Gender pay gap driving UK inequality
More evidence here of the interlinked nature of an economy: the causes of inequality are complex - the gender pay gap and a lack of access to education being the major causes according to the World...
Preventing sunburn by changing habits
This info-packed piece from the BBC is full of great behavioural economics insights into how we can reduce the number of people getting sunburnt.
Amazon's Costly Fire Phone Flop
Stick to selling things rather than making them. That might be the message for Jeff Bezos and his team at Amazon after they decided to abandon their attempt to enter the increasingly contestable...
Kicking the Habit - Smoking Rates Increasing in 40 Countries
The UK, US and Australia have had much success in lowering rates of smoking. However, smoking rates in other countries remain stubbornly high and in around 40 countries are actually rising!This...
What books would you recommend to your economics students?
I posed this question on twitter a couple of days ago and lots of teachers and graduating students got in touch with their suggestions. Here is a flavour of them. I'll happily add to the list if...
Buy It Now!
Most of us have used eBay, and I bet that the way we have used it has changed over time, as we don't bid as frequently in auctions and rely on the Buy It Now feature instead. This is a great...
How did China become a global superpower?
As A2 students start to return to their studies, now is a great time to grab their attention and move them on to considering the global element to their economics. This super iWonder storyboard...
Assumptions in Economics
If you’re starting Economics, you will perhaps be starting to think about some of the limitations of a social science. Unlike physicists, economists don’t have a laboratory in which they can...
Beyond the Bike - An Enrichment Project
Looking for something a bit different to engage and inspire your economics students this academic year? Why not follow the Beyond the Bike adventure of Stuart Block and Claire le Hur, and use our...
Hitachi opens train plant in County Durham
This is another boost to the economic fortunes of the North East. Hot on the heels of a new £100m investment in car manufacturing from Nissan, Hitachi have opened their train plant at Newton...
Scottish Minimum Price for Alcohol Faces Delay
This is a fascinating story, demonstrating the complexity of policymaking, and asking lots of evaluative questions, both of the Scottish government but also of economists. Read: Alcohol price plans...
British Housing Crisis Threatens Economic Growth
Vicky Pryce is a vastly experienced economist with a strong reputation for her work in competition policy. In this piece for the Guardian, Pryce returns to a familiar theme for students aware of...
Nissan invests £100m into the Sunderland plant
Important news for the North East economy. Nissan has announced a £100m investment in their car plant at Washington, Tyne and Wear which will safeguard thousands of jobs at the plant itself and...
Course Companions for Year 1 (AS) of the New A Level Economics
Geoff's superb Course Companions for the Year 1 (AS) teaching content of the new A Level Economics specifications are now completed.
Teacher PowerPoints for Year 1 (AS) of the New A Level Economics
Our range of topic PowerPoints for the Year 1 (AS) teaching content for the new A Level Economics specifications is now completed and available for immediate despatch to teaching colleagues.
Housing - Generation Rent is Out of Luck
In this piece from the Guardian, Home shortage and lending rules, Patrick Collinson identifies the real causes of higher UK house prices, higher rents and more exploitative behaviour within the...
Have we reached peak globalisation
Duncan Weldon BBC Newnight's Economics Editor is on fine form in this extended piece on threats to the process of globalisation. World trade in goods and services is now growing at the slowest pace...
Nudge Theory - how to stop people dropping litter?
I have been watching this short video today on litter left behind by skiers at a Swiss resort. It has coincided with a day when I have been curating a couple of resources on 'Nudge Theory' for our...
Steep Rise in Zero Hours Contracts in the UK
744,000 people were estimated to be working on zero hours contracts in the UK labour during the summer of 2015. 155,000 of these were categorised in 'Caring, Leisure And Other Service Occupations'...
How important is China to the UK economy?
The ONS has produced this excellent information piece on the growing importance of trade and investment with China for the UK. Highly recommended as background reading for students and teachers....