Beyond the Bike - conflict minerals and smartphones
This week Stuart and Claire dipped into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with their bikes. In particular, they were interested in exploring the start of the supply chain for raw materials...
Um Bongo: a spotlight on modern social and economic behaviour
Readers who either had young children or were children themselves in the 1980s will recall the Um Bongo jingle. The advert assured us it was drunk in the Congo. A survey published last week to mark...
Mazzucato's Manifesto!
Mariana's Manifesto! Mariana Mazzucato is undoubtedly one of the economists of the moment. Her 2013 book The Entrepreneurial State is pretty much required reading I think for ambitious sixth form...
Eight radical tax ideas for cash-strapped finance ministers!
An almost perfect article to use for classroom discussion! Take the role of a cash-strapped finance minister and rank these eight ideas for raising extra tax revenues. How well does each perform...
IMF warns higher interest rates might trigger a new financial crisis
This is one of those big picture macro news stories that is worth a read because of the assertion that a huge rise in corporate borrowing (aka debt) by businesses in emerging countries has meant...
Copper prices collapse to a six year low
The Chinese slowdown is an important factor behind the slump in world commodity prices and copper is no exception. Prices have collapsed to a six year low and might well be the catalyst for the...
African governments issue more sovereign bonds
A growing number of African governments are going to the bond markets to raise funds for example to facilitate infrastructure projects. Typically the interest rate (or yield) on newly issued bonds...
Technology cuts insurance costs for young drivers
A brilliant article here from BBC news demonstrating the importance of information in allowing markets to function efficiently. In this case, the market is for car insurance and careful young...
Disruptive technologies - 12 of the best
This article rocks and I heartily recommend that students interested in the broader concept of creative destruction take time out to have a read. From autonomous vehicles to cloud computing and...
Can India join China as an economic superpower?
We have been using the data from the WEF Global Competitiveness Index as part of our early early work this term on globalisation, patterns of trade and competitiveness. The new 2015-16 data is out...
Sustainable Development Goals - Decent Work
It is estimated that over 600 million new jobs need to be created by 2030, just to keep pace with the growth of the global working age population. That’s around 40 million per year. We also need to...
Africa - Why Economists Get It Wrong
This is a video of a panel discussion held at the UK ODI on a paper on Africa - Why Economists Get It Wrong.
The Future of Cash
Money is a broad concept defined by the functions it performs such as being a medium of exchange and a store of value. Most money in the UK is held electronically but around 3% is held in cash in...
Economists Are Finally Reconnecting With The Real World
This article actually dates from early in 2015 but having discovered and read it I will be directing my ambitious Economists to it because it raises some interesting areas of applied policy...
1700 jobs go as Redcar steel plant is mothballed
The dynamic nature of comparative advantage demonstratedby the decision to 'mothball' the SSI plant in Redcar. Yes, negative regional multiplier effect may be triggered but that's the nature of...
Obesity rates in the United States
In 1980, no US state had an obesity rate above 15 percent - how things change!
Is This The End Of The Chinese Economic Boom?
Ed Conway from Sky news has a happy and uncanny knack of getting to the pith and gist of an issue in his short reports. He did a brilliant piece on Greece last year and now he reflects on a week...
UK regional property divide widens
Crikey! Lots of economics here: issues regarding labour market flexibility, inequality of wealth, the implications for the local economies concerned and so on. My only observation is that the...
Labour's new panel of economic advisers
The new Labour leadership is getting external economic advice from smart people. Labour has appointed some fellow travellers by appointing a cluster of economists who will meet once every three...
Labour and Economic Credibility
Larry Elliott writes here on the task that faces the Labour Party if it is to re-establish itself as a credible rival to the Conservative Party. In large part, it summarises some of the other...