Blog and updates
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2 Aug 2023
In Economics - what is thinking at the margin?
A typically excellent Marginal Revolution University clip looking at one of the most basic economic principles, the marginal principle, which is an essential part of thinking like an economist....
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31 Jul 2023
Financial Market Failure - Banks Under Pressure to Improve Savings Interest Rates
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have told the UK's High Street banks that they will adopt a more pro-active regulatory role as regards their savings rates. They've asserted that those banks...
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31 Jul 2023
China's Great Economic Slowdown
The Chinese economy was forecast to recover at pace in the aftermath of the pandemic: however, it hasn't. Troubles in the property sector, to the extent that property prices are falling in some...
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25 Jul 2023
Why does productivity tend to lag major technological advances?
Robert Solow famously said that computers were everywhere, except in the productivity statistics. This Jonty Bloom article for BBC news is well worth a read not least because it quotes Diane Coyle...
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23 Jul 2023
Capital Labour Substitution - vending machines pouring pints for the masses
This Guardian piece about the EBar highlights the substitutability of labour and capital, although it's interesting that there's a clear delineation between the use of the vending machines at...
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20 Jul 2023
Sustainable Cocoa Farming Yields Carbon Credits for Ghana
This World Bank clip highlights how the REDD+ programme is helping Ghanaian cocoa farmers operate in a more sustainable manner, and in doing so generating carbon credits that will ensure that they...
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19 Jul 2023
UK Economy - Inflation Falls to Below 8%
A welcome fall in UK inflation lifts hopes that interest rates may peak at six per cent or less in the coming weeks and months. UK annual CPI inflation rate dropped from 8.7% in May 2023 to 7.9% in...
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16 Jul 2023
UK councils call for total ban on disposable vapes by 2024
The Local Government Association has called for a ban on the sale of disposable vapes, with 1.3m of them being thrown away every week.
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15 Jul 2023
Philippines: What a Fish Farm Can Teach Us About Migration
This brilliant World Bank clip looks at the importance of outward migration for developing economies, such as the Philippines.
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14 Jul 2023
Improving our definition of economic recession
The technical definition of an economic recession is a fall in the level of real national output (GDP) over a period of two consecutive quarters (at least 6 months). But an economic recession might...
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14 Jul 2023
What is Bidenomics?
Bidenomics is a term used to describe the economic policies of President Joe Biden. Bidenomics is based on the principles of fiscal stimulus, infrastructure investment, and tax fairness. Bidenomics...
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13 Jul 2023
Cost of Living Support - Government support seen as ineffective
The IFS and Joseph Rowntree Foundation have investigated the government's cost of living support package for the poor, and concludes that the £19 billion spent wasn't terribly effective at...
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13 Jul 2023
Price Gouging? Rise in airport drop-off fees is criticised
Drop-off fees have increased at many UK airports in the last year, according to new research from the RAC.
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12 Jul 2023
Rising interest rates - zombie firms may get wiped out
A zombie business is a company that is technically alive but is not economically viable. Zombie businesses are typically highly indebted and are only able to survive by borrowing money to service...
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12 Jul 2023
Pigouvian Taxes - Paris considers charging SUVs higher parking fees
An interesting take on the negative externalities of urban air pollution, with Paris seemingly on the point of charging SUV drivers higher parking fees. It strikes me that this is a good move,...
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12 Jul 2023
Buy to Let Mortgages - Problems Brewing for Landlords and Tenants?
Might the steep rise in mortgage interest rates and other costs such as energy bills and property repair prices cause thousands of landlords to have to sell their properties? Selling might...
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11 Jul 2023
UK Unemployment Rises to 4%
There are signs of a softening in the UK labour market with news that unemployment for March to May 2023 increased by 0.2 percentage points to 4% of the labour force.
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9 Jul 2023
What are loss leaders? Are they ethical?
This short looks at some of the arguments surround loss-leading by businesses such as supermarkets. A loss-leader is a pricing strategy where a business sells a product below average cost hoping to...
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8 Jul 2023
Growth and the Environment - Externalities of Nickel Mining in Indonesia
This BBC clip looks at the adverse effects of nickel mining in Indonesia. Given the increased global demand for nickel, this implies that the associated negative externalities are going to be...
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8 Jul 2023
South East Water spent more on dividends and debt than infrastructure
Who do privatised water companies serve? Their customers or their shareholders?
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