Readers Question: What is the difference between a debit and a debt? A debit item refers to a system of accounting which places a negative amount on the left-hand side of an accounting column. A debit is associated with the purchase of assets or expense transaction. e.g. money leaving your account to purchase a factory. …
Readers Question: Are books inferior goods or normal goods? An inferior good is a good where a rise in income leads to lower demand. It is a good with a negative income elasticity of demand. “When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food.” Desiderius …
You are welcome to ask questions on Economics. I am looking to explain economic principles / ideas/ recent developments in economics. Due to the volume of questions, I can no longer promise to answer. But, I will try if it meets below criteria. I will post the answer on this blog, for everyone to benefit …
One of the great challenges of Monetary and Fiscal Policy is knowing exactly where the economy is. If output is falling, then this justifies an easing of monetary policy (lower interest rates, or in the UK’s current situation more quantitative easing). Recently GDP statistics showed an unexpected 0.4% fall in GDP. This was a key …
Question: Why do we have a VAT rate of 17.5% on many ordinary goods and a tax rate on petrol / tobacco of over 50% – yet when people propose a tax of 0.01% on currency transactions it is denounced as unfair and economically damaging? At the G20 summit, Gordon Brown, proposed a version of …
Readers Question: Is it a good idea for the Baltic states to adopt the Euro before they have met the convergence criteria? Latvia and Lithuania have a target date of 2013 for joining the Euro. Estonia by Jan 1 2011. The four main convergence criteria for the joining the Euro are: Low inflation Low Government …
Readers Question: Is it possible the phenomenon to have a relationship between GDP and house prices where an increase of the mean GDP to lead to decreased house prices? Yes, An interesting phenomena is that UK house prices have shown an increase during 2009 – despite a prolonged recession. Typically, in a recession, you would …
Fear is a powerful emotion which can have significant economic implications. Often real fears are ignored in a wave of over-exuberance. Sometimes, if people had greater fear of getting into debt and falling asset prices e.t.c, the economy would be less prone to bubbles and the consequent mess. Perhaps fear isn’t the right word. – …