Can a new currency help Somalia
In a country where no new bank notes have been printed for over 39 years, can a new currency help Somalia to re-establish a financial system to support growth and help lift people out of extreme...
The impact of trade and globalisation
There is a great analytical piece on the impact of trade on the Economist website from the weekend. In particular, it examines the impact of imports into the US from China on US manufacturing.
Cartels: The Quebec Maple Syrup Cartel
Quebec has 7,500 mostly family-run farms – who produce 70% of world supply of maple syrup. Since 1990 producers have been required to hand over the bulk of what they produce to the Federation of...
Chinese Economic Reform - An Overview
These are pivotal times for the Chinese economy. Structural reforms of their institutions, labour and financial markets are high on the agenda of the Chinese government and many of them are seen as...
Grimsby - The Renewable Capital of Britain
A blustery hat tip to Matt Smith for spotting this superb contextual example in the Independent of the partial economic renaissance being seen in the east coast port of Grimsby.
Halting the Yuan slide - Reserves dim sum
Armed with a huge stock of reserves of foreign currency, the People's Bank of China has been intervening heavily in a bid to soften the downward slide in the external value of the Yuan. The BBC...
Economists must never ignore the human factor
Several members of the Tutor2u teacher community have alerted me to this excellent, thought-provoking article from Tim Garton-Ash on the challenges to Economics as an academic discipline nearly ten...
Chinese slowdown - the human cost for migrant workers
This video from Reuters highlights the precarious existence of migrant workers as the Chinese economy slows down: as the piece highlights, workers are increasingly seen as criminals rather than...
Falling oil prices and disappearing rigs
This BBC article puts the impact of low oil prices in a Scottish context, suggesting that the current price levels are such that a number of rigs are going to be shut down in the near future. This,...
Market Failure and Behavioural Policies - Research Assignment
A seasonal hat tip to my colleagues in the economics department at school for this tremendous idea for a slightly different research project to promote independent learning and stronger evaluation...
Argentina looks to re-enter world capital markets
The new government in Argentina has made an offer to the hedge funds holding heavily discounted Argentinian sovereign debt in a bid to resolve the long-running dispute between Argentina and western...
Are economics degrees fit for purpose?
The Post-Crash Economics Society (PCES) has produced a report condemning the state of economics teaching in many universities, supported by economists at the Bank of England - less of the...
Zambian economy and the OCR F585 paper
As part of the Beyond the Bike project, I have been putting together learning resources to support the BtB journey - but many of these are also useful for teachers covering the OCR F585 June 2016...
TPP is signed! What do trade agreements do?
The signing of the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2016 raises once again the topical issue of trade agreements and their economic and social benefits...
Three-O2 Merger Plans Under Scrutiny
The Three-O2 merger is at a very delicate stage: it's clear that OFCOM have serious reservations about the merger largely because of its effects on concentration in the mobile market. However,...
A Eurosceptic View - Roger Bootle on the Trouble with Europe
Roger Bootle is a well-known economist with euro sceptic views on the future of the European Union. In this one hour lecture delivered at the University of Leeds in the spring of 2015, he outlines...
The gender price gap battle continues
The "pink pricing" outrage that has hit consumers over the last week seems to be ramping up, with more examples coming to light of consumers paying more for the 'feminised' version of products.
The power of drug cartels
This TED talk on the power of drug cartels in Mexico is a combination of fascinating and dark material - a powerful insight into the externalities associated with the drug market, as well as an...
GoPro's revenue growth is slowing as rivals enter the market
Perhaps it was inevitable. The phenomenal success of the GoPro product has been much heralded in the last couple of years and the business went public with an IPO in 2014. But there is evidence...
Sainsburys agrees a deal with Home Retail (Argos)
What are the commercial / strategic factors behind the agreed deal between Sainsburys and Home Retail? A takeover has been agreed that values Home Retail, the owner of Argos, at about £1.3bn. But...