It’s the time of the year when many students are getting to start economics for the first time. It can be a little confusing with so many new concepts and words. But, if we had just one lesson, what could we teach about economics? Society wishes to optimise the distribution of resources. Economics considers how …
OK, I jest. The great economist is Adam Smith. I was on holiday in Edinburgh when I came across this statue to Adam Smith (widely considered the father of economics for his ground breaking work – The Wealth of Nations) Couldn’t resist the obvious tourist pose. BTW: In the summer holidays my posting schedule tends …
Readers Question: Why the fire service is a public domain and how is the fire service a merit good I think you mean why is the Fire Service a public good? A public good has 2 aspects. Non rivalry – Once consumed doesn’t reduce the amount available to others Non excludability – Once it is …
After a bankbench rebellion, the chancellor Rachel Reeves was visibly upset in parliament this week, perhaps she had just been given the latest UK economic forecasts. When the OBR published this forecast for UK debt, one commentator said it was misleading and alarmist, because it assumes policy never changes. But, the evidence from recent years …
Recently, Donald Trump told the chair of the Federal Reserve that the US should be cutting interest rates like other countries. And it is true the UK and US have been slow to cut interest rates. They are now double the level in Europe and Canada. Although Rachel Reeves is unlikely to be sending notes …
The Madness of Spending Money to Deal with CutsWatch this video on YouTube In the past two years, I’ve spent £450 fixing broken suspension on my car. I’m not the only one, Kwik Fit estimated the costs to motorists from pothole damage to be £1.7bn. Yet fixing roads has suffered from government cut backs, especially …
In 1973, in response to the Yom Kippur War, OPEC introduced an oil embargo which caused prices to rise 300%. It ushered in an era of high inflation and political volatility. In 1979, the Iranian revolution caused another 300% rise in oil prices which caused a secondary inflation shock and the deep recession of 1981. …
Between 1991 and 1998, Russian GDP fell an estimated 40%. The transition to a free market economy was plagued by hyperinflation, rising poverty, falling life expectancy and social dysfunction. Whilst the average citizen saw a marked deterioration in the quality of life, a few oligarchs became intensely rich as they bought state assets at a …