Not Quite Rational Man
If you read a better, more interesting and thoughtful essay on behavioural economics in the next year then I will be surprised! Cesar Hidalgo - notable of course for his work on information and...
Are McJobs History?
Here is a very interesting Kamal Ahmed look at 'flexible working': how it has changed the nature of the modern labour market and how McDonald's has been a market leader in improving employment...
It seems that the discounters are getting everywhere, with IAG's Level being the latest entrant to the low-cost carrier market. However, like Norwegian and Eurowings, it is a low cost carrier that...
The Evolution of Money with Ann Pettifor
Money makes the world go round: but what is it really?
Behavioural economics-tastic: the Zusha campaign in Kenya is reducing the number of road traffic accidents as a result of passengers warning against reckless driving. Passengers are encouraged to...
The ghost collateral that haunts China
The credit rating on China's sovereign debt has been lowered for the first time in three decades. With the Chinese mainland facing its slowest growth in over a quarter of a century, defaults are...
The shift towards solar power as an affordable source of renewable energy seems to be gathering pace. Economies of scale are lowering the unit cost of solar power and this article suggests that the...
Why Can’t Economists Sell Free Trade?
Two centuries on from the emergence of the idea of comparative advantage as the basis for specialisation and trade, why does it remain hard to sell the idea of free trade?
Explaining the Dominant Currency Paradigm
The dominant currency paradigm is about the fact that the US dollar matters a huge amount in setting the prices at which trade takes place in the global economy.
Euro Zone recovery gathers momentum
Whisper it quietly but the economic upturn in the Euro Area seems to be gathering some momentum. Unemployment is now at a seven year low - although it remains stubbornly above levels in the UK for...
China's condom boom
Birth rates tend to decline as the size of a country's middle-class grows and China is no exception according to recent figures. Despite the lifting of the one-child policy in 2015, the number of...
Sri Lanka - A Country Mired in Debt
One Belt, One Road, the development of the New Silk Road has included a great deal of Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. But is it sustainable, for both the Chinese and the Sri Lankans? The evidence...
UK achieves solar power record
Great news about the nature of the UK's electricity generating capacity on Friday - nearly one quarter of the electricity generated came from solar power, breaking the previous record.
Learning from Economic Shocks
How to make sense of unexpected changes in the economy and how this effects the 'big system'. This short video from the 2017 RES conference looks at how an economy that is one big system cannot...
China defends higher import tariffs on sugar
Brazilian sugar exports are most likely to be affected by this Chinese tariff on sugar imports. The usual demand-supply analysis framework and welfare issues can be applied to this decision by...
The two main manifestos have been published. Initially at least, the Labour one seems the more popular. Many people are susceptible to being bribed with other people’s money.
Labour markets - what jobs do UK workers actually do?
As part of their build up to the Election next month, the BBC website carries an article by Laura Gardiner of the Resolution Foundation. It examines the current data behind the headline that there...
Digital currencies see a new price boom
This article from BBC news underscores the fact that we're in the middle of a digital currency boom, with Bitcoin and Ethereum traded at record highs.
Robert Shiller writes in the Guardian about the reasons for the current economic stagnation. He argues that uncertainty, both short-term and long-term is adversely affecting spending. The latter...
Apple opens a new academy in Italy
The global battle for talent shows no sign of easing off. Apple's decision to establish a new academy in Naples is welcome news for the Italian economy and addressing their structural north-south...