Teaching Resource: Redsands Cost Benefit Analysis
Redsands CBA is a substantial teaching resource which allows students to examine and then present back the costs and benefits of various possible projects that could be implemented within a derelict part of a city centre.
This resource is designed to enable students to understand and analyse the concept of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) at both AS and A2 level of Economics.
This resource is provided to all delegates attending WOW! Economics 2013 and may also be purchased separately from our online store.
read more...»Infrastructure Projects in the News
This blog entry links to some of the significant UK infrastructure projects that are current or planned - all of which cover many aspects of economics including cost benefit analysis, public and private funding, the macro effects of major capital projects and regional / industry implications.
read more...»Economics at the Movies - Promised Land
Here is another film to add to our collection of films with an economic dimension. Promised Land from Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant stars Matt Damon and is an anti-corporate thriller that centers on the controversial natural gas process of fracking.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Evaluating Government Intervention - Alcohol Pricing
AS Micro students will be gearing themselves up for a key period of intensive revision over the coming days and weeks. For most, being able to analyse and evaluate government intervention in markets is crucial to scoring well in exam questions and reaching those top grades.
Evaluation is not a skill that can be learnt overnight. It requires plenty of attempts to get the evaluative style and approach working well.
BTW, if you are revising market failure I highly recommend Matt Smith's Scoop.It Board - full of great applied examples on this big area for the Unit 1 economics exam! Click here to view it read more...»Is this the start of Plan B?
It’s not often you read such a clearly set out, even-handed article on macroeconomic policy, so this relatively lengthy piece was interesting in itself as its writer appears to deal relatively equally with both sides of the big austerity debate. But you really have to take notice when the writer is the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable.
HS2 The Ultimate Vanity Trainset
Today's announcement of routes for the HS2 project highlights the importance governments ascribe to public works projects.
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Unit 4 Macro: Overseas Aid and Economic Development - Debt Relief and Debt Cancellation
Many of the world’s poorest countries are saddled with high levels of external debt owed to other governments, institutions such as the IMF and foreign companies and individuals.
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Unit 4 Macro: Overseas Aid and Economic Development - Smart Aid
There is increasing interest in the use of
"smart aid" - aid
programmes that use experimentation and focus on bottom-up projects in order to increase the effectiveness of each £
or $ given in aid
Unit 4 Macro: Overseas Aid and Economic Development - Benefits and Costs
Does aid help or hinder economic growth and development? This is the subject of a fierce debate in the development economics literature
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Unit 1 Micro: Flood Defence for Venice - a Public Good?
Flooding has been consistently in the news in recent years and examiners have already started to set questions about the costs and benefits of flood defence projects and the public good nature of flood defences. These investment projects invariably invite an evaluative cost-benefit approach. Here is a look at a controversial defence scheme for Venice - one that raises many environmental and economic issues.
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: Britain’s Future in the European Union
There has been plenty of discussion in recent weeks about whether Britain might seriously start to consider leaving the European Union? Here is a selection of news pieces and discussion videos on the vexed question of UK membership.
read more...»Paul Ormerod: Corporation tax: fostering the illusions of the electorate that someone else will pay
Corporation tax is very much in the news. Starbucks is merely the latest to be in the spotlight, having paid no corporation tax on more than £1billion of sales in the past three years . This became noteworthy when the Prime Minister himself declared he was unhappy with the level of tax avoidance by big corporations working in Britain.
The plain fact is that if corporation tax did not exist, it would be madness to introduce it. The tax plays to the ignorance not only of the general public, but of almost all politicians. It encourages the fantasy that there is a free lunch, that someone else will pick up the bill for the welfare state and bloated state bureaucracy.
read more...»West Coast Rail Line franchise decision - a fine example of Government failure
Every cloud has a silver lining! News reports out today confirmed that the original decision to award the next 15 year franchise of the West Coast Rail line to FirstGroup instead of the incumbent Virgin Rail has been rescinded and the bidding process re-opened at a potential wasted cost of £40 million (by the way, have they fixed that leaky roof at your school yet?). This may seem like a fiasco to train users and the general public alike but to us Economics teachers it's a super example of government failing to intervene correctly in a market.
read more...»Unit 2 Macro Building on the Green Belt in a Drive for Growth
Former Labour Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was once (perhaps) quoted as saying: "The Green Belt is one of Labour's greatest achievements, and we intend to build on it!". Danny Boyle's dramatic and wonderful London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony "Isle's of Beauty" began with an unforgettable rural landscape which was soon to be transformed by an altogether harsher industrial landscape during the pandemonium.
For many years we have regarded our greenbelt protected land as a bulwark against urban sprawl and over-rapid commercial and industrial development. But this is about to change with a change in planning laws and regulations that will make it easier to turn farmland into business parks and new housing?
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: Agri-Chemicals and Infant Mortality in India
Using agrichemicals is directly correlated to infant mortality in India. This is the central finding of research presented by Nidhiya Menon (Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University) at the International Growth Centre’s Growth Week 2012.
Unit 4 Macro: Micro-insurance for Kenyan Farmers
This six minute news video report from CNN is superb, it focuses on pilot programmes to extend micro-insurance schemes for some of Kenya’s smallest and poorest farmers in a country where the agricultural sector is at high risk from the effects of drought. Kenya is the largest economy in east Africa but less than 4% of Kenyans have access to insurance. Many do not understand the concept of insurance, others cannot afford it or choose not to take it out when there are school fees to pay (opportunity cost writ large).
These pilot schemes offer hope for the future but insurance on its own is no panecea. Savings and access to credit are of equal significance in reducing vulnerability to extreme weather events.
The micro-insurance programmes embed mobile technology - for example the Kilimo Salama programme — Swahili for ‘safe farming’ — launched in 2011 provides small-scale farmers in Kenya with crop insurance by combining mobile phone payment with the data from automated weather stations.Kilimo Salama uses data from these stations to calculate the severity of droughts — or excessive rainfall. Eligible farmers then receive payouts via their mobile phones.
More here: Kenya pastoralists get insured for losses
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: Esther Duflo - Development Economist
This blog provides an updated Storify on videos featuring development economist Esther Duflo, co-author of the best-selling book Poor Economics. Poor Economics maps out a third way between those experts who believe aid does more harm than good, such as William Easterly and Dambisa Moyo, and those who believe the reverse, like Jeffrey Sachs.
Banerjee and Duflo say the three main reasons aid is ineffective are “ideology, ignorance and inertia”. “Precisely because [the poor] have so little,” they write, “we often find them putting much careful thought into their choices: They have to be sophisticated economists just to survive.”
The two authors are part of a group of economists known as the “randomistas”. They have used randomised control trials across five continents to test the impact of policies aimed at beating poverty, from the provision of free anti-malaria bed-nets to education subsidies.
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: Kenya invests in geothermal energy
Here is an example of a fast-growing developing country in Africa making important investment to help meet ambitious targets for supplying energy from renewable sources. Katrina Manson films and reports for the Financial Times from the Great Rift Valley on Kenya’s latest plans to exploit geothermal energy to produce electricity.
The fixed costs of finding geo-thermal sources, build the turbines and then connect to Keyna’s energy grid are huge. But a move towards smaller geo-thermal energy plants provide a more cost efficient approach. Successful investment will help to reduce energy imports, provide a viable alternative to uncertain hydro-electric power, create new jobs and contribute to Kenya’s search for sustainable growth.
read more...»Environmental Economics: Natural Capital
There is growing interest among policy makers about the importance of protecting and enhancing natural capital to support sustainable growth and development. I have put together a selection of recent news video resources on natural capital that might be useful for students and teachers who are new to the idea and who might want to look at it as part of their study of environmental and development economics.
read more...»Behavioural Economics: Compulsory Breathalysers
Alcohol-related accidents are the leading cause of death and serious injury for victims of car crashes in France and the government has decided to introduce a strong behavioural nudge by making it compulsory for every car to have a portable breathalyser kit in their vehicles or risk a fine. This applies to every vehicle including those driven by tourists. Vehicle owners will have until November 2012 to get used to it before the fines are imposed.
Having a breathalyser in the glove box or on the front passenger seat might well be an effective reminder for people before they turn on the ignition. Reminders of our mortality and/or our morality can often prime us to make safer, better choices. I applaud the French government for introducing this new law. All motorists must also have with them a high-visibility safety vest and a warning triangle.
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Australia launches carbon tax
The introduction of a carbon tax in Australia has become one of the most hotly debated political and economic issues for many years in that country. The economy has enjoyed strong growth in recent times buoyed by rising demand for and prices of many of Australia’s huge endowment of natural resources.
Under the new carbon tax, around 300 of the worst-polluting firms to pay a A$23 (£15) levy for every tonne of greenhouse gases they produce.
Will a carbon tax threaten this growth? Or will it prove to be an inspired decision - helping to pave the way for greener growth and a faster pace of innovation not least in renewable energies and low-carbon goods and services?
read more...»Unit 1 Micro: Technology aims to cut fish discards
Channel 4 news reports here on how CCTV and other technologies are being used to monitor fishing in the north sea in a bid to scale back the horrendous amount of fish discards. This happens when fishing vessels throw back dead fish into the water when a catch exceeds the quota - a terrible waste of an already scarce resource. The average European fishing trawler discards 38 per cent of its catch - for some species of fish 90 per cent are thrown away but with the aid of technology this can be reduced to less than 1 per cent.
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: Inclusive Wealth and Sustainable Development
To mark the 2012 Rio Summit, the United Nations has started to publish an Inclusive Wealth Index which builds into an evaluation of a country’s wealth the impact of economic growth and development on the stock of a country’s natural capital. This chart from the Economist would be an excellent starting point for discussion of changes in natural wealth for a range of countries.
read more...»Investment in Energy Infrastructure
Many people take as given a pressing need to increase capital investment in the infrastructure of our energy sectors - but how strong are the economic and social impacts of such investment? The LSE Growth Commission met this week to discuss this and I have brought together some of the arguments drawing on a number of various twitter feeds
read more...»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: Using the Cost-Benefit Principle
The cost-benefit principle is one of those core ideas that can be brought into so many evaluation discussions both in micro and macroeconomics – you should be using it in your papers!
read more...»Unit 4 Macro: African Aid - Helpful or Harmful?
This highly interactive programme on Al Jazeerah a few days ago focused on the impact of foreign aid on the African economy. It runs for 35 minutes but there is plenty of interesting debate and many comments flying in on the twitter feeds. Plenty of discussion that might inform a revision session on the future for the African economy and the debate over the effectiveness of aid programmes.
read more...»Unit 2 Macro: Heathow’s Capacity and Connectivity Crunch
The capacity and efficiency of our transport infrastructure has a huge bearing on the supply-side potential of the economy and in this Channel 4 news video, the CEO of British Airports Authority argues that Heathrow is now full to bursting. The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition manifesto in 2010 ruled out a third runway at Heathrow - to the relief of those (including me) who live under Heathrow flight paths. But without much needed investmnt in air transport, there are fears that UK business will suffer and the economy will become less attractive to inward investment.
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...»2012 Economics Revision: Ways to Improve your Paper
Here is a revision presentation offering ideas for stronger evaluation and analysis in your AS and A2 economics exam papers. Ten strands are suggested for students who want to build really good answers especially to evaluation questions.
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