GSCE Economics

The economies of Superbowl advertising

2012-02-05T22:50:15Z

A highlight of the year for many sports fans, the Superbowl presents advertisers with a unique opportunity to reach over 110 million captive viewers.

This article in the Wall Street Journal provides some useful numbers to use in class.

The average price for a 30 second advertisement during the Superbowl will be $3.5 million. Given the audience size, this translates to approximately $0.03 per viewer!

Demand and Supply in Action - nail polish

2012-02-02T20:15:36Z

Over the past year Superdrug have seen nail polish sales rise by 37 %. L’Oreal’s nail polish sales were up 24%, double the increase in lipstick and lipgloss sales.
‘We live in an image-obsessed world and nail varnish has become the ultimate accessory. Women want a quick and affordable way to get the latest look. A new varnish provides an expression of individuality and the same buzz as a new outfit for 10 per cent of the cost.’

Even in the current tough financial times, nail bars are one of the fastest growing businesses. Nails Inc, the biggest nail bar chain in the UK, is forecasting a turnover of £22 million this year. High Street shops including Superdrug and Tesco have spotted this and are considering in-store nail bars as a way of pulling in customers.

Happiness

2012-02-01T14:25:57Z

The world of work has fundamentally; more part time and flexible working hours. However this is not a change which is making many of us happy, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
A report, published today, examines working life in 1952 – and what it is like for workers in this country 60 years later.

This data would make a nice data comparison piece.

This articleexplains further.

Tesco’s market share drops

2012-01-31T21:09:12Z

Tesco’s market share has fallen below 30% for the first time in 7 years. This time last year Tesco commanded a 30.5% market share.
Sainsbury’s and Iceland both saw their market shares rise.

Current UK grocery market share

Some interesting reading here:

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3 with video

Great video - Widening gap between cities

2012-01-23T14:26:11Z

This is a great short video on the widening gap between UK cities. Lots of key terms for your budding economists to listen to.

Perfectly price inelastic supply

2012-01-20T15:30:07Z

What cost $10 in 1937 and would now set you back $1 million?

As a starter exercise I often get students to think about goods or services that are in fixed supply, i.e. perfectly price inelastic supply and eventually they move to tickets to gigs or festivals, which in their given time frame are fixed that year.

My favourite example comes from New York where there are now 13,237 taxi medallions or licenses. Two corporate medallions were offered for sale towards the end of last year and they broke the $1 million mark.

This article has more than enough data to build a lesson out of, and there is a good chart from Bloomberg that compares the price of taxi medallions, with gold and house prices.

The 2011 value of the 1937 $10 medallion is $157.50, which represents a decent investment, even if it is a personal license which sells for about £700,000.

Introduction to globalisation via the UK car market

2012-01-20T14:56:23Z

For those of us eagerly awaiting the release of the Case Study for OCR GCSE Economics Unit 593, the topic of globalisation provides a nice stepping stone to the more challenging material. Data out this week from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders gives an insight into the motor industry and shows an increase of 5.8% in production by Britain’s car assembly plants.

83.7% of the 1.34 million cars produced in the UK are exported, accounting for 10% of UK exports (total “automotive” exports as percentage of total exports). In an article for The Times (20/1/12), Tony Burke, assistant general secretary, Unite, is quoted as saying “These car production figures are a glimmer of hope in gloomy times. British manufacturing can be a success”.

In order the British production data:

Nissan 480,485 (+13.5%)
Jaguar Land Rover 288,169 (+22.5%)
BMW (including Mini & Rolls Royce) 195,952 (-11%)
Vauxhall (including Vivaro van & some Renault/Nissan vans) 194, 952 (+34.5%)
Toyota 128,126 (-6.5%)
Honda 97,459 (-30%)
Ford 28,170 (-0.5%)
Leyland trucks 14,568 (+57%)
Bentley 7,350 (+37%)

I often find students struggle to name output that can be exported from Britain so this data should prove a useful introduction. This Telegraph article comes packed with facts and pictures to kick off an introduction and this article provides some of the data that you may not be able to access from The Times.

International car market

This year the Detroit motor show looked to the US market as uncertainty about European demand continued.

If you want to liven up the introduction then Chrysler’s 2011 Superbowl advert featuring Eminem is perfect to get to the ethos that is Detroit.

Sales will take their toll

2012-01-20T10:09:31Z

Interesting figures released today by the Office for National Statistics show that retail sales, excluding fuel, grew 0.6% in December 2011 compared with November 2011. These figures represented a 1.7% increase from December 2010. This seems to paint a rosy picture.

However, we need to look at the background of this increase in retail sales. So many of the high street stores started their sales very early this year, many with enticing customers in with huge pre Christmas price cuts. So even though sales are up it is likely that profits will be down considerably.

Over the past few weeks retailers have reported their own individual figures.

John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Next and Burberry are some of those who had good Christmas periods.

Others, like Tesco, Argos and HMV, did not.

Demand and Supply in Action - what’s in a name?

2012-01-20T09:12:26Z

It has been suggested in a new report that Skegness should change its name to boost demand in the ailing resort. This links really well with fashion and trends in demand. Skegness has become less popular with the rise of the package holiday (substitute) and younger people seeing Skegness as a less desirable place to go on holiday.

Here is a great article and short video to use for a demand and supply question.

Delicious data - UK debt compared

2012-01-19T20:49:23Z

Here is a great graph for using with your students to do a delicious data question.

For more information read this article.

Figure of the day - unemployment

2012-01-18T19:57:51Z

Just watching the news and I heard a great statistic that you could use with your students this week. For every job vacancy in the UK there are 5.8 unemployed people. Five years ago this figure was 2.8.

End of the line for the staycation?

2012-01-18T14:51:35Z

The staycation became the answer to recession blues. It was cheaper to stay here in the UK than go abroad at a time when real incomes were falling.
The cost of taking a holiday in the UK is the highest in Europe, given the price of accommodation, food, attractions and petrol.

According to research by Thomas Cook a one week family holiday in Devon will cost as much as £2,300, £264 more than a similar holiday in Majorca.
A similar all-inclusive holiday in Majorca, including the cost of travel, food and drink, comes in at a lower £2,036.
Another factor causing a reduction in the staycation could be the unpredictable summer weather in the UK.
In addition the relatively weak Euro makes a European holiday much more appealing.

House prices fall

2012-01-18T10:01:57Z

According to official figures, house prices declined in all areas of Britain except London, East Midlands and the North East over the last year.
House prices in Britain fell by 0.3 per cent on average in the year to November 2011.

In this article there are a couple of graphs that could be used for delicious data questions.
The average house price in England in November was £213,668 whereas in Scotland it stood at £160,602, in Wales £146,812 and in Northern Ireland they were £135,402.

Should the Pound shop be renamed?

2012-01-17T09:52:52Z

A great article here to get your students thinking.

Supermarket price wars cause inflation fall

2012-01-17T09:47:30Z

Figures released today show that inflation has fallen to 4.2% in December. Many retailers, in particular the supermarkets launched heavy tactics to ensure sales in the run up to Christmas.
A supermarket price war broke out after Tesco announced a £500 million price-cutting campaign, Asda guaranteed to be 10% cheaper than its rivals and Sainsbury’s launched its own brand price matching scheme.

The drop in the CPI rate was the biggest monthly fall since April 2009, and the lowest rate since June 2011.It was due to lower fuel prices and cheaper clothing, said the ONS. The figures showed a 2.8% drop in the price of clothing and footwear as retailers cut prices to attract customers in the run-up to Christmas. However, food prices rose by 1.4%, despite recent fierce competition between the main supermarket chains.