Firstly, sorry for the low levels of blogging recently. I am working on a new site, waiting for some outside developers. Secondly I am working on completely new Revision Guides for the new economic syllabus coming out soon. It meant I didn’t do much blogging around the general election – which is perhaps a blessing …
Suppose a monopolist sells in a market with a demand curve p = a – bQ where p is price, Q is output and a = 25 and b = 2. The monopolist needs to replace its existing plant and machinery and has two choices. The first option is to spend $40 and produce at …
Readers Question: How does manipulating the LIBOR rate upwards improve the profits of the trading division of a bank? The London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is the average interest rate estimated by leading London banks for the cost involved in borrowing from other banks. The banks themselves set their own LIBOR rate. Some banks set …
Two articles in the Guardian today: Shell makes £2 million profit an hour Shell says it can not ‘justify’ investing in wind farms in the north sea. Shell’s profits increased 11% in first-quarter of 2012 to $7.3bn (Annual profit of around $29bn) Shell Claim: “Our profits pay for Shell’s dividends and substantial investments in new …
Readers Question: How do fashion retailer make profit when they offer high discounts during sales? Everyday I walk past a leading fashion clothing shop. It seems they are always very quiet except during sales periods. During sales, you can see prices discounted by 50% to 75%. How do they make profit? Firstly, the profit margin …
Readers Question: i was wondering if u could give me some insight on how these macroeconomic factors will affect household consumption in 2008/2009. thanks Consumer Spending in the UK This graph shows the strong correlation between consumer spending and economic growth. Since 2005, consumer spending has continued to increase at an average of about 3% …
But, do they deserve it? Last year, Shell made profits of $27.6bn (£14bn). This equates to profits of about £1.5 million per hour – which by any stretch of the imagination is not a bad hourly earning. The profits have been criticised by trades unions, environmentalists and motoring organisations. Motoring organisations claim that petrol is …
On Wednesday 16 September 1992, the UK economy was in deep recession, with unemployment of 10% interest rates of 10%, and the Pound was struggling to maintain its value against the D-Mark. As soon as markets opened, financial investors piled in to sell pounds to a beleaguered government, and Sterling fell, reaching the floor of …