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Economics in the News : Archive for May 2007 The following articles on Economics in the News were published during May 2007 |
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| Revision Mind Map - The Importance of Expectations | Discussing the role of expectations in affecting consumer and business behaviour can add greatly to your analysis and evaluation marks at A2 level. This revision mind map covers some of the areas of the course where expectations can be important in shaping decisions and behaviour. | ||
| Economics of Cities | The team at Deutsche bank has produced a super short research piece on the future of cities – available free on their research web site. In “The future of the world is urban”, the research piece argues that “Ultimately, cities are the product of the division of labour and the exploitation of economies of scale. | ||
| Revision Mind Map for AS Macroeconomics | I have attached with this entry a pdf file copy of a revision mind map used in final revision sessions with my AS economists -focusing on the areas in which I felt they should channel their revision. This file is available for download as a pdf. | ||
| Stat Attack on the UK Economy - Revision Blitz | A one page summary of recent developments in the UK economy to give an overview ahead of your macroeconomics papers. | ||
| Revision Note: Commodity Prices | In the last year, the Economist Global Commodity Price Index has climbed by 14%. Micro theory tells us that the prices of many commodities are frequently volatile – this provides a good reason for questions where students can apply supply and demand concepts and also evaluate the effectiveness of policies to influence and perhaps stabilise prices. | ||
| Revision Note: Income Inequality in the UK | Revision notes on poverty and income inequality | ||
| Revision Mind Map: Housing Market Economics | I have put up a mind map developed over the weekend which covers the revision that I have been doing with my groups on the economics of the housing market. The mind map includes lots of links and charts which might be useful for teachers and students. | ||
| Revision Mind Map: Performance of the UK in a Global Economy | I have put up a revision mind map in online format on aspects of the UK economy's performance during the current phase of globalisation. This might be useful for students preparing for their A2 papers | ||
| Revision Note: Income Inequality and Poverty in the UK | Revision notes on poverty and inequality designed for A2 economists | ||
| Revision Note: International Competitiveness | Competitiveness has been variously defined, but a starting point might be the ability of a business / industry / sector / economy to compete fairly and successfully in markets for internationally traded goods and services that allows for rising standards of living over time | ||
| Do you like freebies or do you value 'value'? | If you were staying in a budget hotel, would you prefer all the trimmings - or no shampoo, just a couple of towels, no iron, no bath mat - but a few quid off the bill? | ||
| Natural energy sources and latest satellite technology are helping Namibia's remote areas get connected | Much of Namibia's sparse population lives outside the reach of electricity and telephone lines - or mobile signals. Satellite and solar power are providing an answer. | ||
| Legal problems for British Airways and the risk of £350m in fines | British Airways has been caught breaking Competition laws. A good case study in collusion and the political and legal constraints on firms. | ||
| David versus Goliath | There is a brilliant little article on the BBC news website on the battle for software sales to the millions of small and medium sized enterprises (SME) around the world. | ||
| Inflation drops back into target range! | AS Economists will be going into their exams in a few weeks with the annual rate of consumer price inflation safely back within the allowable boundaries of the 2% inflation target! New data released today shows the annual change in CPI inflation edging down to 2.8% in April compared to 3.1% in March. | ||
| Revision Note: The Stern Report | The Stern Review is a very important piece of work despite it having come under attack from various quarters. It is a report that calls for action – so called mitigation policies – to reduce carbon emissions now to first stabilise and then reduce the effects of climate change. The Review is over 600 pages long, I have tried to synthesise it into three pages focusing on some of the key ideas that can be used at A2 Economics level. | ||
| Revision Note: What causes a recession? | It is now over fifteen years since the British economy last experienced a recession – defined as a period of at least six months when the value of national output actually declines. Recessions are thought to be an inevitable feature of economic cycles, which suggests that we are due one at some point. But there seems little chance of one occurring at the moment. | ||
| Revision Note: Alternatives to Profit Maximisation | We can find many reasons to question the assumption of profit maximisation. This revision note looks at some examples. Designed for A2 Economics students. | ||
| Revision Note: What causes an economic recovery? | Economic recessions are rare and they do not last forever! In this revision note we consider what might lead an economy out of a state of recession and begin the recovery process | ||
| Revision Focus: Fiscal Policy under Labour | After ten years in office, how has Labour used fiscal policy to influence and manage the economy? Are the government finances in good shape? How might history judge Gordon Brown as he takes his leave of the Treasury? Here are some brief revision notes on fiscal policy. | ||
| Revision Note: Business Pricing Strategies | A revision note on some of the influences on business pricing strategies - designed for A2 economists. | ||
| Revision Note: Price Discrimination | Virtually every business operating in real world markets engages in a strategy known as price discrimination. This pricing is also known as “price targeting” and “yield management” – but whatever the terminology, the aim of this is to raise revenue and achieve higher levels of profit by segmenting the market and charging different consumers different prices. | ||
| UK Economy Round up and Blair's Legacy | Catching up with some new data releases and research reports on the UK within the global economy and links to coverage of the economic legacy of ten years of the Blair government | ||
| Revision Note: Inter-relationships between Markets | In your revision of market supply and demand and the determination of prices it is worth remembering and reflecting that many markets are interdependent i.e. there are often strong relationships between what is happening in one market and second round effects on supply and/or demand in other markets. | ||
| What has Tony Blair done for Business? | After 10 years as Prime minister, Tony Blair has announced a date when he will step down. A BBC article looks at his likely 'economic legacy' | ||
| Revision Note: The Current Account of the Balance of Payments | Revision note on recent changes in the UK balance of payments on the current account. | ||
| Monopoly power and rail fares | Today South West Trains stands accused of exploiting their monopoly power by raising the fares of many off-peak tickets by as much as twenty per cent. | ||
| Revision Focus: Economic importance of investment | Capital investment is defined as spending on capital goods such as new plant and machinery, buildings and technology so that the economy can produce more goods and services in the future. This also includes spending on new national infrastructure | ||
| Revision Note: Global boom in soft commodities | Are Economists going soft? When I was a young student of economics, we spent ages looking at the markets for oil and hard metals because that was where the action was. We learned our supply and demand analysis and applied them to the volatile markets for precious metals, most of which none of us had ever heard of let alone touched! Well perhaps the current generation of school economists will be spending more time in the classroom trying to make sense of what is going on in the softer-end of the world commodity markets! | ||
| Ten Years on from Bank of England Independence | Last week saw the tenth anniversary of the decision to give the Bank of England independence. Naturally there has been plenty of coverage in the media of this landmark and I have produced a selection of links to speeches, articles and commentaries for those who want to do some independent research. | ||
| Revision Note: The Importance of Productivity | Revision note on productivity - designed for AS Economics students | ||
| Tim Harford at the Keynes Society | Tim Harford was on superb form when he addressed a meeting of the Keynes Society at Eton College on the 3rd of May. | ||
| Top Global Brands in 2007 | Global brands, love them or hate them, brands are a ubiquitous feature of a globalising world. The latest Global Brands survey for 2007 from Millward Brown places Google at the summit of their rankings | ||
| Mock Data Response Paper on Investment and Economic Performance | A mock data response paper on investment and long term economic performance - designed for AS students | ||
| Revision Note: The "China Effect" on the UK Economy | Events and developments in one country inevitably have spill-over effects onto others. AS economics revision should consider some of these inter-relationships wherever possible. It will certainly help your analysis and evaluation. | ||
| Revision Note: The Economic Cycle | AS economics revision note on the economic cycle | ||
| Two Mock Macro Papers for AS Economics | I have put together a couple of mock data response papers for my AS Economics students. Both focus on the UK economy. They can be downloaded as word files. | ||
| Revision Note: Supply-side Policies | Revision note on supply-side policies designed for AS economists | ||
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| Other essential economics resources: | |||
| econoMAX - the Economics Magazine for AS & A2 Economics | |||
| Economics Exam Technique - Guidance from the Examiners | |||
| The UK Economy in a Nutshell | |||
| The European Economy - New Free Resources | |||
| Economics - Student Discussion Board | |||
| GCSE Economics Revision Notes | |||
| AS & A2 Economics Revision Notes | |||
