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In the News
Why do businesses use flash sales?
Many businesses use flash sales as a pricing technique. Flash sales uses dynamic pricing to fill off-peak capacity and generate extra revenue to help cover fixed costs and improve profitability.
Economics Weekly Quiz | 05 January 2024
Happy New Year! Here's our first weekly economics news quiz of 2024.
A Quick Primer on Sticky Wages
A quick primer on the concept of sticky wages - a Keynesian idea - which has become important during the cost of living crisis. Less than 25% of people in work are members of a trade union....
New Global Profits Tax for 2024
140 countries have agreed from 1st January 2024, to apply an effective tax rate of at least 15 per cent on corporate profits.
Royal Mail losing market share in the contestable parcels industry
The privatised Royal Mail is losing market share to scaled rivals according to data for 2022 published by Pitney Bowes. The industry is an oligopoly - the top four carriers in the UK (Royal Mail,...
UK House Prices Fall 1.8% in 2023
House prices fell by nearly 2 per cent during 2023 according to the Nationwide leaving the average price at £257,000. Even with this drop in prices, the FT reports that a deposit paid by a typical...
Angola Leaves the OPEC Cartel
Angola is leaving the Opec oil cartel following an output quota row. Their crude oil production has been in long-term decline and they have opposed OPEC's attempts to cut their base-line quota.
Robert Solow: Ninety-Nine Years of Economic Wisdom
A towering giant of modern Economics, Professor Bob Solow, has passed away at the age of 99. I was taught the Solow Model as a student at Cambridge and I have continued to teach and refer to it...
Somalia to rejoin global financial system after securing debt-relief deal
This IMF video clip looks at how the IMF and World Bank have approved HIPC status for Somalia, eradicating 90% of the economy's external debt, or $4.5bn, allowing for greater government spending on...
Scottish Government Raises Taxes for Higher Earners
The Scottish government has increased marginal tax rates for higher-earners and frozen tax allowances creating some fiscal drag effects along the way. The government has announced a new marginal...
UK to introduce a Carbon Border Tax in 2027
A key environmental intervention is set to come into force in 2027, a year later than the planned EU carbon border tax which will start in 2026. The news is reported here in the Guardian.
Externalities and Development: Mexico's Yucatán Railway Project
The BBC reports here on one of Mexico's biggest-ever infrastructure projects - the Yucatan railway mega-project which is designed to lift growth and development but is already three times over...
Economics Weekly Quiz | 15 December 2023
Here's our final weekly economics news quiz of 2023. Have a great christmas and new year!
Record Debt Puts Developing Countries in Crisis
The World Bank has warned that higher interest rates are going to imperil the developmental prospects of many low income countries, by increasing debt repayments and, ultimately, increasing debt...
Thames Water - Financial Crisis Deepens
This story speaks of the flawed nature of water privatisation, a scandalous lack of regulatory oversight, and the horrific misalignment of incentives.
De-Globalisation: World economy on brink of ‘cold war two'
The Deputy Director of the IMF, Gita Gopinath, has suggested that a move away from globalisation and an economic Cold War based on US and Chinese power blocs has the potential to wipe trillions of...
West African Generating Project Energises Growth
This World Bank clip looks at the development of a massive electricity generating project in West Africa, with the building of an advanced electricity network spanning the region, linking a power...
Inequality in the UK - most disadvantaged in Britain are no better off than 15 years ago
This BBC report highlights a Centre for Social Justice Report that finds that there's a danger of inequality becoming entrenched in the United Kingdom. The most deprived areas struggle to find...
Economics Weekly Quiz | 08 December 2023
Here's this week's economics news quiz.
Olive Oil Prices Climb due to Summer Shortages
This BBC News clip looks at how a drought in Spain has affected olive harvests, and, by definition, the price of olive oil. It's classic demand and supply material, and there's lots of opportunity...