Readers Question: to what extent did the EU recession cause the UK recession? In economics often several factors occur at the same time, and it is difficult to give a weighting to the importance of each factor. To some extent, people will emphasise the factors which best suits their outlook / beliefs. It is no …
The paradox of toil states that under certain conditions if people wish to work longer hours, this can cause falling real wages and rising unemployment. The paradox is that individuals have an incentive to work longer, but if everybody wants to work longer hours, it can actually cause unemployment. The paradox of toil only works …
In the late nineteenth century, firms with great monopoly power were the US railroads and oil companies. These days we have a new set of monopolies, companies like Google, Amazon. For example, Amazon has over 30% of the online retail of books and DVDs. Also, a firm with a monopoly selling power like Amazon can …
Readers question: Why is the stock market peaking when the economy is doing badly? There is an old saying that the stock market has predicted 10 out of the last three recessions. Similarly, you could argue the stock market has been predicting several recent economic recoveries which haven’t really materialised. How to explain why the …
In recent years, I’ve frequently stated that fiscal consolidation can actually increase debt levels. It may seem a paradox because fiscal consolidation aims to reduce the budget deficit by increasing taxes and cutting spending. Yet, under circumstances, policies to reduce debt levels can actually cause a rise in debt to GDP. This seems to be …
The Prime Minister has got into a bit of pickle by trying to maintain the view that deficit reduction policies have not reduced economic growth, and in fact have had the opposite effect. “They (are) absolutely clear that the deficit reduction plan is not responsible (for low growth); in fact, quite the opposite.” (link) There …
Universal credit is a new means-tested benefit, which, in October 2013, will replace several different means-tested benefits, such as: income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance income-related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Child Tax Credits Working Tax Credits Housing Benefit. The aim of universal credit is to provide a simplified means-tested benefits system, which provides income to those …
In 2012, the EU introduced a new form of its growth and stability pact. The main rules for EU fiscal policy are: Total Government debt must not be more than 60% of gross domestic product; The Government deficit must not be more than 3% of GDP except in particular circumstances. (Source: EU, Current EU rules) …