Beyond the Bike Lesson Resource: roads and development
One of the Beyond the Bike resources this week encourages students to practise their quantitative skills and analyse the possible relationship between road quality and the level of development in...
Jamie Oliver calls for Sugar Tax on Soft Drinks
This is an interesting clip: Evan Davis interviewing Jamie Oliver about the possible introduction of a Sugar Tax. Jamie - who looks less boyish these days - addressed the Commons Health Select...
Challenges facing the UK Steel Industry
This is a curation of resources on the economic difficulties facing the UK steel industry. Plant closures and job losses have dominated the headlines in recent weeks. Is there a sufficiently strong...
The Trouble with Financial Bubbles
Howard Davies, the widely known, current Chairman of RBS, looks here in this piece for the Guardian at how the job of central banks might have changed in the aftermath of the financial crisis....
Solar industry attacks UK energy policy
The solar industry is in a bit of turmoil at the moment, with three UK firms announcing that they were planning to close in the last week alone. However, whilst I have some sympathy for them given...
Corporate Mismanagement at VW
This Lucy Marcus piece for Project Syndicate is blunt in its assessment of corporate mismanagement at VW: "A fish rots from the head". Quite so.
Surging demand for sweet potatoes
They say that one of the major benefits of trade is increased choice. And it's true but we might not have to look as far afield for sweet potatoes in future.
Has Britain coped better than in previous recessions?
This Larry Elliott piece in The Guardian gives a remarkably measured view of the recession that we've just emerged from, and effectively concludes that if you laid all the economists in the world...
Timpson's Upside School of Management Model!
A brilliant and a must read for students of business economics. I love the upside down theory of management - put customers first and management at the bottom.
China should avoid an economic meltdown
Anatole Kaletsky with a more optimistic view of the way forward for China - arguing that the government seems to have regained a grip of the economy.
Angus Deaton - The Skeptical Optimist
This is one of those articles that I would like all of my student economists to read! John Cassidy always writes beautifully and a search through his archive will also unearth some more gems.
A Critique of the World Bank
Risk averse, massively over-staffed, uber-sensitive to criticism of their flagship projects and with multi-million dollar expense accounts in stark contrast to their original mission - this article...
Tanzania - New Mega Port under Construction
Investment in infrastructure to support increasing intra-regional as well as global trade flows is crucial to sustaining development in emerging countries in sub Saharan Africa.
Dynamic efficiency - oil cartridges for vehicles
Dynamic efficiency at work here in the motor industry. Castrol are developing a cartridge system for changing the oil - a slick example to add to your contextual knowledge! Just as long as they...
Evidence on persistent poverty in the UK
Contextual data on the scale and depth of poverty in the UK is important when evaluating questions on how best to measure changes in the standard of living.
Ford's high-tech factory and ostrich feathers
This excellent piece from the BBC news channel looks at the efficiency gains being accumulated in Ford's new 'mega factory' in Valencia. It highlights the marginal gains that Ford have been able to...
Cities with Highest and Lowest Taxi Fares
This infographic from the people at Statista would make for a terrific stimulus to classroom discussion. A taxi journey is a fairly homogenous service from city to city across the world, but the...
Creative Destruction - Uber App Declared Lawful
By no means, game set and match but a victory for 'creative destruction' and innovators everywhere as Uber's app is declared lawful in the High Court. Expect legal challenges aplenty, but it would...
Monopoly and Welfare: Over-pricing for school uniforms
Proof that the Competition and Markets Authority looks at all sorts of markets: in this case, it's the market for school uniform that has come under scrutiny and the regulators have written to...
China's Economy and the Global Steel Industry
China is now exporting more than 100 million tonnes of steel per year at prices which are below the cost of production. This is according to a report on Sky Business news and it raises an important...