tutor2u A Level Economics Blog

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2012

May

  • Euro crisis hits Eurovision
    Amidst the depths of concern about where the Greek crisis and the eurozone might take us, can I offer a lighter note. Putting aside UK contingency planning to deal with mass immigration and Bankia’s request for a 19bn bailout, perhaps the ultimate indicator of the crisis is the news that
  • Small government is beautiful - discuss
    Does a smaller Government sector mean more economic growth? This example of normative economics from The Centre For Policy Studies offers a case that it does. The CPS is trying to convince you and me, that smaller government leads to lower taxes, less crowding out, more enterprise amongst other outcomes.
  • Greek Euro Exit Flowchart
    Here’s a good one for the end of the week, if you want a discussion regarding the possible outcome(s) of the € currency crisis, or a handy revision tool. This Guardian interactive page is very helpful.
  • The Merkeltaur - my favourite Greek crisis cartoon!
    The Greek economic crisis has led to many amusing and insightful cartoons, and my students and I have enjoyed discussing the cross-curricular links between Classics and Economics that many of the cartoons reference.
  • BMW - Bavarian Monopolist at Work
    BMW have been fined SFr156m ($163m) by Swiss Competition Authorities for restricting the supply of BMW and MINI cars to Swiss purchasers.
  • 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
  • Unit 2 Macro: Cyclical and Structural Economic Issues Facing the UK
    Our focus in an AS macro revision session was on the difference between cyclical issues and events and the wider / deeper structural problems and issues facing the UK economy at this fascinating time. Key macro policy decisions affect the path of an economy out of recession, but are these
  • For $24.95, George W. Bush Will Share His ‘Strategies For Economic Growth’
    If you’re looking for some light post exam season poolside reading material, perhaps the previous US President’s thoughts on how to achieve economic growth will appeal. However, according to this report by the Economic Policy Institute under Bush’s watch “between the end of the 2001 recession (2001Q4) and the peak
  • Unit 2 Macro: Evaluation on Supply-Side Policies
    Lots of students will be revising the economics of supply-side policies this week with their AS macro paper coming into view. There are different interpretations of what constitutes a supply-side policy measure. I like to label SSP (supply-side policy) to any policy or group of measures where emphasis is given
  • An Economists Guide to Teaching Styles
    Many thanks to Paul Bridges for this witty and revealing interpretation of teaching styles - I am sure our student and teaching community can suggest additional styles and we will happily showcase the best! Over to you!
  • Oxbridge Economics: Introduction to Game Theory
    Here is an “Introduction to Game Theory” lecture, which offers a broad introduction to the field, with some exercises to do at the end. (The yellow-underlined text hyperlinks out to other resources).
  • Unit 3 Micro: Game Theory and Business Economics
    Game theory is mainly concerned with predicting the outcome of games of strategy in which the participants (for example two or more businesses competing in a market) have incomplete information about the others’ intentions.  This revision blog looks at some of the ways in which game theory can be applied
  • Unit 2 Macro: Positive and Negative Multiplier Effects
    An initial change in aggregate demand can have a much greater final impact on equilibrium national income. This is known as the multiplier effect. It comes about because injections of new demand for goods and services into the circular flow of income can stimulate further rounds of spending – in
  • Unit 2 Macro: Measuring Unemployment in the UK
    The unemployed are people able, available and willing to work at the going wage rate but cannot find a job despite an active search for work. Unemployment means that scarce human resources are not being used to produce goods and services to meet people’s needs and wants. Persistently high levels
  • Unit 2 Macro: Measuring Inflation in the UK
    Inflation is a sustained increase in the cost of living or the average / general price level leading to a fall in the purchasing power of money. The opposite of inflation is deflation which is a decrease in the cost of living or average price level.
  • Unit 2 Macro: Real Interest Rates
    The real rate of interest is important to businesses and consumers when making spending and saving decisions. The real rate of return on savings, for example, is the money rate of interest minus the rate of inflation. So if a saver is receiving a money rate of interest of 6%
  • Unit 2 Macro: Human Development Index (HDI)
    The Human Development Index (HDI) forms part of the annual human development report and is a composite measure of economic and social welfare that has three main components. At its most basic it focuses on longevity, basic education and minimal income and progress made by countries in improving these three
  • Unit 2 Macro: The Output Gap
    How much spare capacity does an economy have to meet a rise in demand? How close is an economy to operating at its productive potential? Has the recession damaged the economy’s productive potential? These sorts of questions all link to an important concept – the output gap. The output gap
  • Peston on The Eurozone
    As the Eurozone continues to be bufferted by instability in Spanish Banks, and uncertainty over Greek membership of the single currency. Robert Peston fronts a programme on The Euro on BBC2 tonight. It remains to be seen if he offers any answers to Mervyn King’s observation, that the UK biggest
  • tutor2u Visit to the Middle East - April 2013
    We have been invited by several colleagues to organise a visit to the Middle East in April 2013 to provide a programme of CPD and student revision workshops. As part of our planning, we’d like to invite colleagues in the area to let us have their thoughts on the content
  • Unit 2 Macro: Bank Cuts UK growth Forecast for 2012
    The quarterly Inflation Report is an opportunity for the Bank of England to flesh out their latest forecasts and thoughts on the direction of the UK economy and it is safe to say that the May report will probably be best remembered for a remarkable statement from the Bank of
  • Improving Evaluation Skills in Economics Exams
    Here is an updated version of the WEESTEPS approach to economics evaluation designed to boost the evaluation scores and exam results for AS and A2 students. Paul Bridges is the mastermind behind this superb approach to evaluation - it gives you some great pointers about the evaluative approaches that can
  • Date Announced for RES Essay Competition Judging
    Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th June are the days set aside for the teacher judging panel to assess the hundreds of entries for the 2012 RES competition. The main judging takes place on the Tuesday and we will post a list of shortlisted and highly commended essays sometime on the
  • Eurozone Crisis - Lessons Learnt
    Last week I attended a very interesting lecture at the LSE on the Eurozone crisis, given by Leszek Balcerowicz, a Polish economist who is former chairman of the National Bank of Poland and Deputy Prime Minister. The following blog outlines his thoughts, but also includes useful links to articles to
  • Grexit - Andrew Balls on Greece and the Euro
    Following on from Ben Christopher’s article, a BBC Radio 4 interview with Andrew Balls, an investment fund manager, and younger brother of The Shadow Chancellor on the possibility of a Grexit - Greek exit from the Euro.
  • Jonathan Portes to speak at the Economics Teacher National Conference 2012
    https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/economics-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/ We are delighted that Jonathan Portes will be one of our key note speakers at the Economics Teacher National Conference at the British Library on Wednesday 27th June. In recent months Jonathan has been a prominent figure in the media commentating on a wide range of macroeconomic issues but
  • Final Speaker Line Up for the Economics Teacher Conference 2012
    Our speaker line up is now complete for tutor2u’s 10th Anniversary Economics Teacher National Conference! We are delighted to have some outstanding economists and communicators to talk on a range of current issues and the day provides a terrific opportunity to celebrate our marvellous subject and enrich our passion for
  • Peston on a Greek Euro Exit
    Speculation about a Greek exit from the Eurozone has reached fever pitch particularly after today’s talks between the national political parties failed to achieve any agreement over forming a government to make the tough decisions required to free up the next tranche of the bailout package. If the second lot
  • Unit 4 Macro: African Human Development Report 2012
    May 15th 2012 marks the day when the African Human Development Report 2012 is published. This will no doubt become a key reference point for students and teachers who are passionate about their development economics. “Sub-Saharan Africa cannot sustain its present economic resurgence unless it eliminates the hunger that affects
  • Unit 1 Micro: Price Volatility in Markets
    Here is a revision presentation which should be useful for AS economists revising for core microeconomics topics Revision presentation on Price Volatility in Markets Download printable slife handouts (pdf) Link below for related articles on global food price volatility and world food price inflation
  • Unit 1 Micro: Economics of a Minimum Wage
    This revision blog looks at some of the economic issues surrounding the minimum wage. A pay floor is an important government intervention in the labour market and it was first introduced into the UK in April 1999 at a rate of £3.60 per hour for adult workers. The adult rate
  • Unit 1 Micro: Poverty and Inequality and Market Failure
    In a market economy an individual’s ability to consume goods & services depends upon his/her income or other resources such as savings An unequal distribution of income and wealth may result in an unsatisfactory allocation of resources and can also lead to alienation and encourage crime with negative consequences for
  • Unit 1 Micro: Asymmetric Information
    For markets to work, there needs to be symmetric information i.e. consumers and producers have the same level of knowledge about the products, and they know everything there is to know about them. Asymmetric information occurs when somebody knows more than somebody else in the market. This can make it
  • 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.
  • Unit 2 Macro: Government Spending
    Government spending (or public spending) and in Britain, it takes up nearly half of our annual GDP. Spending by the public sector can be broken down into three main areas:
  • econoMAX May 2012
    The latest edition of econoMAX (May 2012) is now available to download. The new articles and case studies are summarised below:
  • Unit 2 Macro: Revision Notes on Supply-side Policies
    Supply-side policies are mainly (but not exclusively) micro-economic policies designed to improve the supply-side potential of an economy, to make markets and industries operate more efficiently and contribute to a faster underlying-rate of growth of real national output. Most governments believe that improved supply-side performance is the key to achieving
  • How do we promote growth in Europe?
    Read on to find out about an interesting BBC News report published today investigating what can be done to promote growth across Europe…
  • Knoema: ‘The Youtube of Data’
    I have found Knoema incredibly useful for collecting data and imagine it would be an excellent site for teaching colleagues and researchers, particularly with its focus on Economics. The Guardian’s data team have a good article on it today.
  • Fact or Forfeit!
    It’s the year 13’s last ever day at school today so I thought it was time to come up with a new idea for a game. Read on to find out how to play ‘fact or forfeit’...
  • Command Words in Questions
    A quick overview of command words and what they mean in economics exam papers and how many marks are awarded
  • Poverty tells many stories
    Poverty tells many stories -  this is a powerful award-winning short film that will raise many issues with your students
  • Unit 1 Micro: Minimum Wages and Living Wages
    The campaign for a living wage has gained renewed prominence in the last year or so. Students and teachers wanting to know more about the minimum and the living wage debate might find this background blog from Channel 4 news relevant and useful. More here on the living wage from
  • Unit 2 Macro: Practice Questions for EdExcel AS Macro
    Here are a couple of practice questions for EdExcel AS macro - one 30 marker on exchange rates and macro objectives, one 12 marker on interest rates and the distribution of income and wealth. Hope they might be useful. AS_Macro_Revision_Trade_Sterling.docx
  • Unit 4 Macro: Fiscal Policy Revision Charts
    This PowerPoint contains four fiscal policy charts for the UK - I have been using them in a revision session this morning. I will blog a little bit more about them later on Fiscal_Policy_Revision.pptx
  • Unit 3 Micro: The Dawn of a Shareholder Spring?
    Here is a pertinent and timely resource from Channel 4 news on overcoming the principle agent-problem. Are shareholders in some of our leading companies becoming more active in holding senior executives to account for poor performance? or more concerned with their own shareholder value at a time when CEO earnings
  • Made in China - but not quite so cheaply…...
    How long can China keep its comparative advantage of cheap production for manufacturing goods? We are aware of rising inflation in China which is eroding their advantage, and here is an article about a UK firm which manufactures cushions, some from a factory in Kirkby on Merseyside and some from
  • Unit 2 Macro: 10 Key Revision Topics for EdExcel
    A selection of key topics to cover for the paper for the 25th May linking to our blogs in each category - there are loads of great revision notes in these blogs for students wanting extra background and help with evaluation
  • UK Economy Update - AS/A2 Econ Evaluation Special
    Geoff and the team are holding an online revision clinic for an hour on Tuesday 8 May (9pm here on this blog entry) for AS & A2 Econ students who would like to refresh their understanding of the key recent developments in the UK economy. The focus will very much
  • F585: Recent Articles of Relevance
    A Sunday hat tip to Tom White for providing this super selection of recent articles relevant to students preparing for the OCR F585 paper in June 2012
  • Unit 4 Macro: TV Assembly Back in the USA
    Here is a small, tentative counter-weight to the inevitable shift of global manufacturing / assembly to the East. A short video about a US firm that has started to manufacture televisions in the USA. Tariffs and transportation costs have played a role in making it viable and their marketing department
  • Exam Technique for Economics - Weesteps to Evaluation
    With AS and A2 modules on the horizon, here is a presentation outlines an approach to demonstrating evaluation using the WEESTEPS acronym - first developed by Paul Bridges and his students who is now Head of Economics at the RGS Guildford. It is an approach that has struck a chord
  • Prospects for the UK economy, in brief
    The NIESR has published its latest ‘Prospects for the UK economy’ this morning - this link given is to the one-page press release. This clear document gives some stark headlines from their predictions: they consider the persistent weakness in the economy to be unprecedented, they continue to expect that CPI
  • OCR F582 Revision Activity
    Here’s a revision activity that combines ‘beat the teacher’ and ‘spoof/peer assessment’ to get students thinking about the first 5 questions and ensuring they carefully read the case study.
  • Which is the most pressing problem for the under 25s in Europe?
    If you are trying to rank the most pressing European economic problem, This morning’s copy of The Sun has a set of statistics which make Grim reading for the under 25s across the EU. On the other hand, how do your grand-parents feel about seeing negative returns on their savings?
  • OCR F585 A2 Economics Online Revision Clinic - 3 May 2012
    Many A2 students are now working their way through the pre-released stimulus for the OCR F585 unit, perhaps helped by our popular OCR F585 Revision Toolkit!  Geoff is hosting a one-hour online revision clinic on Thursday evening (3 May, 9pm) at which students can have any initial revision queries addressed.

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