Readers Question: What caused the massive decrease in the debt to GDP ratio for the UK following World War II? It is a good question to ask. In the past few years, many European policymakers have felt that rising debt levels needed panic levels of austerity/spending cuts. But, that didn’t happen in the UK in …
Readers Question: evaluate the economics for and against the uk government further increasing the tax on alcohol in order to reduce its consumption? Alcohol is considered a demerit good. Overconsumption can cause health problems, which involve external costs to the rest of society. Therefore, there is a strong reason to increase tax on alcohol, reduce …
An essay on the economic effects of a falling dollar. Between 2006 and early 2008, there was a 15% fall in the trade-weighted value of the dollar. Then from 2008 to 2011, there was another fall of around 15%. In summary, a fall in the value of the dollar will have these effects. Makes US …
In a recession, fiscal policy and monetary policy can, in theory, be used to increase aggregate demand and boost economic growth. However, in practice, there can be many difficulties with preventing a recession. If the world economy was to get close to recession in 2020, could policymakers act decisively to prevent a recession? Factors …
Interesting article here, which claims that printer ink is the equivalent of $8,000 per gallon, which makes petrol look cheap. Printer Ink is expensive – $8,000 per gallon. Reasons Printer Ink is So Expensive? 1. Printers are sold cheaply. The business model of many printer companies is to sell printers at a low cost, and …
I often hear of arguments saying bottles of mineral water should be banned. The logic of banning bottled water is that it is a strong commitment to reducing single-use plastic which has high environmental costs. However, others argue it is a rather drastic measure which only tackles small part of the problem. Reasons to ban …
To what extent does an increase in profit lead to an increase in economic welfare? In summary. Higher profit enables firms to invest in more research and development, leading to better products in the long-term. Higher profit also acts as a signal to other entrepreneurs to increase investment in that industry. However, others are concerned …
Readers Question: How does the MPC predict future inflation? Inflation is caused by a mixture of demand-pull and cost-push factors. Therefore, the MPC will look at many statistics which give an indication of whether the economy is reaching full employment and causing inflationary pressures. This will include rate of economic growth, unemployment and the amount …