Category
Topic updates
The ONS has published a series of data tweets supporting the view that the introduction of auto-enrolment into workplace pension schemes has been a success in increasing the number of people with...
Inside iPhone City - A Factory with 350,000 workers
A hat tip to Jon Inge who spotted this Business Insider report on a visit to the FoxConn complex 20 miles outside downtown Zhengzhou where more than half of the world's iPhones are assembled by a...
Small suppliers bargaining with large supermarket chains are not necessarily doomed to earn meagre profits. That is the central finding of research by Carlos Noton and Andrés Elberg, published in...
Lifting productivity growth via immigration
International migration, particularly of skilled people, is an important influence on the diffusion of knowledge across national borders, promoting export diversification in both receiving and...
Do remittances improve growth and lower poverty?
The recent surge in remittances from migrant workers to their native countries may be overestimated, according to research by Michael Clemens and David McKenzie, published in the Economic Journal.
Development - The Importance of Institutions
Institutions are key to providing sustainable, inclusive growth. This new short video from Marginal Revolution is a superb addition to their series on development policies.
I'm linking here to new research from the World Bank on the impact of privatisation as a development strategy. Good enrichment material for students looking at different approaches to development.
Ten topical labour market issues for 2018
Here is a selection of important and topical labour market issues which emphasise how important the labour market as a synoptic topic in A level economics.
Why did we sell off the railways?
The FT has this super video interviewing people on both sides of the rail nationalisation/ privatisation debate. A great resource to use as background to teaching the economics of private versus...
Perspectives on the UK housing crisis
The nature of the UK housing market crisis is unpicked in the Observer by Michael Savage, highlighting the inter-generational equity issues. The level of home ownership among millennials is far...
Innovation can challenge the digital monopolies
The hostility towards the virtual monopolies enjoyed by tech giants such as Google and Facebook reveals some strange bedfellows.
Three billion people remain reliant on traditional stoves
How many people are still reliant on traditional methods of cooking? 3 billion. Yes. Half of the world's population. And one of the simplest ways of improving cooking efficiency and reducing indoor...
Esther Duflo: Poverty Not Only Lack of Money
Esther Duflo is interviewed here for the IMF Finance and Development magazine and argues that all economic and social dimensions of poverty must be considered when implementing policies designed to...
A short FT video here on how decarbonisation will affect demand for and prices of oil, cobalt, nickel and copper among others. The growth of e-vehicles will lead to a fast growth of demand in the...
Has The Euro Failed As A Currency?
Dharshini David, author of "The Almighty Dollar" discusses why the Euro has yet to become a dominant currency. The Euro is of course a long away from being an optimal currency union.
Marine Protected Areas - A Big Success Story in Mexico
Here is a hugely positive example of how protecting natural capital can bring about a transformation of coastal waters from a marine desert into a thriving ecosystem?
How the Fed Works: After the Great Recession
This new video from Marginal Revolution looks at how the United States Federal Reserve (their central bank) has moved to use unconventional tools of monetary policy in a bid to revive the economy...
A village in Kenya is part of a trial with a universal basic income scheme in which all residents are given $20 a month for each of the next twelve years. How are people spending the money? What...
What is Premature Deindustrialization?
Tyler Cowen from Marginal Revolution explores the concept of premature deindustrialisation.
Synoptic Economics: Does FDI raise UK house prices?
Demand from foreign investors has had a significant and positive effect on UK house price growth over the last 15 years, according to research by Filipa Sá presented at the Royal Economic Society's...