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Topic updates
Can UK hotels maintain high occupancy rates?
Demand for hotel rooms is sensitive to so many factors ranging from macroeconomic conditions to the vagaries of external shocks such as the pandemic. One key metric for the hotel industry is the...
Sustainable Growth - Forest conservation in Costa Rica
This clip looks at how Costa Rica has blazed a trail for reforestation, being the only developing economy to reverse deforestation and increase forest cover, and help reduce carbon dioxide in the...
OBR forecasts a long, shallow recession for the UK
These are tough times for the UK economy - a long, shallow recession is the main forecast at the moment - but there are big risks ahead especially if house prices fall by more than 10% and if the...
Electric Vehicles - Ford Commits to Insourcing
Wow! What a superb article for your A-level and IB economics. The CEO of Ford is quoted as saying that manufacturing electric vehicles will require 40% less labour – mainly because there are far...
Floating versus Fixed Exchange Rates
We have just added a new revision video to the Economics Reference section on the merits and drawbacks of floating versus fixed exchange rates.
What are Britain's Best Paid Jobs?
Which occupations in the UK pay the highest median hourly wage rates?
What are Britain's Lowest Paid jobs?
What are the lowest paid jobs in the UK labour market? Low pay is a big issue especially during a cost-of-living crisis. Millions in the UK live in families where one or more people are in...
Adapting to Climate Change Across East Asia and the Pacific
This World Bank clip looks at the implications of climate change for East Asia and the Pacific, and their ability to adapt to the challenges that it poses and, hopefully, overcome them.
Steel and Planes - Should the UK government subsidise the transition to green energy?
I'll be moving onto government intervention soon in my Year 12 microeconomics. So these two stories on lobbying for government subsidy caught my eye as potential mini case studies for student...
UK Interest Rates and House Prices - A Quick Update
Ahead of the latest UK base rate decision, this Guardian editorial is aggressively anti-Bank of England, arguing that any decision to significantly raise interest rates tomorrow is not in the...
Environmental Economics - How to Stop Deforestation?
This Economist clip looks at the extent to which deforestation has generated negative externalities, the causes and consequences of this, as well as the potential solutions to this, at a time when...
Single Currency - Croatia to join the Euro in January 2023
In June 2022, Croatia was given the go-ahead by fellow member nations of the European Union to switch to the single currency from the 1st of January 2023. Croatia stands to become the 20th nation...
Fiscal Policy - How Much Could be Raised by a Wealth Tax?
Campaign group, Tax Justice UK, argues that the government could implement five tax reforms, most notably equalising Capital Gains and income tax rates, to reduce levels of tax avoidance, among...
Luxury Goods - Why are Nordic Blueberries so expensive?
It is a question I have often asked of myself wandering down a supermarket aisle. Why are Nordic Blueberries so expensive? "Nordic blueberries" or bilberries, grow in Nordic forest, and rapid lose...
Comparative Advantage - Taiwan - a Microchip Superpower
BBC Newsnight launched their Newsnight Global programme last night and the special on Taiwan was superb. Within it was a segment from Economics Correspondent Ben Chu on Taiwan's status as - far and...
Key Stats on the World Economy
When you are studying globalisation, it is handy to have some key stats on the world economy at your fingertips.
Update on the UK Economy - October 2022
Here is a quick update on the UK economy. We'll aim to produce one each month as we head into what many economists predict will be a difficult autumn and winter for the UK. Can a severe recession...
Business Economics - Can Body Shop Thrive in a Recession?
Today's Observer carries an interview with the CEO of Body Shop, a business owned by Brazilian firm Natura which has weathered several storms in recent years and - having cut back on their store...
UK Economy - What can be done to reduce economic inactivity?
The UK's employment rate has fallen since the pandemic – unlike other major economies. There is a lengthy piece here by The Observer's Heather Stewart on the rise in economic inactivity in the UK...
Progress in Reducing Extreme Poverty Grinds to a Halt
This World Bank clip looks at how the events of the last three years - coronavirus and the war in Ukraine has stopped global poverty reduction, and actually pushed over 70 million people into poverty.