Teaching Opportunity - Economics at Oundle School
Exclusive news of a temporary teaching opportunity to work alongside the superb Econ team at Oundle…
read more...»Pinterest: Board on Developments in the EU Economy
Here is a new macroeconomic board drawing together news flow on key developments in the European Union economy as the continent struggles to overcome the financial, political, economic and social crisis: Pinterest European Economy Board
Unit 3 Micro: Inside the iPhone and Intellectual Property
This is a remarkable video featuring Geoff McCormick, director of UK design firm The Alloy that looks inside an iPhone at the component parts. Each and every iPhone contains thousands of patented components, ideas, designs and processes. Fantastic when teaching about the economics of intellectual property and the patent wars dominating the courts.
read more...»Pinterest: Board on Developments in the UK Economy
I am putting together a new Pinterest board on developments in the UK economy - it can be found here If any teaching colleague would like to collaborate and help maintain and grow the board please let me know.
Unit 3 Economics: Cooperation and Competition
Paul Ormerod blogs here about the growing academic interest in cooperation between businesses and within our economic system. Our discipline will move towards embracing cooperative strategies between agents in markets because often it provides a way to reduce the fragility of businesses and economic systems in an age of systemic shocks and threats. Paul links to another really interesting blog by Ed Mayo.
Unit 1 Economics: Panorama - Poor America
For those of you who missed this week’s panorama “Poor America” it is well worth 30 minutes of your time. Students often assume that a high GDP per capita always leads to the good life for all- this programme highlights inequality well.
Video clip: Poor America: ‘Some kids are making ketchup soup’
The Panorama programme on America’s poor is available to view for the next 12 months - click here
read more...»Unit 2 Macro: The Dash for Gas in Mozambique
In the last twelve months two huge discoveries of natural gas have been made in the East African country of Mozambique. The latest - a deepwater discovery - is said to hold over 210 billion cubic metres of natural gas and investment in exploiting the field could be the major cataylst for a rapid phase of growth and development for one of the world’s poorest countries. The country has large untapped oil, coal and titanium reserves in addition to the gas. According to the UK Trade and Investment body, within 15 years Mozambique could be Africa’s second largest coal producer (after South Africa) and one of the largest coal exporters in the world.
Can it benefit in a sustainable way from exporting these resources or will they prove to be a curse on development?
For many years Mozambique has been afflicted by a brutal civil war which ended in 1992 and then a series of natural disasters including floods in 2001 and 2001 which destroyed much of its infrastructure.Floods were replaced by a calamitous drought in 2002 but more recently the economy has achieved strong growth and progress in lifting people out of absolute poverty. That said, 50% of Mozambicans living on less than $1 a day, foreign aid accounts for nearly half of government spending and there remain severe doubts about whether the dividends of an export-boom in natural resources will feed through the the majority of the population.
The Mozambique government has a 10% stake in the newly-discovered gas fields, it sold a licence to the Italian company Eni to explore for new gas reserves and Eni has committed to building a multibillion-dollar liquefied natural gas terminal in the country as a distribution platform to export mainly to fast-growing Asian economies.
Other transnational companies are investing in Mozambique. Vale, a Brazilian multinational is spending over $3 billion to rebuild and extend the 425 mile Nacala railway and connect it to a deep water port so that Mozambiquan coal can be exported.
Putting the infrastructure in place will take several years and gas production on a huge scale may not start before 2016. Although new industries brings risks as well as opportunities, the potential for a step change in development in the country is enormous.
read more...»LSE talks coming up - Resuscitating the Single Market and Banks vs the Economy
Here is a link to information about two talks which have just been added to the LSE’s programme. The first is on Wednesday 29th February at 5pm; the Czech Prime Minister will be talking about potential solutions for Europe to restore growth and create jobs, and the untapped potential of the Single Market. The second is on Tuesday 3rd April at 6.30; Newsnight’s Paul Mason will be interviewing the ‘radical economist’ Professor Steve Keen who believes that “If we keep the parasitic banking sector alive, the economy dies”.
Both sound like excellent extension opportunities for keen students. They are free and open to all but you do need to apply for tickets; follow links from the LSE link above to apply for them. For those who are unable to get to the LSE to attend them, they are likely to be available as podcasts later; again follow the link above for details.
Economics Revision Workshops - Session Topics
The workshop booklets and supporting materials for the intensive one-day revision workshops are now on the way to the printers! We have been really busy this week finalising our programme of revision exercises and updates for both the AS Economics and A2 Economics workshops, which for Spring 2012 have a macroeconomics focus.
The session titles are outlined below. Bookings can still be made using this link
Please note that we permit Year 13 students to attend on their own (or in small groups).
AS Economics
Session 1: Recession and Recovery – Understanding the Economic Cycle
Session 2: Inflation and Unemployment- Conflicting Objectives?
Session 3: Monetary Policy and Economic Performance
Session 4: Fiscal Policy and Supply-side Policies
Session 5: Exam Technique in AS macro
A2 Economics
Session 1: Prospects for the UK Economy
Session 2: Monetary and Fiscal Policy Economics
Session 3: Trade Imbalances and Exchange Rate Economics
Session 4: The Euro Zone Crisis
Session 5: Session Focusing on Exam Technique
The latest availability for these workshops can be found here;
Please note that we normally receive a significant number of new bookings in the days immediately after half-term. So please contact us as soon as possible to arrange your places.
Economics at University: Conditional Offers
Here is my latest updated version of conditional offers in Economics for a wide range of UK universities. I am grateful to colleagues from many schools who have helped with recent news of conditional grade offers. I am happy to revise as and when new information becomes available
read more...»econoMAX - latest edition now available
The latest edition of econoMAX, our digital magazine for A Level Economics students and teachers, is now available to subscribers on the econoMAX website. Details of the latest articles below.
School / college subscriptions to econoMAX remain at just £50 per year (for the 7th year running!) - your subscription allows whole-school access and distribution of econoMAX articles, including the entire archive dating back to 2004.
You can order your subscription to econoMAX here.
read more...»Recommended Reading for Economics (February 2012)
Here is my regularly revised and updated selection of thirty books designed to enhance and enrich your understanding and enjoyment of Economics perhaps as part of an application process for university. I try to ensure that no author appears more than once; some books are due for publication later this spring and summer. Inevitably I have had to leave out many very good books but I stick to my thirty limit! I hope that you enjoy some of them!
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - Economics (Part-time) at John Lyon School (Harrow)
Many thanks to Stuart Foster for pointing out this nice part-time opportunity for a tutor2u economics teacher to join the thriving Economics department at John Lyon School. Need to move quickly on this one folks!
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - HOD Economics and Business Studies - City of London Freemen’s School
Many thanks to Penny Brooks for letting us have news of this terrific HOD role for Economics/Business Studies in the beautiful Surrey countryside…
read more...»Economics and Business News Quiz 6 February
Here is our weekly ten question quiz on economics and business in the news powered by Zondle. See who can get the highest score on the Space Destroyer game. Just register for free to try the quiz
read more...»Daniel Kahneman on decision-making
Here is a quick link to a guest blog on the Economist website provided by Daniel Kahneman - a handy overview of some of his key insights concerning psychological explanations for departures from rationality. Follow this link
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...»Unit 1 Micro: Winning the War on Deforestation
Justin Rowlatt from the BBC has been investigating some of the remarkable progress being made in controlling deforestation in Brazil. The battle focuses on an area known as the “arc of destruction” and the video reports here show the impact of a government making a clear commitment to tackling the issue and backing it up with force and with incentives.
read more...»Unit 3 Micro: Richard Wilkinson on Inequality and Economic Harm
I have been using this talk given at TED 2011 by Richard Wilkinson when teaching the topic of poverty and inequality and the risks that a growing chasm between low and high income groups can have for society and economic performance. Students and teachers familiar with the work of Pickett and Wilkinson and their recent book “The Spirit Level” will know well the approach that these authors take.
They use published data on inequality and link to wide differences in a range of economic and social outcomes. Their work has been criticised by many on the right, not least because their argument is strong and clear - namely that we need to reduce inequality to tackle some of society’s deepest and most corrosive problems.
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - HOD Economics & Business Studies at Cheltenham College
Many thanks to tutor2u’s Amy Chapman for letting us have first news of this teaching opportunity in the lovely spa town of Cheltenham.
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - Principal Teacher of Business Education - George Heriot’s School (Edinburgh)
A wonderful opportunity to teach economics and business at George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh here…
read more...»Richard Sennett on Cooperation
How many strangers have you met today? Did you meet your 5-a-day stranger target? In an orchestra or dance-troup made up of a team of egos, how do they eventually perform to a high standard night after night? Here are some notes from a talk given at the RSA tonight by the renowned sociologist Richard Sennett on complex cooperation. I took many ideas from this in terms of considering teaching techniques and the use of language in the classroom. Richard Sennett was talking about some of the themes in his new book “Together: The Rituals, Pleasures, and Politics of Cooperation.”
read more...»Unit 2 Macro:Video Resources on Human Development Data
Here is a short collection of short video resources on measuring human development with specific reference to the annual human development report and to progress in improving welfare in countries such as Kenya and Brazil
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - Economics & Business at Canford School
Many thanks to Stephen Grant for letting us have details of an opportunity to teach in a thriving Economics & Business department in a quite simply stunning part of the country - Canford School. Applications need to be in by 1 February 2012, so move quickly!
read more...»Teaching Vacancy - Economics at Salesian College
Many thanks to David Good for alerting us to this Economics teaching vacancy with our friends in the department at Salesian College.
read more...»The impact of interest rates
The US economy may have grown at nearly 3% in the last quarter of 2011, but the Federal Reserve announced last week that they do not expect to raise interest rates until the end of 2014. It has cut its growth forecast for 2012 from 2.5-2.9%, to 2-2.7%, and says that the economy faced “significant downside risks” and that it “expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy” - which I take to mean expansionary.
This article about that interest rate decision is useful for economics teachers and students as it highlights a couple of results of that announcement; firstly that the dollar’s exchange rate immediately lost value as the interest rate made the US a less attractive place to keep cash, and secondly that government benefited as the cost of its borrowing in markets for 10 years fell from 2.06% to 1.94%, as traders priced in the lower medium-term interest rate expectations.
Economics and Business News Quiz - 29 January
Here is a ten question quiz covering the economics and business news this week - have a go and see who can get the biggest distance using the javelin challenge. To play the full quiz just register for free on the Zondle site! Good luck
read more...»Micro Music Video featuring the Little Mermaid!
We like this - in fact we like this a lot - virtually the whole of the micro course in three glorious minutes - enjoy Microeconomics Music Video- Econ World (featuring the Little Mermaid)
read more...»Economics Teaching: Diane Coyle on Economic Crises
Diane Coyle gave a superb talk on the state of the economics profession and made a powerful case for curriculum reform in a talk in Germany earlier on this week. The transcript of the talk can be found here and this link takes you to the audio file. Excellent CPD for all of us in the school and college economics teaching community. It ends on a very positive note, not least the surge in student numbers and enthusiasm for our fantastic subject!
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Supply Side Issues
The rapid growth of the India economy has been helped by her economy enjoying a number of supply-side advantages. That said there remain structural supply-side weaknesses that will limit her continued competitiveness and development. This blog looks at the plusses and the minuses.
read more...»
