Seven Amazing Optical Illusions
Courtesy of Richard Wiseman - which one is your favourite? Can you set some of these up in the classroom?
Inequality linked to export complexity
Some new and exciting work from Cesar Hidalgo! Research from Hidalgo's team at the MIT media lab finds that a country's income inequality is linked to its export complexity.
How much higher can house prices go?
Official data released last week on London house price increases in 2016 generated a lot of interest. Given that housing represents by far the most important component of wealth for most people, it...
The External Cost of Nurdles
What is a nurdle? Anyone who has seen me bat can answer that question. However, apparently, it's also a small plastic pellet and one of the major sources of marine pollution.
Slowing Down the Predatory Traders
A stunning Newsnight piece here on two of the "heroes" in Flash Boys written by Michael Lewis who have now started a new stock exchange to protect investors from being picked off by the speed...
Don't Miss This Week's Economics Teaching Opportunities
We've had more top teaching opportunities for economics teachers posted to the tutor2u jobs board this week.
Should rich pensioners be taxed more heavily?
Phillip Inman argues here that there needs to be a serious rethink of provision for old age. However, whether that involves taxation or an end to the free provision of benefits in kind is another...
Africa Knowledge Fest 2017
Just about the best introduction to some of the World Bank's recent Sub-Saharan African research has been collated here as part of the Africa Knowledge Fest. Worth a look for interested development...
UK inflation in the Brexit years
George Buckley has been a good friend of Tutor2u over the years. He explains things really clearly for A level students - this is a good example as he explores some of the factors that will affect...
The world if robots take our jobs
A canny conversation here between academics on the challenges and opportunities of the rapid adoption of robotic technologies and AI. Would make for a good bridging video clip in a lesson on the...
Dyson launches skills centre in Singapore
James Dyson has announced that he's opening a $400m research centre in Singapore, in part because of a lack of UK-based engineers. If he's correct, this has worrying implications for our...
EU approves overhaul of emissions trading
The EU's cap and trade scheme has been widely criticised as being ineffective in creating sustainable incentives for industries to invest in low carbon technologies. The EU Parliament has narrowly...
Greater Germany Outpaces Club Med in a Divided Europe
At the end of last week Federica Mogherini met leading members of the Trump administration. Mogherini, yet another Italian politician turned Euro-bureaucrat, is in fact the foreign policy chief of...
Tim Harford on the M-Pesa Revolution
Tim Harford's series on '50 Things That Made the Modern Economy' this week looks at the impact of the M-PESA innovation which is having a significant impact on millions of entrepreneurs, farmers...
Favourite Behavioural Economics Valentines
Here is a selection of some of the many behavioural valentines posted on Twitter on the 14th February 2017. Spot the psychological biases in some of these!
Meet the CPI Foot Soldiers
With CPI inflation climbing to 1.8% in January, the highest since June 2014, this is a timely and excellent Katie Allen piece looking at the simple mechanics behind inflation figures, highlighting...
Demand for cosmetic treatments falls 40% in 2016
Pin back your ears for this breaking news, but don't pay for the privilege. The number of people opting for cometic enhancements has dropped by 40% over the last year.
Airports double car parking fees during school holidays
A clear example here of seasonal price discrimination by many of Britain's biggest airports.
Department for International Development (DfID) releases a new economic development strategy
The international development secretary has released what is billed as DfID’s first ever economic development strategy.
Lucrative rubies might bring a resource curse
Another development story, this time its rubies in Mozambique, with a recent discovery in the country accounting for nearly 50% of the world's rubies.