Nobel Economics Laureates give advice to Trump
He is not likely to ask for this advice, but this short video has a cluster of Nobel Laureates giving some advice to the President.
This week's Economics News Quiz
Here's this week's Economics News Quiz. 6 multi-choice questions based upon the world of Economics. Nice 5 minute starter for next week or Bell Work exercise as students arrive at your class.
Behavioural Nudges and Environmental Sustainability
Here are some notes on environmental nudges given at a talk I attended by two members of the Behavioural Insights team.
Jim O'Neill defends Globalisation
Jim O'Neill wins today's award for money-for-old rope with an article that defends globalisation. The only way that this differs from a good student defending the issue, is that by using the...
The End of China's Economic Miracle?
This is a blog entry mainly for students who are preparing to take a paper on China for their PreU Economics paper. This is a mighty one hour discussion including George Soros on prospects for the...
Self-Driving Trucks and Creative Destruction
More creative destruction here: Will self-driving trucks replace the need for truck drivers, and what are the implications of this? Automated trucks won't require statutory rest breaks, for...
Play 'Brexit - Deal or No Deal'!
Here’s a fun and not too frivolous resource aimed at provoking discussion and debate about the Brexit negotiation process. It combines the concept behind the popular day-time TV show ‘Deal or No...
The Economics of Charging to use a Book Store!
A bookseller in the Yorkshire Dales was in the headlines last week. He called a customer a “pain in the arse”, and has been the subject of numerous complaints to the local parish council about his...
Is Inequality Set to Decline?
This FT clip looks at the historic factors that have contributed to rising inequality, or at least the perception of rising inequality today, and the subsequent implications of this for populism...
The Contestable Gym Market
Many A-Level Business students are looking in depth this year at the UK gym market as part of their exam preparations. Some of Jim's tweeted charts are superb context for understanding the...
Is Free Trade Good or Bad?
We rather take for granted the maxim that free trade is a good thing. This article from the BBC's Andrew Walker might just, at the margin make you think again. It makes it clear that economic...
Amartya Sen on Trump, Protectionism and Brexit
Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen is interviewed by Ian King on Sky Business News
Is China now leading the free world?
"Pursuing protectionism is just like locking oneself in a dark room. While wind and rain may be kept outside, so are light and air. No-one will emerge as a winner in a trade war". President Xi...
Why Economists should learn to tell more jokes
Rory Sutherland is on fine form here as he draws on his experiences at the Kilkenny Festival of economics and comedy. Story-telling is an insanely important part of the context in which we take...
Mega Merger in the Cigarette Industry
The era of the mega-merger is well and truly here: BAT and Reynolds, tobacco giants, have agreed to merge with the former subsuming the latter.
Pablo the Dancing Flamingo and Behavioural Priming
Charlie Lewis, Digital Strategist at Winston-Wolf writes here about how an encounter with Pablo the dancing flamingo taught him all he needs to know about behavioural priming!
Development: the problem of 'failing states'
According to The Economist, few things matter more than fixing failed states. Broadly defined, state failure provides “a general explanation for why poor countries are poor”.
Economics of leaving a Customs Union
With a hard Brexit strategy becoming more likely by the day, this is a rather good summary of the likely effects of leaving the EU customs union from the economics reporters at the Independent.
8 billionaires own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world's population - does it matter?
Oxfam have updated their list and comparison of the world's super-rich showing that the top 8 wealthiest people own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world's population. You can see their...
Zombie firms and weak productivity growth
Are zombie firms crowding out investment and holding back productivity growth? This article from the Economist draws on a new research report from the OECD.