Blog and updates
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18 Jan 2016
Market Failure: 8 resources on Market Failure
Here are some recent resources on market failure - especially externalities and demerit goods
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17 Jan 2016
Cheap imports force UK pig farmers out of business
The Chinese economic slowdown, Russia’s ban on European food imports and cheaper pork products from other EU producers are combining to create a perfect storm for many of the UK's pig farmers.
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17 Jan 2016
Renewable Energy and Global Economic Growth
Achieving a 36 per cent share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030 would increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 1.1 per cent, roughly USD 1.3 trillion, according to...
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17 Jan 2016
Do Transnational Corporations pay Higher Wages?
Here is some new research relevant to the debate over the benefits and costs of foreign direct investment in both lower, middle and higher income countries.
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15 Jan 2016
Global PC Sales Continue to Decline
More evidence here of the structural decline in sales of PCs in the global computer industry.
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15 Jan 2016
The economic impact of airport hubs - lesson resource
This week's Beyond the Bike resource provides a perfect data response lesson for those teaching transport economics or globalisation at the moment, as we consider the economic impact of airport...
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15 Jan 2016
Economics News Quiz - Using our Blockbusters template
Here's a weekly news quiz to try with your students next Monday or Tuesday. It contains 20 questions relating to news stories from the world of economics over the last 10 days and comes in the...
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14 Jan 2016
China’s textile exports decline in 2015
Once synonymous with the Chinese export machine, China's textile and garment export industry experienced a severe decline in sales in 2015 according to data from their Ministry of Industry and...
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14 Jan 2016
Currencies: How sustainable is the riyal/dollar peg?
For 30 years, the Saudi riyal has been pegged in a fixed exchange rate system with the US dollar. But with oil prices dropping like a stone and edging below $30 a barrel, the export-dependent Saudi...
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14 Jan 2016
Price competition key to success in Supermarket market?
The final quarter and Christmas sales reports for many of the supermarkets are now beginning to emerge. The results are generally mixed, with Morrisons showing a slight increase in profits, Tesco...
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14 Jan 2016
Cross Price Elasticity of Demand - Music Streaming Hits Album Sales
The growing popularity of relatively low-priced music streaming from services such as Apple Music and Spotify is coming at the expense of other market segments. This is a good example of cross...
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14 Jan 2016
Chinese slowdown hits African exports
This brief BBC piece highlights the extent to which Africa is dependent upon China but not vice versa: the Chinese slowdown has seen African exports to China fall by nearly 40%, equally Chinese...
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14 Jan 2016
Surge in minicabs increases journey times
Another interesting insight here from the Guardian about the ongoing debate about the effect of Uber in the market for cabs: this time private hire firm, Addison Lee, claim that the rising number...
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14 Jan 2016
Martin Wolf on upheaval in the Chinese economy
The FT's Martin Wolf offers his opinion on the current state of affairs in China and counsels against the fixation with the immediate, suggesting that the recent devaluation of the currency and the...
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13 Jan 2016
Ofwat and Regulatory Failure
The Commons' Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has criticised the UK water regulator Ofwat for poor oversight of the water companies it is meant to be regulating, resulting in households paying too...
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13 Jan 2016
Science does not always make sense
The story of the week for many people was the new alcohol guidelines issued by the UK’s chief medical officers. In 1995, the recommended weekly upper limit for men was set at 21 units, or around...
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12 Jan 2016
Shire to combine with Baxalta in £22bn deal
More merger activity in the pharmaceutical sector as Shire and Baxalta confirm their £22billion merger, creating a giant market leader in the treatment of rare diseases.
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12 Jan 2016
Tim Harford - How messy problems can inspire creativity
Keith Jarrett had been handed a mess. He had embraced that mess, and it soared - handed an unplayable piano, he crafted a performance that has become the best-selling piano album of all time.
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11 Jan 2016
Japan and China Compete for Investment into Africa
The scale of China’s ambition for Africa is already well understood. Numerous construction projects are already underway including the ones covered in Kenya by this short FT video report.
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11 Jan 2016
Productivity differences between large and smaller firms in the UK
I'm not sure what to say about the data published by the ONS that finds productivity is higher in larger businesses. According to the ONS "Larger firms – which might have greater scope for dividing...
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