ASDA Price Guarantee receipt
ASDA have developed an innovative way of proving they are the lowest price supermarket. You can now enter your details on the website to see if your shop would have been cheaper somewhere else. On a £10.64 bill I got the following results
A fun activity would be to get pupils to bring in reciepts from home to see if ASDA is always cheaper. Click here for the website
easyGym
After moving to Cardiff this summer I’ve finally got the internet set up in my house so I can start the blogs again! On the same day that I signed up to a discustingly expensive gym membership with David Lloyd, Stelios announced plans for easyGyms which will compete with low prices and a short term contract. Would you go to an easyGym?
Great short video for year 10 economists - Darling two years on
A good way to get new year 10 Economists thinking about Economics is with a short video, this one would be great. It gives students lots of economic terms to think about.
•Economic growth -
Tags: recession, video, gcse macro, alistair darling, double-dip
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Tune into the new no-frills hotel - video
I few weeks ago I wrote a blog about Tune - the new no-frills hotel chain that has come to London. Here is a great short video from the BBC about what you do and don’t get. It would make a great start to the new term for year 10 Economists.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: video, gcse micro, competition in action
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New interactive guide
The Guardian have produced another great interactive guide, this time showing how economies across the world are recovering. Click here for the guide. This would be a great start to the international module for OCR.
•Economic growth -
Tags: economic growth, gcse macro
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Delicious data
One very important aspect of the GCSE (and the AS Level) is description of data. Over the coming month Innes and I will be putting some useful information on the blog that you can use to help you with your exam technique. Alongside the data we will give you tips on how to get the best marks in these sorts of questions. Today’s data is on the US economy.
read more...»
Tags: recession, gdp, exam technique, gcse macro, data
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Competition in Action - new lower fat mars bars
Fantastic news for chocolate lovers from Mars, they have developed a Mars bar which contains 15% less saturated fat.
read more...»
•Competitive markets -
Tags: competition, gcse micro
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Public goods in action
It is quite nice to illustrate some concepts with a picture. It can be sometimes quite difficult for students to understand the idea of non-rivalry and non-excludability and quasi public goods.
read more...»Demand and supply in action - the housing market again
Figures today show that asking prices for houses have lowered for the second month in a row. This is explained quite simply by our demand and supply diagram. The supply of houses has shifted to the right in recent months as home owners become a little more confident. Along side this demand has shifted to the left.
read more...» •Competitive markets -
Tags: demand, supply, gcse micro, housing market
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China leaps ahead of Japan
There are some great news stories out today for the OCR A593 international paper as we see China leap frog Japan to become the number 2 economy in the world. How long will it take China to get ahead of the USA who occupy the top spot? China is already the biggest exporter, auto buyer and steel producer. China’s GDP for the second quarter of 2010 stood at $1.337 trillion, more than Japan’s $1.288 trillion.
Japan has held the second spot in the world standings since 1968.
•Globalisation -
Tags: china, usa, japan, economic growth, international economics, gcse macro, ocr a593
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Competition in Action - pay extra for a clean hotel room?
Malaysian hotel chain Tune Hotels, a no frills hotel chain is set to come to London. At just £35 a night for a room what would you expect to get? A bed, a shower and a central London location. Anything more and you have to pay. For example getting your room cleaned will cost £7.50 and the use of a hair dryer is £2. This is an interesting concept. I recently looked at staying in a hotel in London in August and was shocked at the high prices they were charging. This may well be an excellent idea and may help to bring down the prices of the competition.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: competition, gcse micro
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Shall we have squirrel for dinner tonight?
Squirrel is not normally the meat of choice on the British dinner table but Budgens has decided to offer squirrel in one of its London stores. An interesting way to compete, offering a different high protein, low fat meat to entice customers in.
This article provides an interesting read.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: competition, gcse micro
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Global recession timeline
This a great teaching resource from the BBC, a global recession timeline. it contains some short video clips and data. A great start to a lesson next term.
•Globalisation -
Tags: gcse macro, global recession
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Competition in Action - Metro bank
Metro Bank opened this morning, the first new high street bank to open in 100 years. It is a fantastic case study on how to compete in a market dominated by a some large banks.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: competition, gcse micro
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Enough cocoa to make 5 billion small chocolate bars!
It has been reported that Anthony Ward, a hedge fund investor, has just bought £650m worth of cocoa beans. This is the biggest single cocoa trade in 14 years. I wrote a blog earlier in the year about the price of cocoa rising due to an increase in demand.
So why buy so much? Well it looks like he is trying to corner the market and in some years time make a good amount of money out of it.
This is a really interesting article for some summer reading.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: gcse, summer reading
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Demand and Supply in action - the housing market
It has been reported today that a flood of houses onto the market is likely to cause the average house to fall over the next six months. This article is a great one for pupils to read and then construct a demand and supply diagram. If we think ahead to the GCSE exam pupils will be expected to draw a demand and supply diagram using information given to them and then describe what has happened to price and quantity sold, they may also be asked to explain why the change has happened.
You could extend some of your pupils by asking them to consider the PED and PES for the housing market.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: demand, supply, gcse micro, exam practice
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Great short video - Economy continues to grow
As the end of term approaches it is nice to have some short video’s to keep the pupils going. This BBC video about the growth of the economy is great with some really good statistics. It could be the beginning of a mini project using data on the economy.
•Economic growth -
Tags: video, gcse macro
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Indian interest rates rise
This is a great little video on Indian inflation causing interest rates to rise. A great end of term starter which can get pupils starting to think about Economics in the international context.
•Developing economies -
Tags: inflation, interest rates, video, gcse macro, indian economy
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Good news if you are going on holiday to Europe
The pound against the euro has strengthen in recent months meaning must needed relief for British holidaymakers going to Europe.
As you can see from the graph the value of the pound has risen from £1=1.125 Euros at the beginning of April 2010 to £1=1.24 Euros at the end of July 2010.
•Exchange rates and currencies -
Tags: exchange rates, gcse macro, data
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Too posh for CPI – luxury price index
If your daily shopping includes such items as Beluga Caviar and Foie Gras, you may feel the consumer price index doesn’t accurately show you how prices are changing for you. This is because the ‘basket of goods’ which are price checked relate to the average family in Britain. A company called Stonehage have decided to rectify this problem by creating a price index for the wealthy. For a fun starter you could print out the report and ask pupils to review the information.
How to solve regional unemployment
What do your pupil’s think of the controversial government plans to reduce regional unemployment? They hope to make workers more geographically mobile by providing housing in areas with more job opportunities. A good activity would be to discuss other possible solutions to regional unemployment and decide which would be most successful. Click on the link for two videos and an article
Budget gold - interactive guide
More budget gold from the BBC. Find out how an increase in VAT or a reduction in different areas of spending affects the budget.
How does VAT work? Interactive guide
Have you ever wondered how VAT works? This interactive guide from the BBC is brilliant and will answer all of your questions. It would be perfect for a lesson on indirect taxes.
Pay gap quiz
A new government report as found that the gap between the rich and the poor is worse now than it was 40 years ago. The BBC have produced a short quiz which would make a greater starter or discussion points in a lesson.
•Rewards for labour -
Tags: pay, gcse micro, rich and poor
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Coffee prices rising
Due to poor harvests in Vietnam and Central America supply of coffee beans has been significantly reduced therefore increasing the price significantly. In just 3 days last week coffee prices rose by 20%. If we think in terms of our demand and supply analysis, the supply curve will shift to the left, therefore increasing price.
read more...» •Competitive markets -
Tags: gcse micro, demand and supply
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School uniform price war intensifies
I am sure we have all seen the adverts on TV from the leading supermarkets saying how cheap you can buy school uniform. It looks as if the price war is set to intensify as Tesco have announced that you can by a school uniform from them for just £3.75. With polo shirts for 50p, sweaters for £1.75 and trousers or skirts for £1.50 it looks like these are the cheapest around. A complete uniform at Sainsbury’s will cost parents just £4.66 - £2 each for sweatshirts, skirts and trousers and a pack of three polo shirts. Asda is selling a pack of two polo shirts for £2, trousers or skirts for £3 and sweatshirts for £2 - a total cost of £6.
read more...» •Competitive markets -
Tags: competition, gcse micro
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‘Cup a wine’ takes off
Marks and Spencer took a gamble on this product when the Dragons on Dragons Den said no. It looks like the gamble paid off as M&S struggles to keep up with demand. The product is an interesting one, wine in a glass. No need for a corkscrew and the glass is provided.
•Competitive markets -
Tags: demand, gcse micro
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Dancing in your wellies to charge your phone
If you are off to Glastonbury this summer you can leave your phone charger at home and instead bust out your best moves on the dance floor to keep your phone at full power.
There is a downside however, twelve hours of dancing in your wellies only produces one hour of battery life. Something tells me it will be a few years before this technology really takes off.
It’s a good example of a company trying to advertise their green credentials to attract a different segment of the market
Budget deficit video / card sort
The new government would like the general public to have a say about where cuts in the budget should be made.
Here is a fantastic video for a lesson on the budget which provides an opportunity for a great card sorting exercise. Pupils have to decide which of the ten options they think the government should pay for and which should be paid privately. Click read more for prepared cards with pictures for the activity.
Spanish unemployment
Here is a great video for a lesson on unemployment. It involves both cyclical and seasonal unemployment in Spain where 40% of young people do not have a job.
