Retracing the Road to Wigan Pier

Paul Mason, Newsnight’s Economics Editor embarks on a journey from London to Wigan and considers the impact that a recession that is officially only six months old is having on the labour market. I used this (7 minute) piece with my AS students this week and it proved to be an evocative video clip highlighting in particular the issues of youth unemployment, structural unemployment arising from the collapse of production and jobs in the industrial heartlands of the Black Country and the hidden aspects of the downturn among the legions of self-employed, in this case the 250,000+ mini car drivers working in the UK. Paul Mason writes about his experiences here.

A related story ..... recession (depression?) in Dublin has caused a huge rise in the number of people applying for and apparently getting licences to drive taxis in the capital. This report in the Telegraph says that Dublin now has 16,000 licensed taxis. New York, with a population 17 times as large, has 13,000…... a good example to use of how macroeconomic difficulties impacts directly on localised markets.