Readers Question: How important is the budget deficit? The budget deficit is the annual amount the government borrow. The government usually financed the budget deficit by selling bonds to the private sector. US budget deficit likely to get bigger. To libertarian and free-market economists, budget deficits are liable to cause significant economic problems – crowding …
The decline of trade unions in the UK has been a long-term trend since the late 1970s. Union membership peaked in 1979 at over 13 million workers, but has since fallen to around half that level. As a share of the workforce, union density has dropped from more than 50% in the late 1970s to …
Trade unions are organisations representing the interests of workers. They were formed to counter-balance the monopsony power of employers and seek higher wages, better working conditions and a fairer share of the company’s profits. Critics of trade unions argue they can be disruptive to firms, discouraging investment and improved working practices. Furthermore, powerful unions can …
The gold standard is a monetary system where a country’s currency is directly linked to gold. Each unit of money represents a fixed quantity of gold, and people (or foreign governments) can convert paper money into gold at that fixed rate. For example, in 1717, the United Kingdom fixed £1 to 113 grains (7.32 g) …
A selection of graphs and statistics about US Federal debt and the US Federal budget deficit / surplus. US Federal Deficit since 1946 The federal deficit is the annual difference between federal spending and federal tax revenues. It is the amount the federal government need to borrow by selling Treasury Bills. These are mostly bought …
Definition: The product life-cycle (PLC) refers to the different stages a product goes through from introduction to withdrawal. The product life-cycle refers to a likely pathway a product may take. It has implications for the marketing strategy of a firm as it seeks to introduce, grow and maintain market share. In this case, the product …
Readers Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the WTO formally the GATT? Advantages and Disadvantages of the WTO World Trade Organization – global rules for international trade Advantages Lower trade barriers – reduced tariffs and quotas Rules-based system – predictable and transparent trade Dispute settlement – reduces risk of trade wars Economic growth …
Currently, the UK government has public sector debt of £2.6 trillion or 97.5% of GDP. But how much more debt could the UK take on before it leads to default? There is no exact answer; the amount of debt a government can borrow will depend on several factors. Cost of borrowing – debt interest payments …