Unit 1 Micro: Revision Presentation on Externalities
Here is a short revision presentation on externalities streamed using Slide Share
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Market Failure Glossary
This blog provides a glossary of many key market failure terms
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Public Bads
A public bad is the opposite of a public good – it provides disutility or dis-satisfaction to people when consumed and therefore reduces our economic welfare.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Revision Blogs on Markets and Intervention
Here is a selection of a recent blog resources on topics that appear on the core Unit 1 Syllabus focusing on changing market prices and examples of interventions to address perceived market failures
read more...»musical negative externalities
An amusing musical clip to introduce or revise negative externalities associated with fly tipping, private costs, social costs, spillover costs, and a discussion of policy options.
Michael Flanders was the father of Stephanie Flanders, the BBC Economics Correspondent.
Unit 1 Micro: Climate Change Policies - Finding the Right Mix
There are many different market failures when it comes to understanding some of the key environmental problems and challenges of the age. Addressing, attacking and correcting for complex and multiple market failures requires pointing to different policy instruments / interventions. Together can they make a sizeable difference to consumer and business behaviour and lead us away from a “business as usual” approach?
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Externalities - Deepwater Horizon 2 Years On
This short Al Jazeerah report looks at the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the impact it continues to have on the regional fishing industry. Two years since oil company BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in a massive oil spill, fishermen in the region are still suffering. The explosion killed 11 people and resulted in the worst accidental offshore oil spill in US history.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Revision Question on Road Tolls
I have put together a unit 1 micro markets and market failure question focusing on the economics of motorway congestion and road tolls. It is available as a pdf download if colleagues would like to take a look. I will post some suggested answers in a few days and link back to this blog.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Ban on cigarette display advertising
In a fresh move to reduce consumption of cigarettes, legislation has come in force banning the displays of cigarettes for sale in large retail stores. The display ban will apply to shops of more than 280 sq m (3,014 sq ft). Newsagents and small stores can display cigarettes until 2015, giving them time to refit shelves and cabinets.. It is part of the armoury of interventions that have been tried over the years to change consumer behavioural - from real terms increases in cigarette taxes to bans on advertising and ever-stronger advertising and health campaigns. The focus of the ban is to influence younger smokers by removing cigarettes from point of sale display - will it be effective?
This news report below from Al Zajeerah looks at the new measure
read more...»Unit 2 Macro: Brazilian Growth and Sustainability
A short BBC news video here on rapid growth and development in the Brazilian city of Manaus, on the banks of the Amazon river. A new bridge across the world’s biggest river and a healthy manufacturing sector are providing many new jobs. But what of the ecological challenges and threats that this creates?
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Market Failure in Private Health Care
The supply of health care in the UK is an important economic, social and political issue. Demand for health care treatments grows year by year as the population expands, ages and as incomes rise. For millions of people private health care is regarded as a necessity even though the NHS provides a vast range of services free at the point of use. Treatments such as cosmetic surgery, hand surgery, laser eye treatment, physiotherapy, weight loss services and hip and knee replacements are offered by a range of private sector providers in addition to state health care facilities.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: The Collapsing Price of Carbon
The price of carbon emissions permits inside the EU’s emissions trading system has fallen to a record low. A sharp fall in total CO2 emissions in Europe has been the driving factor behind the fall in the carbon price. Last year Germany’s CO2 emissions fell by 1.2% and the UK saw a 7.2% reduction. The overall decline in the 27 country ETS was 2.4% in 2011 causing the carbon price to drop below 7 Euros per tonne.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Nottingham introduces workplace parking tax
Nottingham has become the first major city in the UK to introduce a compulsory workplace parking levy (WPL). Businesses in Nottingham with more than 10 parking spaces will have to pay an annual charge to the council of £288-per-space.
Critics of the scheme argue that the levy will add to costs and damage profits at a time when the local economy is struggling to drag itself out of recession. They believe that the levy will be an unfair extra charge for people who work shifts or live in areas without adequate public transport have to drive. The Taxpayers’ Alliance which is a fierce critic of what they see as inefficient local government opposes the WPL and say that 96% of Nottingham businesses in the area oppose the charge, with 62% of those businesses claiming that they would now consider relocating their interests.
The council’s defence is that the revenue from the levy will be hypothecated - that is the money will be earmarked to help fund improvements to Nottingham’s tram system, infrastructure with long term economic benefits. Other transport projects will be allocated funding from the tax.
Pricing to ration scarce parking space is an attempt to manage demand for car use within the city centre and to tackle congestion particularly at peak periods. Other cities are said to be interested in launching similar schemes and Nottingham’s experience may well tell us how quickly it will be rolled out in the years to come. A key decision for many businesses is whether to pass on the charge to their employees.
How will the charge be likely to affect:
1/ Demand for city park and ride schemes?
2/ Demand for Nottingham’s tram system?
3/ Demand for tele-working among Nottingham’s businesses
4/ Profits for businesses with more than 10 workers inside the parking levy area?
5/ Demand for public car parks
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The 21st IEA Hayek Memorial Lecture
Last week I attended the IEA Hayek Memorial lecture, given by Elinor Ostrom, Nobel laureate, on common resources and looking beyond government regulation.
The lecture took two parts: a presentation from Professor Ostrom, which was mainly focused on the research methodology, and a Q&A session, where anecdotal research evidence was more forthcoming.
read more...»Minimum beer prices, May not be the solution for binge drinking.
Teresa May has copied Nicola Sturgeon’s proposals for minimum prices of alcohol which appeared in Scotland last year. Last year’s budget had significant increases in excise duties on stronger beer, lager and cider.
This resource from the Centre For Policy Studies may help pupils and teachers to evaluate different forms of government intervention and their effectiveness.
Unit 1 Micro: Unintended Consequences of the Smoking Ban
Here is an example of the law of unintended consequences where unlikely side-effect is a thoroughly welcome positive spillover effect. Researchers are finding that the number of premature births and exceptionally under-weight babies in Scotland is falling - watch this video - and then consider why this might be happening.
Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places, followed by Wales, Northern Ireland and England in 2007. Several years on, nearly one-in-five of mothers to be still smoke - how sad.
Unit 1 Micro: Ten Approaches to Curbing Binge Drinking
Economics is a social science involving the study of human behaviour. we know that binge drinking is an economic and social issue that probably requires a range of policy interventions to address effectively over time. This BBC news magazine article offer ten policy prescriptions - students can easily add to the catalogue - but provides a really good example of how to build good evaluation into an AS micro market failure / government failure question.
The Economics of Climate Change - Stern 5 Years On
Lord Nick Stern tonight gave the first of three lectures on the ethics and economics of climate change as the annual lecture series in honour of Lionel Robbins started at the LSE.
It is over five years since the publication of the Stern Report and much has happened in the intervening period. Stern however was at pains to emphasise that his core message remained undimmed, namely that the costs of inaction are enormous but the costs of early action to cut emissions are manageable. We have seen in recent years rapid technological change much of which is hugely encouraging in taking us closer to de-coupling the relationship between production and consumption and carbon emissions. But more is needed, Stern is arguing in these three lectures for a new industrial revolution, a deep set of changes to production processes and technologies that happens across every sector. The economics and politics of how progress might be made in moving towards a new revolution will be the focus of the second and third lectures.
LECTURE 1 - Tuesday 21 February 2012
What we risk and how we should cast the economics and ethics
LECTURE 2 - Wednesday 22 February 2012
How we can respond and prosper
LECTURE 3 - Thursday 23 February 2012
How we can get there: building national and international action
China bans its airlines from paying EU carbon tax
On 1st January this year, the EU introduced an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions. They estimate that this will add between 2 and 12 euros to flight tickets. Airlines are required to purchase emissions permits, like utilities and heavy industry in the EU, and airlines that do not comply face fines of 100 euros for each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted for which they have not surrendered allowances. In the case of persistent offenders, the EU has the right to ban airlines from its airports.
read more...»Unit 3 Micro: Video Resources on Carbon Taxation
The crucial issue of how best to tackle climate change and make significant progress towards a low-carbon economy is one that gives students tremendous opportunities to hone their analysis and evaluation skills. A few weeks ago the Australian government was successful in getting through the Senate proposals for a new carbon tax and in this blog we link to some excellent video reports on the background to this decision.
read more...»Russia’s monopoly power over gas supplies
It has been a bit chilly in the UK for the last few days, but nothing compared to the temperatures as low as -35 which have hit parts of central and eastern Europe. Of course, they are used to far colder winters than us, and have different ways of dealing with the weather, but reliance on gas supplies from Russia for the majority of their heating fuel leaves countries including Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia vulnerable to disruption in that supply.
read more...»Externalities in Action- TED Talk
I’ve just found this fascinating video from the amazing TED website which is an excellent example to show how ‘the market’ can can be used to solve an external cost
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Illegal logging and the human cost
This news report looks at the human cost of an example of the tragedy of the commons - illegal logging in the south Philippines which contributed to tens of deaths from the effects of flash flooding. Ecosystems and economic prospects are damaged at the same time because of failures in environmental management.
read more...»Externalities in song
I was listening to the radio this morning, and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ was playing. This led me on to an interesting idea for thinking about externalities.
read more...»Externalities Cartoon
KAL, The Economist’s cartoonist, has produced an excellent cartoon in the latest issue perfect for a discussion of a very topical externalities issue in North America. And one that has also been ‘causing tremors’ in the news over here too!
read more...»Petrol, tax, and the downward sloping demand curve.
Nearly every country has a tax on petrol, although the amount varies widely. And given that the landed price of petrol is quite similar (see the graph below), it can be seen what effect the tax has on quantity demanded. The results are very much in line what economic theory would predict and there are also clear implications for countries that want to reduce petrol consumption.
read more...»Unit 3 Micro: World’s Largest Solar Plant Opens
This autumn the world’s biggest solar plant power station opened in Spain. Comprising 600,000 parabolic mirrors, the Andasol 3 CSP plant is the size of 70 soccer fields and has 88km of piping. The economies of scale are huge and if solar power is going to work and be viable anywhere it is probably here or in North Africa.
read more...»Unit 3 Micro: Prezi on Environmental Economics
This term I am teaching some environmental economics to my A2 groups. The link below provides access to a Prezi on aspects of environmental issues such as the Tragedy of the Commons and the economics of waste and pollution. I will be updating and extending the Prezi as I develop the lessons. I hope that it is useful. I will try to include as many examples as I can on European and Global issues to do with environmental issues - the beauty of a Prezi of course is the flexibility of ordering course materials and the chance to embed lots of vivid You Tube clips and images into the resource.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Revision MC Questions on Negative Externalities
Here is a quick and short revision quiz on negative externalities created usign Zondle
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Prezi on the Economics of Negative Externalities
This blog provides a link to a constantly updated revision Prezi on negative externalities and market failure - designed for students taking AS Microeconomics Unit 1 and those studying externalities for the IB Diploma. The Prezi contains lots of short news videos on examples of externalities. Click on the link below to access the Prezi.
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