Sustainability - How Bioplastic Is Made From Avocado Waste
This Business Insider clip looks at the increasing popularity of avocados, and the possibility of using avocado pits (i.e. seeds) to make bioplastics that are more environmentally friendly than a...
Avoiding the sunk cost fallacy - Alphabet abandons Loon
Alphabet has decided to scrap its balloon company Loon, designed to increase internet access through launching giant balloons to beam the internet to remote areas.
The problem is poverty, however we label it
This is a really insightful piece that highlights the multi-dimensional aspects of poverty in the UK.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced that the UK government borrowed £34.1 billion last month - the highest December figure on record.
Economics Weekly Quiz - 22 January 2021
Here's our weekly economics news quiz.
Household debt: Workers borrowed more in 2020 to prop up incomes
An ONS study suggests that nine million UK workers had to borrow money to help them cope with lower incomes last year as a result of being furloughed or a reduction in hours.
The return of low-deposit mortgages
This personal finance story is of interest; it implies that mortgage lenders in the housing market can see the future direction of travel, after the Stamp Duty holiday ends, and are gearing up to...
The TUC, the federation of trade unions in England and Wales, highlights that in every industry where there have been job losses, BME workers have been more likely to be made unemployed.
Covid-19 speeds up the decline of cash
An increasing number of businesses are turning cashless as a result of the pandemic and the closure of many local bank branches.
Monopsony: Big businesses told to speed up payments to small suppliers
In strengthening the Prompt Payment Code, the UK government seem to be striking at the monopsony power of larger firms when it comes to paying smaller suppliers.
China's economy bucks the global trend
It seems that China will be the only major economy to grow in 2020, with the data claiming that the country experienced annual growth of 2.3% last year, as a result of strict pandemic restrictions...
What is Africa's Great Green Wall?
Thus clip looks at the creation of a Great Green Wall in Africa, designed to reduce the negative externalities of desertification and offset the adverse effects of the overuse of common access...
Economics Weekly Quiz - 15 January 2021
Here's our first weekly economics news quiz for 2021.
Planet on course for “catastrophic” rise in temperatures say scientists
BBC News carried a piece last night that highlighted the fact that 2020 was one of the hottest years on record.
The fiscal multiplier of $2 trillion of stimulus spending
Here is a terrific piece in the Guardian from Professor Barry Eichengreen on whether the new Biden administration would be better spending $2 trillion on stimulus cheques to US households or use...
UK economy might be facing the darkest hour
The Governor of the Bank of England has sounded a cautionary note - suggesting that the economy is facing its "darkest hour" after the introduction of a new lockdown.
General purpose technologies and the productivity gap
One of the most depressing aspects of the decade of the 2010s, well before Covid struck, was the apparently slow growth in productivity.
Could covid-19 cause an inflation spike?
The Economist looks at the nature of inflation - starting from the premise that recent low inflation is difficult to explain in traditional theoretical terms.
In Praise of Scientists
The speed of scientific innovation seems to be accelerating sharply. And it is innovation which ultimately drives our health, wealth and well-being.
If China Builds It, Will They Come?
This is a fascinating clip looking at a joint China-Kazakhstan investment project with the building of the 'largest dry port' in the world, looking to attract investment and exploit the New Silk...