An interesting graph showing relationship between the output gap and levels of government borrowing. A negative output gap indicates GDP is below full capacity and there is unemployed resources. Therefore, in a deep recession, like 2009, the output gap will rise. In a boom, we will have a positive output gap as firms struggle to …
Readers Question: How much money should 18 year old have? I have been thinking about this for a while and was hoping you might be able to shed some light on the subject. Please help. Thank you in advance. There are frequent readers comments about the minimum wage for 16-18 year old Most seem to …
Readers Question: I would like to know more on the issue of who exactly benefits from the UK national debt that my great grandchildren are going to be paying. It is helpful to think of the three aspects of the government debt Structural deficit – related to above inflationary increases on health and education and …
Readers Question: discuss whether economic actions by individuals always results in net benefit to the society “Many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was not part of it. By pursuing his own …
Readers Question: When will the Recession end? Sometimes when it comes to making economic predictions, I am happy to stick my neck out. But, when it comes to predicting when we will see a sustained economic recovery, I find it quite difficult at the moment. In theory, the recession will have ended when we return …
Readers Question: However I was intrigued by something I read on the internet regarding Conservative plans to include housing costs in the Bank of England’s inflation target. Mortgage interest payments are included in the RPI measure of inflation. However, the official measure of inflation is currently the CPI. The CPI excludes mortgage interest payments. It …
A good thing about studying economics is that new issues crop up. A year ago, few people would have heard of quantitative easing, but, now it is has become an important part of UK monetary policy. Because it is relatively untried, there is a degree of uncertainty how it will work and whether it will …
Heroin is a classic example of a demerit good: People ignore or underestimate the costs of consuming heroin. In other words people make bad choices about deciding to consume this very addictive good. Heroin consumption also has negative externalities for the rest of society. Heroin addicts become less productive, often unable to hold down a …