War has always had substantial economic costs, but war is becoming increasingly costly for both belligerents and bystanders. This is due to both the monetary costs of fighting and the economic fallout of sanctions. During the cold war, there was a theory that nuclear war would ensure a mutual self-destruction – and this assured mutual …
Summary Natural gas is a key raw material for heating and electricity generation, therefore higher prices will significantly increase the cost of living, increase inflation and could slow down economic growth. In the long term, higher gas prices will encourage consumers to find alternatives and firms to increase supply (e.g. fracking for natural gas), but …
Recessions (a fall in real GDP) are primarily caused by a fall in aggregate demand (AD). A demand-side shock could occur due to several factors, such as A financial crisis. If banks have a shortage of liquidity, they reduce lending and this reduces investment. A rise in interest rates – increases the cost of borrowing …
Russia is a medium sized economic with a GDP of $1.48 trillion (USD) about half the size of the UK $2.7 trillion (2020) The strengths of the economy is based on exports of oil and natural gas. And with these sales, since 2014, Russia has built up foreign currency reserves of $630bn – a large …
Economic sanctions are policies designed to hurt the economy of a target country. Sanctions can involve trade embargoes, seizure of assets, travel bans and limits on capital flows. The aim of sanctions is usually to provide a political signal of disapproval which stop short of military action. They can be imposed by one country unilaterally, …
Putting aside the very real human cost, war has also serious economic costs – damage to infrastructure, a decline in the working population, inflation, shortages, uncertainty, a rise in debt and disruption to normal economic activity. From some perspectives, war can appear to be beneficial in terms of creating demand, employment, innovation and profits for …
Readers Question: Why is the cost of living in the UK so expensive? The cost of living depends on: The price of basic necessities – food, fuel, heating, transport, housing/rent, entertainment. The effective cost of living also depends on real wages. It is expensive to live in Nordic countries, but real wages tend to be …
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 …