Growth Challenges in Fragile States
Why do fragile states for economic growth and development? In this short interview, Professor Paul Collier argues that fragile states produce spillovers for everyone especially neighbouring...
Realising One Market for Africa
Can African achieve the creation of a continental free trade area by the end of 2017? Intra-regional trade within the African continent is less than 20% - much lower than other regions - and few...
Maximum sustainable debt
Here is a new concept to me but one relevant to year 2 macroeconomic debates about the scale of sovereign debt owed by developed and developing countries.
What's the problem with protectionism
In this hugely pertinent short essay, US economist Barry Eichengreen argues that protectionist policies such as import tariffs might not actually be bad macro policy at a time of a deflationary...
Characterising China in 3 Numbers
China is a country of fractured authoritarianism, in transition to a slower and (hopefully) more balanced growth and development phase especially between rural and urban areas.
Deep Underground as CrossRail nears completion
Europe's biggest construction project is nearing completion. The short video from Bloomberg takes us inside and deep underground - it is a stunning combination of smart design and engineering...
Ha Joon Chang on why Economics is for everyone!
Here is a superb new video from RSA animate featuring Cambridge economist Ha Joon Chang. This will be excellent to show to new economists when school and college gets back after the summer!
The Cameron Legacy - a quick quiz
So, David Cameron has gone and Theresa May is ushering in a very new and very different era of government. Cameron, in his final Prime Minister's Questions said that he thought that he had left the...
Intensify austerity to boost the economy
On the face of it, the Brexiteers have a bit of explaining to do. A week before the vote, Boris Johnson dismissed fears about the value of sterling, and accused the Governor of the Bank of England...
The psychology behind irrational decisions
In this short but engaging talk on aspects of behavioural economics, Sara Garofalo explains heuristics, problem-solving approaches based on previous experience and intuition rather than analysis.
Sterling's fall and the impact on UK households
Sterling has been depreciating heavily on the foreign exchange markets - it has fallen by around 11% against the Euro and by more agains the US dollar. There will be several impacts of a weaker...
Lowest corporation taxes in the world
Which countries have the lowest corporation tax rates in the world? George Osborne's plan to cut UK corporation tax still further towards 15% in a post-Brexit supply-side initiative is an attempt...
What is China's New Silk Road?
China has launched a new One Belt One Road strategy (known as OBOR). The stated goal of this strategy is to “promote economic prosperity of the countries along the Belt and Road and regional...
The Architecture of Choice
The topic of behavioural economics is very fashionable. Many economists remain rather sniffy about it, arguing that it often does not really add to what the discipline already knows. But one of its...
What Brexit means for globalisation
In this short video from the FT, four economists discuss what the Brexit vote might mean for globalisation
How we make Decisions
Last week, I caught a re-run of a BBC Horizon programme entitled 'How You Really Make Decisions', which remains available to watch on the BBC iPlayer as well as being accessed from the Youtube link...
What trade model is for Britain and EU27?
What trade model might eventually emerge for Britain and the EU? In this FT video Martin Sandhu explores some of the options. One thing is certain, the UK currently lacks hundreds of trained and...
This is a remarkable photographic resource for students and teachers wanting to understand more about inequality in South Africa.
Economics Quiz of the Week
Here's a quick six question 'quiz of the week' for next Monday's Economics classes. The resource is a Powerpoint file with questions but also has all 6 questions on one slide if you preferred a...
Impact of Brexit on finances
The unexpected – and unplanned for – Leave vote cast when over 70% of the UK electorate last week turned out to vote has cast financial markets and Forex markets into meltdown, given a virtual...