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 …
Slowbalisation – a phenomena which involves a slowing down of the pace of global integration. In recent decades globalisation has become so dominant, that we often assume the process is never-ending. Between 1970 and 2008, world exports as a share of GDP rose from 13% to 31%, and it seemed that globalisation was an unstoppable …
Back in 2015, I wrote a post about the shortage of lorry drivers in the UK. Six years on and the crisis has got worse. The Road Haulage Association states that a fully functioning UK economy requires over 600,000 drivers, but we are currently 100,000 short. The shortage of drivers is not unique to the …
Definition of oligopoly An oligopoly is an industry dominated by a few large firms. For example, an industry with a five-firm concentration ratio of greater than 50% is considered an oligopoly. Examples of oligopolies Car industry – economies of scale have caused mergers so big multinationals dominate the market. The biggest car firms include Toyota, …
There are many costs associated with inflation; the volatility and uncertainty can lead to lower levels of investment and lower economic growth. For individuals, inflation can lead to a fall in the value of their savings and redistribute income in society from savers to lenders and those with assets. At extreme levels, inflation can destabilise …
The biggest absolute emissions of CO2 come from China and the United States. Source: World Bank CO2 emissions (kt) In recent years, China has accelerated past the United States and is the biggest polluter in absolute terms, (which is unsurprising given China’s population and fast economic growth. India is also catching up.) Biggest CO2 Polluters …
Freemium is a business model where a firm gives away its product for free with the aim of later converting some users to the paid version. Freemium is different to a trial offer because the user can continue to use the free version for a prolonged period. Freemium is like an indefinite free trial.Dropbox is …
Readers Question: Does inflation causes unemployment? There are a few different scenarios where inflation can cause unemployment. However, there is not a direct link. Often we will notice a trade-off between inflation and unemployment – e.g. in a period of strong economic growth and falling unemployment; we see a rise in inflation – see Phillips …