Fantasy Economics for AS and A2 students!
Are you are a creative literature type who’s stumbled into economics? Here's a way to enliven your interest with novels that illustrate the key theory behind dry concepts such as monetary policy...
Behavioural Economics and Economic Thinking
In this article I explain how behavioural economics relates to orthodox thinking. In 2002 Daniel Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in behavioural economics. His Thinking, Fast and...
Liverpool FC, Dele Alli and Diseconomies of Scale
A recent news story on how Liverpool missed out on the signing of Tottenham’s Dele Alli offers a good example of diseconomies of scale in a large football club such as Liverpool.
Revision Slides on Price Discrimination and Economic Efficiency
Here are the slides from my live revision session on price discrimination
Council votes to charge people to run in a local park
Has the world - or at least a tiny corner of Bristol - gone completely mad? Councillors in Little Stoke Park have voted 6 to 4 to charge Parkrun for the right to operate their weekly Saturday 5k...
How Negative Interest Rates Work
Will more countries move into a world of negative interest rates and if so, who will be the winners and losers. Central banks who have cut rates below zero are in search of a strategy to get people...
The Digital Economy and Problems in Measuring GDP
The level of GDP may fall even though the quantity of goods and services that we are consuming is increasing. This is one of the ironies of the switch to the digital products largely provided by...
Views of Economists on Brexit
Here is a selection of short interviews with leading academic economists on the issue of Brexit. The interviews on Brexit were recorded at the Royal Economic Society annual conference at The...
Why the Minimum Wage Worked
It is nearly twenty years since the landmark research of Card and Krueger on the effects of minimum wages on employment in US fast food restaurants argued that higher wages might lead to a rise in...
Answering Supported Multiple Choice in Unit 3 Economics
Here is a revision presentation on some handy techniques for answering the supported multiple choice paper for Unit 3 Economics (EdExcel).
The Impact of rising house prices
The Halifax has calculated that the average rise in house prices in the UK was 10% for 2015. House price rises in the UK appear to be a double-edged sword - for those who own their own home a...
Should the UK Government support the British Steel Industry?
What are the competing arguments for and against government intervention to support the steel industry during these difficult times? If intervention is justified, what forms should it take and will...
Unlikely Events - Lessons for Economists from Art and Sport
Life imitates art, as the sporting world has shown this week. The Grand National was won by a horse which had never previously won a steeplechase. The US golf Masters was won by Danny Willett, who...
OCR F585 Economics - Extract 5
This revision presentation covers aspects of Extract 5 for the OCR F585 Global Economy paper - the main focus is on the structural (supply-side) issues facing the Zambian economy. The presentation...
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has told European regulators that they should block the merger of mobile phone network providers O2 and Three in the UK. For those of you looking for an...
The Current Account and our Imperial Legacy
On the day that George Osborne received some good news on economic growth, figures were released on the current account that showed in the last quarter of 2015 the deficit was 7% of GDP.
Inequality breeds protectionism argues Lagarde
In a speech in Germany this week, the Head of the IMF Christine Lagarde has argued that persistently slow growth and rising inequality are factors encouraging protectionist sentiment. She wants...
OCR F585 June 2016 Key Definitions
This resource brings together many of the key definitions for the June 2016 OCR F585 Global Economy paper.
The Economic Cost of Water Scarcity
A new report from WaterAid highlights the many millions of people who live without access to safe water and also the disproportionate cost for the poorest communities of paying for water supplies.
Primary Dependency - Focus on Angola
The Angolan economy is hugely dependent on the extraction and exporting of crude oil. With with global prices remaining stubbornly low their economy is suffering from a steep decline in export...