Readers question: Keeping a lower deficit of the National Budget would benefit Americans as interest rates would remain stable and allow new businesses to grow. Would you say this statement is correct? In theory, there is an argument that a rising deficit can cause a rise in bond yields and interest rates. Similarly, there is …
Bottlenecks refer to the situation where firms are unable to meet demand because of delays, shortages and lack of spare capacity. Bottlenecks can occur from a spike in demand or disruptions to supply. They can lead to higher prices, inflation, shortages of goods and even lower economic growth. For many years, we have grown accustomed …
Definition of stagflation Stagflation is a period of rising inflation but falling output and rising unemployment. Stagflaton is often a period of falling real incomes as wages struggle to keep up with rising prices. Stagflation is often caused by a rise in the price of commodities, such as oil. Stagflation occurred in the 1970s following …
A high wage economy is characterised by high average incomes, rising real wages and fair distribution of income so the lowest income deciles are well paid. In summary, high wage economies tend to be characterised by high economic growth, rising labour productivity, high levels of education and training and good labour protections. (e.g. trade unions …
‘Beggar my neighbour’ is a term used to describe an economic policy, where you seek to gain an economic advantage by making other countries lose out. Cutting corporation tax is an effort to take away investment from countries with higher corporation tax. It creates an incentive for countries to keep cutting to see who has …
The Covid recession is very expensive for governments. Not only are we experiencing the usual cyclical fall in tax receipts, but there has been unprecedented government spending – such as the furlough scheme for workers, loans for business and a large rise in welfare payments. Government borrowing will increase to record peacetime levels. In April …
Definition: Underemployment is defined as a situation where people are working fewer hours than they wish; e.g. you would like to work 40 hours a week, but the firm only gives you 30 hours. Underemployment may also refer to the fact workers accept jobs that don’t utilise their skills. e.g. graduate working in McDonald’s may …
The world economy is already entering a very deep recession, with GDP falling by an estimated 20-25%. Unemployment will rise very fast as large parts of the economy close down. An optimistic assessment is that the economic shock will be short-term, policymakers are responding with as much monetary and fiscal help as they can, and …