By different measures, US corporate profit has increased significantly in the past two decades. It stands at 10.5% of GDP. What is behind the large rises in profit? Source St Louis Fed CP (not this is for nominal profit) In 2021, US corporate profit after tax stands at 2,700 billion (or $2.7 trillion) This is …
Across the globe we are seeing a dramatic fall in the birth rate, with countries like Italy forecast to see their population decline from 61 million to 28 million by 2100. There are several reasons for falling birth rates – traditional factors include economic growth, improved education and access to contraception. But, in recent years, …
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 …
Labour shortages occur when employers struggle to fill labour vacancies because of insufficient labour applying for the jobs. Labour shortages can occur in geographical regions or in occupations with special requirements in terms of skill or function. Labour shortages can also be seasonal in industries like retail (Christmas) and agriculture (harvest time). Recently, since Brexit …
An overvalued exchange rate implies that a countries currency is too high for the state of the economy. An overvalued exchange rate means that the countries exports will be relatively expensive and imports cheaper. An overvalued exchange rate tends to depress domestic demand and encourage spending on imports. An overvalued exchange rate can also be …
This is a list of the gross national debt of 178 countries, showing the variation in debt levels from Venezuela at 304% of GDP to Macau at 0% of GDP. National debt refers to the amount of total government debt a country has. This is also referred to as ‘public sector debt’. It is compiled …
At the start of the academic year, I always feel a little pressure to justify the study of economics. Students come up asking things like, should they do economics or history? It’s hard to know what to say, but to get people excited about economics it’s good to try and think how economics can be …
Labour productivity measures the output per worker in a period of time. Labour productivity is an important factor in determining the long-run trend rate of economic growth; tax revenues, inflation and real wages. Since the start of the great recession in early 2008, UK labour productivity growth has remained very low – well below the …