A Big Bond for Africa
Infrastructure needs are growing across the world and nowhere more than in many countries in sub Saharan Africa. Significant investment in rail, roads, renewable energy and telecoms could help to...
FinTech: How technology is changing the world of finance
Here is a timely BBC Newsnight report from David Grossman on the impact that financial technology (FinTech) is having on competition / contestability in the UK financial sector.
Turkish investment in high-speed rail in Africa
Use this as a contextual example of the potential significance of inward FDO projects in critical infrastructure to help overcome development traps. What are the possible demand and supply-side...
Why China leads the world in renewable energy
We have said for some time that emerging and frontier economies will figure prominently in global league tables for investment in renewable energy. For some, the imperative is to cut import bills...
Should Zambia ban food imports?
This BBC clip looks at Zambian economy's dilemma: the government wanted to protect its farmers and imposed restrictions on the import of foreign-produced fruit and vegetables. However, this...
How to Get People to Always Reply to Your Emails
If you are interested in behavioural policy and interventions in the area of health then you might want to have a look at this short talk from David Halpern, CEO of the Behavioural Insights Unit.
Here is a truly superb and often hilariously funny talk from Stephen Pinker about making prose understandable to the reader you wish to reach. This is clearly true in economics exams when time and...
Consumer sovereignty and the changing face of Swiss chocolate
Proof, if it were needed, that consumer sovereignty is the thing that drives markets. This is a nationwide look at how the changing market for chocolate has affected Swiss producers, with stagnant...
Robotic bricklayer builds houses 3x faster than humans
If you are looking for a vivid example of capital labour substitution in economics then this short video of a robot that can lay bricks several times faster than humans could be perfect! But how...
Will the credit boom be the next financial crisis for the UK?
The Bank of England Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has signalled that it has become worried again about debt. Their specific focus is households. Consumer credit, for example, grew by 10 per cent...
Employment gains from a higher Mexican minimum wage
A rise in Mexico’s poverty-level minimum wage increased both wages and employment in the area in which it was attempted, according to research by Jorge Bouchot, presented at the Royal Economic...
Micro Multi-Choice Quiz - revision for upcoming exams
If you're looking for a quick, 10-question multi-choice quiz on micro economic topics, try this activity. Called 'Jazz Hands' the activity draws out knowledge through multi-choice questions - there...
Parental investment in kids - a case of information failure?
Many parents believe that the time they spend with their kids is more valuable the older they are, and that investing time later isn't as useful if they invested early – both of which are wrong,...
Origins of Money - To replace taxes not barter
Money was not created to replace barter, as most historians suggest, but to boost trade that rulers could tax. This new theory of the origins of money is presented by central bank economist Vincent...
How uncapping the Swiss franc led to more car accidents
Soaring franc causes Swiss shoppers to pop across to Italy each morning – while Italian workers head in the other direction. A strong franc increased daily traffic at the Swiss border as shoppers...
How the razor introduced us to two-part pricing
Another excellent addition to the 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy series, as Tim Harford highlights the impact of the disposable razor on the modern economy. However, it's not so much the...
Can loss aversion improve exam results?
German school children do better in the same test when their marks don't start at zero. Can invoking the behavioural bias of loss aversion improve student motivation to score better in their exams?
EasyJet Ticket Pricing and the Game of Chicken
Unlike its planes, Easyjet prices go up but don't come down. Easyjet's dynamic pricing model may sometimes slow the rate at which ticket prices go up, but bargain-hunters who wait until the last...
Positive externalities from breakfast clubs
Providing school breakfasts free to all children in disadvantaged English primary schools helps them to make two months’ additional progress in reading, writing and mathematics over the course of a...
Did you know that in 2016 organic carrots were removed from the CPI calculation in 2016?