Category
Topic updates
Behavioural Economics - Battling Obesity
The long struggle against smoking is the model for tackling obesity according to Simon Kuper in this article from the Financial Times.
Salaries, incentives and the principal agent problem
Following the disclosure of the salaries at the BBC, it has hardly seemed possible to open a newspaper or switch on the television without being bombarded by stories about pay.
Are cash-rich companies holding back economic growth?
The slow recovery since the financial crisis remains a dominant issue in both political and economic debate.
China in Africa - A Changing Landscape
China's evolving economic and political influence in Africa is the subject of constant analysis and discussion.
Economics of the Gig Economy
To mark the publication of the Taylor Report on Employment Practices in the Modern Economy, we are curating a set of study resources for students and teachers on the economics of the Gig Economy.
Pension Crisis Threatens Young
Actuaries and economists are in agreement. Rising longevity means that people born this year are projected to live - on average - to more than a hundred. But pensions systems designed for more than...
African data as you've never seen it before
Data Africa is an open source agriculture, climate, poverty, and health visualization engine. Data Africa isualizes economic, production, & health data for 13 African Countries - a great data...
Cities and Inequality
Perhaps George Osborne’s most abiding legacy from his time as Chancellor will be the creation of the concept of the Northern Powerhouse. Certainly Manchester, its principal focus, is booming.
This article evaluates the causes of Germany's large external trade surplus and considers ways in which Germany might adjust their trade position for example by increasing infrastructure spending...
Norway's Electric Car Success
Richard Milne from the Financial Times looks at the Norwegian success in adopting electric cars - starting by looking at the world's largest charging station and then considering the policy...
Managing the National Debt
Drawing on over 320 years of data on UK government debt, economist Andrew Scott considers why government debt increases and whether different types of debt should be used to fund government...
Globalisation: Why Average Isn't Good Enough
A short but very astute and relevant video here on the distributional effects of trade liberalisation / globalisation. Sergey Nigai (winner of the Austin Robinson Prize) finds that using data...
Debt vs. Equity: The Shifting Moods of Business Finance
Debt finance is increasingly attractive to many companies not least because of tax advantages and historically low interest rates. Fewer companies are going public to raise capital - a problem for...
Should we worry about the death of cash?
What would be the consequences of removing cash from society altogether? Martin Wolf, the chief economics commentator, gives his view on the cashless society.
A succinct summary (and a 6 minute video) of the key UK macro numbers ahead of the exams!
This article from the Wall Street Journal is superbly relevant for any exam question that asks students to evaluate the economic impact of a currency depreciation. The rising level of import...
Productivity Matters!
Productivity is not just some abstract concept from economic theory. It has huge practical implications. Ultimately, it determines living standards
Surge pricing comes to the supermarket
This is a really interesting article from the Guardian about the rise of dynamic pricing by supermarkets - drawing on the power of big data and ubiquitous mobile technology to personalise prices...
Why Can’t Economists Sell Free Trade?
Two centuries on from the emergence of the idea of comparative advantage as the basis for specialisation and trade, why does it remain hard to sell the idea of free trade?
Explaining the Dominant Currency Paradigm
The dominant currency paradigm is about the fact that the US dollar matters a huge amount in setting the prices at which trade takes place in the global economy.