Super Starter Sunday - Play your cards right

This might take a little preparation but will get your students thinking at the beginning of the lesson and if used regularly may encourage them to keep up to date with economic figures.

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Super Starter Sunday – Economics in the news (21 June)

This week’s economics in the news covers unemployment, car sales, bank bonuses, Thailand’s economy, and the beginning of the end for two well known companies. The pupils have to guess the news stories using the pictures. Each picture has an explanation and web link behind it.

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The £2-a-night holiday: OCR case study revision

As Monday’s case study is all about tourism, this article is perfect for revision as it shows factors that affect demand for foreign holidays. Travel firms are being forced to slash the price of their on peak holidays due to a weak pound coupled with MET office predictions of a hot UK summer. Click read more for a GCSE style question to go with the article.

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Another recession proof item!

Scouring the newspapers at break today, I came across this article about the luxury handbag maker Mulberry. It follows on nicely from my earlier blog on Cadbury and are there any other recession proof goods and services.

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Cadbury grows despite recession

As a chocolate lover myself, I just had to write about this! Cadbury announced yesterday improved trading in April and May this year. Are consumers turning to chocolate in times of crisis, as the recession bites needing some comfort?

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1 in 10 teenagers is now a NEET

Latest figures show a rise in the number of teenagers not in education, employment or training (NEET’s). We are now seeing the highest figures of NEET’s since records began in 1994.

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Gloucestershire bucks the trend as national unemployment figures rise

Today saw the release of the latest unemployment figures. Unemployment rose to 2.261 million in the three months to April this year, an increase of 232,000. The unemployment rate rose from 7.1% to 7.2%. This is a much smaller increase than had been expected, further fueling the green shoots argument.

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Has Sainsbury’s won the price war?

Supermarkets have been slashing prices as competition to attract recession-hit shoppers heats up, and Sainsbury’s said it had lowered price tags on 7,000 products since the start of the year.

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Everybody wants a Mcjob!

It seems the McDonalds jobs are getting more attractive as the unemployment rate rises with the company receiving over 2000 applications a day, including from bankers, graduates and teachers. Despite the Oxford dictionary describing a Mcjob as ‘an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects’, people are clambering for the 140 jobs McDonalds currently give out a day. This is a great article to start a lesson on unemployment. Click read more for a BBC video showing hundreds of people queuing for a job at a discount retailer.

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On this day… 35 years ago – Inflation revision

This is an interesting article from 35 years ago which will help your pupils understand cost push inflation. The reason for inflation was an oil crisis which caused the price of oil to quadruple by 1974.  I have written some GCSE style questions to go with the story. It may be useful to highlight the key aspects of the article to make it more suitable for GCSE pupils.

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Weak pound takes the shine off booze cruises

Majestic Wine, which runs two stores in Calais and one in Cherbourg, suffered a 56% decline in profit, largely due to fewer travellers heading to France in search of cheap alcohol. The company is blaming the weak pound for its problems. I’ve written some GCSE style questions to go with this article for revision.

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BRIC dilemma

As we look ahead to the new GCSE specifications in September you may have noticed that the OCR specification has an international, globalisation style module, using a pre-released case study. With this in mind I noticed this article on the BBC this morning.

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Pint-size cows as the recession bites

As I sat reading the Times this morning, I was drawn to an article with the headline pint-size cows big in America. Intrigued I read on, apparently many farms are raising miniature cows, half the size of a normal one!

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shh! It’s a secret!

Continuing with competition, this slideshow shows the length companies will go to protect their secret ingredients. For example Dr Pepper is made from a top secret combination of 23 different ingredients, the combination of which is only made known to three senior employees at any one time. Read the blog entry on Microsoft’s Project Natal and the school uniform price war for more examples of competition. This is a very useful revision topic as it is likely to come up in the OCR case study paper.

School uniform price war – Competition revision

Tesco has triggered a school uniform price war by introducing a summer long deal of £3.75 for a full school uniform. The offer has arrived one day after Asda unveiled a £4.75 range. This is a great example of using price to compete. If you’re a business studies teacher you could also use this as an example of a loss leader as profit margins are likely to be wafer thin. Click read more for some GCSE style questions.

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Mnemonic Monday - Economies of Scale

This weeks mnemonic is great for learning the types of economies of scale. Economies of scale are defined as when a firm grows larger long run average costs fall.

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Super Starter Sunday – Economics in the news (14 June 2009)

This week’s economics in the news covers unemployment, oil prices, protectionism, and the end of the recession. The pupils have to guess the news stories using the pictures. Each picture has an explanation and web link behind it.

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Super Starter Sunday - Odd one out

Another Sunday, another super starter to get some lessons off to a good start this week. This week I have decided to go with odd one out. Below there are sets of statements, students must spot the odd one out, they could also explain why it is the odd one out.

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A good year for the Rose - demand and supply revision

It is always nice to have good real world examples when teaching any of the topics in Economics. One such topic is shifts in supply due to weather - agriculture certainly doesn’t get our students excited! There has been an increase in the supply of roses this year due in part to a cold winter and a sunny May.

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Venezuela bans sale of Coke Zero - Methods of protection revision

Who needs tariffs and quotas to protect your market? Venezuela has withdrawn the circulation of Coke Zero ‘to preserve the health of Venezuelans’. This is a great example of a country using restrictive government regulations to prevent competition in their market. Click read more for some GCSE style questions on protectionism.

BBC Article

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A-Z of demand and supply - ideas

As promised here are some of my classes ideas for an A-Z of demand and supply.

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Q&A - Is the recession at an end?

The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said that the economy grew in April and May, and is therefore likely to return to growth in the second quarter of this year. This interesting article is worth a read as it covers a number of concepts studied at GCSE.

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The UK feeds the world – Trade revision

Don’t think less of me, but I got this article from the Sun newspaper which shows exports of British food and non-alcoholic drinks soared by 20% to a record £9.3bn last year. Sales of cheddar are up 20% to £8.9 million in the US whilst Japan has a high demand for our jam, tea and shortbread. Another article from the Times website shows we are even selling cakes to the French, with the UK cake and pudding manufacturer Gü building up a market worth £5 million in less than two years. As usual I have written some GCSE style questions to go along with this for revision.

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Smoking disease costs NHS £5bn – Negative externalities revision

Last week I wrote that smoking is costing businesses £2.1bn due to sickness and time wasting breaks. Researchers have now calculated that smoking disease costs the NHS £5bn a year, five times more than previously thought. This article along with the one last week would be perfect for revising negative externalities. I have also written some more GCSE style questions to go with it.

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How do you feel about the economy?

I saw this on the New York Times website and thought it was a nice way of showing the human side to a recession. People enter one word to explain how they feel about the economy whilst the page constantly refreshes with responses

Interactive unemployment data

Unemployment has featured fairly often in the headlines this year. The following interactive guide is brilliant, tracking the changes in unemployment over the last year, analysing the changes and adding news stories.

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Recession map

This fantastic map made by the Guardian looks like it shows the weather but actually highlights how the recession is affecting different parts of the UK. Each weather symbol can be clicked to reveal a news story.

Japan – balance of payments revision

This article shows that Japan’s current account surplus declined in April for the fourteenth consecutive month but still holds a positive trade balance. Click read more for some GCSE style questions relating to the current account.

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Q&A - Exchange Rates

The value of the pound has been making headlines over the last week as political turmoil continues to take its toll. This interesting article looks at the highs and lows of sterling against the euro.
The OCR case study paper provides exchange rate data, so this topic will be key for revision.

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Mnemonic Monday – Government’s main macroeconomic objectives

This week’s mnemonic is the basis of my macroeconomic teaching. It allows you to set up a really good wall display, possibly featuring Tony the Tiger.

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