Economics News Quiz for a New Term

I'm giving my students a general knowledge / business / economics news quiz to kick off the year and see who has been reading and keeping up to date over the summer! Here are the questions (and answers at the bottom!).

Questions

Here are some general knowledge / business / economics questions - many related to the news flow during the summer months:

1. What was Phillip Hammond’s last job prior to becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer?
2. Which country currently has the highest rate of price inflation in the world?
3. There are 5.4 million companies in the United States. To within 5%, what percentage of them are less than two years old?
4. Last month, what did the UK BoE do for the first time since March 2009?
5. Which business am I?
   1. I employ 18,500 employees globally
   2. I come from a Scandinavian country which lies outside the Euro
   3. I am the world’s biggest construction company
   4. I am enjoying strong growth in emerging economies and have production plants in Hungary, China and Mexico
6. The European Competition Commission said last week that Apple must pay billions of Euros in corporation tax to which country?
7. What was the split (%) in the UK referendum to leave the EU?
8. Who wrote the original book behind the oscar-winning film The Big Short?
9. Who am I?
   1. I own the brands Donnay, Slazenger, Firetrap, Dunlop, Kangol and Lonsdale
   2. In June 2016, I admitted errors over paying the minimum wage to my workers
   3. Ambulances have been called out to my premises 76 times in 2 years
   4. My shares closed 9% down yesterday after independent shareholders rebelled against the management and founder
10. What costs more per kg – Gold ($40k), Cocaine ($50k), or Rhino horn ($100k)?
11. Which European countries work the longest hours (a mark for any in the top three) (Greece, Portugal, Spain)
12. Who am I?
    1. My business operates in financial services
    2. We are a shirt sponsor for Newcastle United FC
    3. In recent times, our products have been subject to a price cap
    4. Our borrowers pay a “representative" interest rate of 1,509%
13. Shares in Barratt, Redrow and Berkeley have all bounced back after post-referendum blip - in which industry do they operate?
14. A number of European Union countries are experiencing price deflation at the moment - a mark if you can correctly name one of them
15. Who am I?
    1. Henry VIII established my business in 1516
    2. My main markets were opened to full competition a few years ago
    3. I was patly privatised in 2013 and fully-privatised early in 2016
    4. My CEO is a Canadian Moya Greene committed to increasing productivity to fight off the competition
16. Which business recently took over the Home Retail group and plans to open 30 new Argos outlets in their bigger stores
17. In the context of current global negotiations, what does TPP stand for?
18. Who am I?
    1. My currency is the dollar
    2. My economy has grown continuously for 25 years, we have avoided recession
    3. Many of my exports go to the Chinese economy
    4. My government has expressed interest in negotiating a free trade deal with the UK
19. Apple's iPhone 7 launch was done by their CEO - who is he?
20. NAFTA is a free trade area between the United States, Canada and which other country?

Answers

1. Foreign Secretary
2. Venezuela
3. 11%
4. Change Bank Rate
5. Lego
6. Ireland
7. 51.9% Leave; 48.1% Remain
8. Michael Lewis
9. Sports Direct
10. Rhino horn ($100k)
11. Greece, Portugal, Spain
12. Wonga
13. House-building
14. Denmark, Greece, Ireland
15. Royal Mail
16. Sainsbury’s
17. Trans Pacific Partnership
18. Australia
19. Tim Cook
20. Mexico