Blog and updates
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24 Sept 2017
Financial crisis 2008 - what happened to Northern Rock?
I would like to share an excellent edition of the Radio 4 programme, The Reunion, which is available on iPlayer. It is a 45-minute discussion between some of the key characters involved in the...
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24 Sept 2017
Uberisation - what are the consequences?
TfL's decision on Friday that they would not renew Uber's licence to operate in London was a shock, although there has been a build-up of objections to Uber from a range of stakeholders.
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24 Sept 2017
The Credit Ratings agencies. Who are they and should we really care?
Financial markets are incredibly complicated. Although it`s one of the later topics studied on the A` level specification, it`s well worth familiarising yourself with any specialist terminology as...
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21 Sept 2017
Yellen signals an end to quantitative easing
The end of QE in the USA is just around the corner. It appears that the Federal Reserve is going to taper its stimulus programme and run down the stock of bonds it bought as part of its QE...
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21 Sept 2017
Google signs HTC smartphone deal
Google have agreed a deal with HTC to boost its hardware business. However, it doesn't smack of a marriage from a position of strength, instead here are two companies who are struggling to maintain...
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21 Sept 2017
How Junk Food is Transforming Brazil
A stunning video from the New York Times. In Brazil every year there are one million new cases of obesity.
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20 Sept 2017
Do some of the newly employed have zero productivity?
Whether due to limited ability or a lack of incentive, the output of some workers taken on in the jobs boom is close to zero. And this drags the average down.
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20 Sept 2017
How Tax and Spending Policies Can Reduce Poverty and Inequality
A timely short video here from the World Bank on how government tax and spending policies can have a direct effect on the scale of poverty and inequality in developing countries.
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20 Sept 2017
Estate agent cartel is fined
A really good competition policy example here as the Competition and Markets Authority fines a group of estate agents in Somerset for a cartel that fixed minimum commission charges.
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20 Sept 2017
Public sector pay, real wages and productivity
The government announced on Tuesday 12 September that they were to relax the cap on public sector pay. From 2010 to 2012 there was a freeze on public sector pay, since then pay rises have been...
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20 Sept 2017
GAFA Market Power continues to Grow
This FT interview looks at the rising market power of the GAFA platform businesses - Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. The argument is made that many of these companies build their profits around...
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20 Sept 2017
Virgin Rail to auction off spare first class seats
Just an excellent application of economics reported here in the Guardian. To what extent will this policy result in an efficient allocation of resource? The sooner it is rolled out on every train,...
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19 Sept 2017
Skills to pay the bills
Some awesome examples of fast-hand skills here and learning by doing! But don't try many of them at home!
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18 Sept 2017
Banking reform: Has enough been done?
BBC Newsnight investigates whether the UK banking industry has experienced sufficient reform in the years since the Global Financial Crisis. A useful evaluative primer on the slow march of reform...
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18 Sept 2017
10 Years of Change in British Banking
How has the UK banking landscape changed in the decade since the collapse of Northern Rock?
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16 Sept 2017
Economics News Quiz - 15 September 2017
Here's this week's Economic news quiz. Good luck!
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14 Sept 2017
Price Elasticity of Demand and Student Accommodation
An excellent application of PED to a simple problem: if you are a student looking for accommodation at a time when construction firms are building lots of suitable apartments, do you want the...
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13 Sept 2017
Climate change, uncertainty and discounting the future
Economics cannot solve the problem of climate change. But it can explain why electorates are so reluctant to do anything about it.
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12 Sept 2017
Sky-Fox merger referred to regulators
Competition policy in action - after months of delay the Government seems to minded to refer the $14 billion Sky-Fox merger for investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority.
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11 Sept 2017
Offshore renewable energy tumbles in price
Is this a hugely significant moment for energy economics and policy in the UK?
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