L, U, W, V or bathtub shaped?

No doubt we have all heard the various letters and shapes that have been suggested for the shape of this recession. This article in the Guardian would make a great start to the half term possibly prompting an interesting discussion.

The UK still in recession - some great resources

As it was announced today that the UK remains in recession with the economy unexpectedly contracting 0.4% between July and September, there are some great resources around for teaching economic growth and GDP. The graph below from the BBC shows this recession and the last.

UK has worst quality of life in Europe – Economic growth and living standards revision

I am currently teaching economic growth to my year 11’s and have got used to saying an increase in GDP improves the standard of living in a country. At GCSE this statement is usually enough but this article could get your pupils extra marks for evaluating whether this is actually true.

A study has show Britain to have the worst quality of life in Europe despite having an average household income of £35,730 a year, over £10,000 higher than the European average.  This is because British families have to contend with a high cost of living, with fuel, food and alcohol all costing more than the European average. Not only that but we are also working longer hours, having less holiday and dealing with worse weather. Click read more for some GCSE and A level style questions on economic growth and living standards.

Economy set to benefit from England’s World Cup qualification

Few of us could have missed the fact that this week the England football team qualified for next years World Cup in South Africa with a 5-1 win against Croatia. What you may not realise is that this will benefit the UK economy greatly. According to the British Retail Consortium England’s qualification will benefit the UK economy to the tune of £1bn. 

New GCSEs - international trade

Unit 3 for OCR GCSE Economics concentrates on global economic issues, one of these being international trade. The examination is based around a pre-released case study on these issues. It is always good to use video’s to capture students interest and this one is no exception

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.