Blog and updates
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14 Dec 2015
Why might the US raise its interest rate?
On Wednesday this week, the US Federal Reserve is widely and globally expected to raise its interest rate by one quarter of a percentage point, in its first increase since June 2006. The Economist...
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14 Dec 2015
Nurofen - product differentiation or price discrimination?
The Australian judiciary has told the makers of Nurofen (Reckitt Benckiser) that they must withdraw their range of products from Australian shelves, because the products all contain identical...
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12 Dec 2015
Two Sides of Inequality in Fast Growing Indonesia
Two residents of Indonesia’s capital Jakarta live almost side by side, yet they are separated by income inequality. Both explain that not everyone has benefited from Indonesia’s economic growth....
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12 Dec 2015
Apple's New Campus Revealed Via Drone Footage
tutor2u moved into their new global headquarters only a few months back and you'll find some important parallels between our new research and development centre and the Apple Campus 2 that is...
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12 Dec 2015
Extreme poverty: Transforming the lives of the ultra-poor
The ultra-poor is a term linked to extreme poverty rates in some of the world's least developed countries. It was first coined in 1986 by Michael Lipton of the University of Sussex and is defined...
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12 Dec 2015
The Equity Premium and Low Interest Rates
One for the behavioural finance students out there! What kinds of returns should we expect from risky stocks and shares (equities)?
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11 Dec 2015
Which natural disasters create the most economic damage?
The floods in Cumbria and Lancashire have created havoc for local communities and raised fresh questions about the effectiveness of flood relief investment spending after the awful floods that hit...
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11 Dec 2015
Divisions within OPEC as oil prices collapse below $40 a barrel
Divisions within OPEC are emphasised in this discussion between two FT journalists. Oil prices have slumped below $40 per barrel and the last OPEC meeting broke up without agreement with member...
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10 Dec 2015
Should we drop money from helicopters?
The economist Milton Friedman was well known (amongst MANY other reasons) for his analogy of "dropping money out of helicopters" for providing a monetary-based economic boost. Last year, The...
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10 Dec 2015
A Euro Decline Infographic
It's quite easy to get carried away looking at the various infographics on the visual.ly website. Here is one I found earlier today that is relevant when studying exchange rates, in particular the...
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10 Dec 2015
The UK's rising trade deficit
The UK's trade deficit shot up to £4.1bn in October 2015, from £1bn in September. One major contributing factor has been a significant increase in the demand for imported trucks and delivery...
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10 Dec 2015
Tobacco firms launch a legal challenge against plain packaging
Four of the world's largest tobacco companies have today mounted a legal challenge against the UK government regarding the plain packaging law. The companies Philip Morris International, British...
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10 Dec 2015
The Chinese Yuan now joins the elite IMF reserve currency basket
We know that China is now one of the most significant players of the world economy, however news this week that its currency the Yuan (or Remnimbi) has been accepted into the International Monetary...
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10 Dec 2015
Fun Lesson Starter - A George Osborne Quiz
Go on, it's nearly Christmas! I'm sure that you've seen our Christmas quiz but if you wanted another 5 minute fun quiz to engage with your students then why not try our new George Osborne game. It...
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9 Dec 2015
A simple way to show the pay gap between CEOs and ordinary workers
Top-paid British executives have salaries over 180 times larger than ordinary worker and I was quite taken by this very straightforward way of visualising the chasm that appeared in the Independent...
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9 Dec 2015
Will UK petrol prices fall below £1 a litre?
The sustained fall in the world price of crude oil has raised hopes that motorists will soon pay less than £1 a litre for their petrol on the main forecourts. But a festive cut in prices below the...
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9 Dec 2015
Marshall Society Economics Conference January 30th 2016
We are pleased to support the Marshall Society at the University of Cambridge as they launch details of their third annual conference. This is always an excellent day out at an event held at the...
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9 Dec 2015
Supply side policy in operation - Universal Credit
A Level students are told that supply-side policies are the ultimate government response to support economic performance. If they can get the supply side policy right, it should have a positive...
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9 Dec 2015
Can a currency depreciation lift Brazil out of recession?
I will be using this mini case study when teaching exchange rates next term. The Brazilian real has been falling rapidly against the US dollar. Since mid-2014, the real has depreciated 43 per cent...
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8 Dec 2015
Valuing the Future - Why Climate Change Agreement is Hard
The two week long Paris conference on climate change seems to drag on interminably. There are obviously many reasons why such summits find it difficult to reach meaningful agreements. But a...
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