The Asian financial crisis of 1997 refers to a macroeconomic shock experienced by several Asian economies – including Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia. Typically countries experienced rapid devaluation and capital outflows as investor confidence turned from over-exuberance to contagious pessimism as the structural imbalances in the economy became more apparent. The crisis of ’97-99 …
A look at the economic and social impact of Mrs Thatcher’s economic policies. Summary of Thatcher’s Economic policies Belief in the desirability of free markets over government intervention. E.g. pursuing policies of privatisation and deregulation. The pursuit of supply-side policies to increase efficiency and productivity. Reducing the power of trades unions and increased labour …
One of the first lessons in economics is the idea of opportunity cost. If you pursue one choice, it means you can’t do another option. The government faces countless decisions based on this. For example, the government could spend more on health care, but the opportunity cost would be lower spending on education. We could …
The essential element of Keynesian economics is the idea the macroeconomy can be in disequilibrium (recession) for a considerable time. To help recover from a recession, Keynesian economics advocates higher government spending (financed by government borrowing) to kickstart an economy in a slump. Keynesian economics includes Disequilibrium in macroeconomy (insufficient demand) Imperfect labour markets (e.g. …
Boom and bust economic cycles involve: Rapid economic growth and inflation (a boom), followed by: A period of economic contraction / recession (falling GDP, rising unemployment) Causes of boom and bust cycles 1. Loose Monetary Policy If monetary policy is too loose, it means real interest rates are too low given the state of the …
Johann Hari wrote a piece on ‘The biggest lie in UK Politics’ Let’s start with a fact that should be on billboards across the land. As a proportion of GDP, Britain’s national debt has been higher than it is now for 200 of the past 250 years. Read that sentence again. Check it on any …
Marginal propensity to save (MPS) refers to the proportion of any extra income that is saved by consumers. For an individual, the marginal propensity to save will reflect how much they want to put extra income into different forms of saving. For example, if a worker receives a pay rise of £1,000 and they add …
A look at some problems and limitations of quantitative easing. Readers Question: I was wondering if anyone could help me with how Quantitative easing can possibly reduce a budget deficit? and what are the downsides of quantitative easing? The Bank of England has pursued a policy of quantitative easing. This has involved creating £275bn of …