A ban has come into force for the use of microbeads in products such as shampoo and toothpaste. Other countries are following suit including Canada.
Bank closures and local communities
Hundreds of branch closures have been announced in 2017. Newsnight visits Holywell to consider some of the effects on local communities and the economy when the last bank in town disappears.
Webinars focusing on synoptic economics
Join @tutor2uGeoff on Wednesday 17 January (830pm) for the first in a new series of webinars focusing on synoptic economics for Year 13 Economists.
Economics Weekly Quiz - 5 January 2018
Happy New Year to all our quizzers! Here's 2018's first edition of our weekly quiz from the world of economics. Good luck.
Latte Levy - a surcharge for use of takeaway paper cups
MPs are calling for a law that would introduce a surcharge of 25p for the use of takeaway paper cups used for hot drinks purchased from coffee shops.
Richard Thaler & Behavioural Economics - The Man, The Ideas
A video tribute to the 2017 Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Sciences Richard Thaler'.
The Case against GDP
David Pilling has a new book out called the Growth Delusion which chronicles his research into how we have measured and mis-measured the wealth of nations. GDP in particular takes a battering!
How airlines price flights
This video clip looks at the pricing of seats on the route from New York to Los Angeles, highlighting the various factors that help determine the price of your ticket between the two destinations.
Waitrose bans sale of energy drinks to under-16s
Corporate Social Responsibility and Information Economics in action! Waitrose has announced a ban on sales of energy drinks to under-16s. Will other supermarkets follow suit? Only a small...
'Fat Cat Thursday' - 04 January 2018
If you weren't aware, today is classified as 'Fat Cat Thursday' by Think Tank High Pay Centre. The concept exists to show how, by comparing the average wage of the CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies...
Brexit - Could the UK join TPP?
One of the oddest Brexit stories of 2018: will the UK seek to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership? It seems to me to be strange that we're admitting the economic benefits of a regional economic...
Accompanied by suitable health warnings, 2018 looks like the year when the longstanding relationship between capital and labour looks set to change.
Contestable Markets: Challenges and Opportunities from Open Banking
Here is a revealing interview with the CEO of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group which highlights the possible impact of new Open Banking rules that come into force in January 2018.
The rate of return on everything
New research on the rate of return on different asset classes over the last 150 years published here finds that total returns on residential real estate are on a par with the returns to equities –...
UK Economy Databank
Thoughts often turn to teaching macro in the New Year (or revising it!) and it's always helpful to have up-to-date data to use. I have put together an excel spreadsheet with over 20 data series on...
China bans imports of plastic waste
The decision by the Chinese to block imports of low-grade plastic waste could have huge ramifications for many countries including the UK. For some it will provide yet more impetus in the search...
Do globalisation and world trade fuel inequality?
A hat tip to Will Haines for spotting this superb enrichment article in the Guardian from Jeffrey Frankel.
Evaluating the rise in rail fares
Most of us returning to work or preparing for another term will very quickly realise that the annual fare rises maybe causing us to make a few austerity cuts of our own.