Blog and updates
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25 Oct 2022
Basic food prices surging - is a £7 pint on the way?
Food prices are having a big impact on people’s cost of living. There have been some eye-watering increases in the prices of basic groceries over the last year. This is a rate of inflation that...
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24 Oct 2022
Update on the UK Economy - October 2022
Here is a quick update on the UK economy. We'll aim to produce one each month as we head into what many economists predict will be a difficult autumn and winter for the UK. Can a severe recession...
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23 Oct 2022
Business Economics - Can Body Shop Thrive in a Recession?
Today's Observer carries an interview with the CEO of Body Shop, a business owned by Brazilian firm Natura which has weathered several storms in recent years and - having cut back on their store...
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23 Oct 2022
UK Economy - What can be done to reduce economic inactivity?
The UK's employment rate has fallen since the pandemic – unlike other major economies. There is a lengthy piece here by The Observer's Heather Stewart on the rise in economic inactivity in the UK...
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22 Oct 2022
Social housing - barriers to building sustainable housing at scale
This Guardian piece looks at one of the major ongoing issues in the UK, the shortage of affordable housing. And yet, as the author points out, in the aftermath of the Second World War, when the...
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22 Oct 2022
Tesco Raises Prices for Meal Deals
For the first time in a decade, Tesco has raised the price of their meal deal offer including the price charged to clubcard holders.
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21 Oct 2022
Progress in Reducing Extreme Poverty Grinds to a Halt
This World Bank clip looks at how the events of the last three years - coronavirus and the war in Ukraine has stopped global poverty reduction, and actually pushed over 70 million people into poverty.
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21 Oct 2022
Import Substitution - Senegal fights to end dominance of imported rice
This Reuters video clip highlights one of the disadvantages of free trade - it exposes economies to global economic shocks - and in this case, food shortages in India, and restrictions on its...
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20 Oct 2022
UK-EU Trade hit by Non-Tariff Trade Barriers
There are signs that the decision by the UK government to leave the single market of the European Union is having a damaging impact on UK exports to our largest trading partner.
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20 Oct 2022
Edible Economics - A Hungry Economist Explains the World
When the economist Ha-Joon Chang arrived in Britain in the eighties, he was struck by how bland and homogeneous the British diet was. But it wasn’t just the food – in mainstream economic thinking...
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20 Oct 2022
The Circular Economy - Roads Can Be Recycled Forever, Why Don't More Cities Do It?
This Business Insider video clip suggests that asphalt is endlessly recyclable: however, regulations often limit the extent to which it can be recycled, with many having a 30% limit.
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19 Oct 2022
Economic Shocks - How shocks have hit growth in South Asia
This World Bank clip looks at the resilience of the South Asian economy in the wake of a series of recent shocks - floods in Pakistan, the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and the war in the Ukraine....
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19 Oct 2022
Contestable Markets - Amazon launches Amazon Insurance Store
Here is an example of a market where an established, scaled business uses their brand awareness to facilitate entry to a new sector. Amazon is launching a home insurance price comparison service...
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19 Oct 2022
Trade Barriers and De-globalisation - US curbs on selling microchips to China
We've just been looking at the US-China trade war, and you might be forgiven for thinking that in the post-Trump era it's over. But is in't.
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19 Oct 2022
Inflation reaches 10.1% - will the Triple Lock for pensions be maintained?
Inflation reached 10.1% in September - prices are now rising at a 40-year high. The BIG decision facing the UK government is whether the value of the state pension will rise by the same amount in...
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18 Oct 2022
Brexit: How leaving the EU hit the UK
The Financial Times has published a new video on the economic consequences of Brexit for the UK economy, and it is safe to say that the overall conclusion is that the hard form of Brexit that came...
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18 Oct 2022
How Europe is cutting power consumption
This Guardian article looks at what EU nations are doing to cut energy consumption.
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18 Oct 2022
Price Elasticity of Demand - Glastonbury raises ticket prices to £340
How price sensitive are fans of the Glastonbury Festival? We are about to find out. Significant price increases have been announced for 2023. Tickets for next year's Glastonbury Festival will cost...
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17 Oct 2022
RIP Trussonomics - The Chancellor's Emergency Fiscal Statement
Trussonomics is over. I've had cheese in my fridge for longer than Trussonomics has lasted. Here are the key points from the statement issued by the newly-installed Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt.
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17 Oct 2022
NHS investment boosts economic growth
A new report from health consultancy Carnall Farrar claims that every £1 invested in the NHS translates into an overall economic return of £4 in the local area. This is a good example to add to...
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