Blog and updates
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7 Jan 2024
How China's BYD Overtook Tesla
This is a fascinating insight into the rise of BYD, and how collaboration between the firm and the Chinese government have allowed it to overtake Tesla.
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5 Jan 2024
African Economy in Focus - Five Topical News Stories
Here are five recent news stories on the African economy - great for adding application to your study notes if you are revising economic growth and development on the African continent.
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5 Jan 2024
10% surge in CEO pay during 2023
By 1pm on Thursday 4th January, median FTSE 100 CEO’s earnings for 2024 will surpass the median annual salary for a full-time worker in the UK. Median FTSE 100 CEO pay (excluding pension) now...
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5 Jan 2024
Why do businesses use flash sales?
Many businesses use flash sales as a pricing technique. Flash sales uses dynamic pricing to fill off-peak capacity and generate extra revenue to help cover fixed costs and improve profitability.
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5 Jan 2024
Why is the German economy struggling?
As a 50-year old economist, it seems odd to be writing that Germany is the "sick man of Europe" but it seems that this is where we are. The German economy is growing at a slower rate than the UK,...
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5 Jan 2024
Economics Weekly Quiz | 05 January 2024
Happy New Year! Here's our first weekly economics news quiz of 2024.
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4 Jan 2024
In the News Teaching Activity –the UK macroeconomy 2023 highlights (Jan 2024)
Ed Conway, the Sky News economics correspondent considers whether 2023 was a good or bad year for the UK economy.
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2 Jan 2024
Why Discount Grocers Thrive in the UK Supermarket Landscape
Aldi and Lidl continue to enjoy rapid sales growth in the UK as price-conscious consumers look for better value alternatives. Their climbing market share - driven by numerous new store openings -...
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1 Jan 2024
UK Macro Topics for the 2024 Economics Exams
Here is a recording of my YouTube video looking at ten key macro topic issues that might well feature in the 2024 Economics Exam series. Lots going on in the macroeconomy at the moment - please...
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1 Jan 2024
A Quick Primer on Sticky Wages
A quick primer on the concept of sticky wages - a Keynesian idea - which has become important during the cost of living crisis. Less than 25% of people in work are members of a trade union....
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1 Jan 2024
New Global Profits Tax for 2024
140 countries have agreed from 1st January 2024, to apply an effective tax rate of at least 15 per cent on corporate profits.
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29 Dec 2023
Royal Mail losing market share in the contestable parcels industry
The privatised Royal Mail is losing market share to scaled rivals according to data for 2022 published by Pitney Bowes. The industry is an oligopoly - the top four carriers in the UK (Royal Mail,...
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29 Dec 2023
UK House Prices Fall 1.8% in 2023
House prices fell by nearly 2 per cent during 2023 according to the Nationwide leaving the average price at £257,000. Even with this drop in prices, the FT reports that a deposit paid by a typical...
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27 Dec 2023
Financial Times - Bank Failures in 2023
The Financial Times has this excellent in-depth video exploring some of the bank failures that happened in 2023 and casting a critical eye on the wider fragility of the banking system as we head...
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27 Dec 2023
Angola Leaves the OPEC Cartel
Angola is leaving the Opec oil cartel following an output quota row. Their crude oil production has been in long-term decline and they have opposed OPEC's attempts to cut their base-line quota.
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22 Dec 2023
Robert Solow: Ninety-Nine Years of Economic Wisdom
A towering giant of modern Economics, Professor Bob Solow, has passed away at the age of 99. I was taught the Solow Model as a student at Cambridge and I have continued to teach and refer to it...
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20 Dec 2023
Somalia to rejoin global financial system after securing debt-relief deal
This IMF video clip looks at how the IMF and World Bank have approved HIPC status for Somalia, eradicating 90% of the economy's external debt, or $4.5bn, allowing for greater government spending on...
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19 Dec 2023
Scottish Government Raises Taxes for Higher Earners
The Scottish government has increased marginal tax rates for higher-earners and frozen tax allowances creating some fiscal drag effects along the way. The government has announced a new marginal...
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18 Dec 2023
UK to introduce a Carbon Border Tax in 2027
A key environmental intervention is set to come into force in 2027, a year later than the planned EU carbon border tax which will start in 2026. The news is reported here in the Guardian.
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18 Dec 2023
In the News Teaching Activity – Is Christmas 2023 likely to be a merry one for retailers? A gloomy tale of consumer spending (Dec 2023)
The Economics Observatory have taken a closer look as the factors that have influenced consumer spending in recent years and considers how retailers are likely to be affected.
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