Blog and updates
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8 May 2019
Behavioural economics: Scotland launches bottle return scheme
The Scots lead the way - this time, the Scottish government is looking to introduce a bottle return scheme for plastic drinks containers, cans and glass. As yet, the proposal is that when consumers...
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8 May 2019
Technology and the innovation possibilities frontier
If there were a betting market in future winners of the Nobel prize in economics, MIT’s Daniel Acemoglu would be at pretty short odds. His highly innovative work has already won him a string of...
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7 May 2019
Hammond plots one of the world's highest minimum wages
The Observer highlights an interesting story - it's believed to be the case that the Chancellor is contemplating a significant rise in the national minimum wage, to the highest level in the...
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6 May 2019
Are zombie firms a drag on the UK economy?
KPMG have come up with an interesting assessment of the UK economy. Were it not for low interest rates, they argue that as many as one in seven UK firms would have gone out of business.
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3 May 2019
De-carbonisation - economic threat or opportunity?
Ben Chu reports on BBC Newsnight at the costs of decarbonising, and Lord Stern argues that the cost of adopting environmentally-friendly technologies is far lower than it was a dozen years ago....
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28 Apr 2019
Green gas now supplied into more than one million UK homes
More good news here in the energy market - the amount of 'green' gas being used in the UK has increased to the extent that 1m homes are now using it for heating and cooking.
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26 Apr 2019
Economics Weekly Quiz - 26 April 2019
Here's this week's economics news quiz. Good luck!
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24 Apr 2019
A Brexit Thread for Core Understanding
A homely hat tip to the economics team at RGS Guildford who today published this really focused twitter thread on Brexit.
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18 Apr 2019
Will AI kill developing world growth?
Ian Goldin's article here supports his recent analysis programme on BBC radio 4 and it is well worth a read.
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16 Apr 2019
Micro credit versus direct subsidies in improving health care in developing countries
Low-income countries face major disease burdens from preventable and treatable communicable diseases. A persistent puzzle is the low uptake of highly effective preventive health products, such as...
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16 Apr 2019
YouTube super-stars and controlling the band-wagon effect
The stars of social media such as YouTube have to strike a careful balance to maintain and boost their popularity: uploading enough new material for ‘attention-volatile’ consumers, while not...
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15 Apr 2019
Confusing pairs of key phrases in A Level Economics - have a go at our 'Test Yourself' Activities
Here's a fantastic activity from our team of contributors who have identified the key phrases that are often misused during A Level Economics exams. As promised in February, we are now making the...
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13 Apr 2019
London's new Ultra Low Emissions Zone
Recently we have seen the introduction of the new Ultra Low Emissions Zone in London, designed to charge the owners of the most polluting vehicles an extra £12.50 for entering the area, in addition...
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13 Apr 2019
Solving the plastic packaging paradox
An excellent piece here from Tim Harford - looking at the paradox of plastic packaging. Packaging is a complex issue, but this article deconstructs some of the paradoxes associated with the use of...
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12 Apr 2019
Welfare reforms have increased household vulnerability to external shocks
Thanks to the large cuts to working-age benefits and tax credits made as part of the UK government’s austerity programme, the tax and benefit system is now less effective at protecting households...
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5 Apr 2019
Economics Weekly Quiz - 5 April 2019
Here's this week's economics news quiz, including the new 'classroom mode' for teachers using the activity in class.
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4 Apr 2019
Community Grain Banks and Basic Development
One of the central tenets of economics is that uncertainty reduces efficiency. Nowhere is that more true than in development economics, where uncertainty about incomes, and meeting basic needs -...
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4 Apr 2019
Development Economics - Universal Health Care
A very powerful World Health Organisation clip looking at universal healthcare. The important take-away: one-half of the global population don't have access to the healthcare that they need. That...
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4 Apr 2019
Unintended Consequences of Regulation - Fixed Odds Betting Terminals
Here is a classic and topical example of the unintended consequences of regulatory intervention. The reduction in the stake for fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) has seen the bookmakers respond,...
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