International trade & protectionism

World Trade Organisation

After a 7 year battle the WTO has now ruled that Boeing received illegal subsidies from the US Government

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Great video - Why the UK imports apples

This video is a great starter for international trade topics for year 11 students.

UK trade deficit widens - video

This is a great video from the BBC which discusses the UK trade deficit widening. Great revision or starter for balance of payments and exchange rates.

The World on Wednesday - China and US chicken dispute

The latest in a series of trade disputes between China and the US is over the sale of chickens by the US to China at what the Chinese say is unfairly low prices. The tariffs (a tax on imports) will commence on 13th February. This will make the price of US chicken more expensive in China and therefore less competitive.

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UK trade deficit worsens - Q&A

This is often a topic that GCSE Economists struggle with. An interesting article on the BBC explains how the UK trade deficit has worsened due to the car scrappage scheme.

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New GCSEs - WTO

An exciting new part of the OCR specification is the introduction of the international area of economics. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) appears in the specification for the first time. Originally formed in 1995 the WTO was designed to liberalise world trade. The World Trade Organisation deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalising trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants’ adherence to WTO agreements.

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25 per cent unemployment in the Canary Islands

Spain is an interesting economy for GCSE students to look at. In Spain tourism accounts for 10% of gross national product and one in eight jobs. Construction is also a very important industry. And both sectors are now struggling with the pain of recession.

Many hotels have temporarily closed even during the summer season and the bars, restaurants, hire cars and airports are being affected by the downturn in demand. Economists have a term for this - a negative multiplier effect.

This BBC news video looks at the Canary Islands where one person in four is unemployed (an unemployment rate of 25% is nearly four times the jobless rate we have here in the UK).