Neoliberalism is a term commonly used to describe free-market economics. Neoliberalism involves policies associated with free trade, privatisation, price deregulation, a reduced size of government and flexible labour markets. Recently, neoliberalism has been associated with the policies of austerity and attempts to reduce budget deficits – usually by cutting government spending on social programmes. Neo-liberalism …
Should the government be concerned if the CPI rises to 5%? Costs of Inflation The Government set the MPC a target for CPI of 2.% +/-1. It believes inflation higher than 3.0% is potentially damaging to the economy. Decline in relative competitiveness. If inflation in the UK is higher than elsewhere, then UK goods will …
Definition of ‘Animal spirits’ – Animal spirits refers to the confidence and the ‘gut instincts’ of businessmen on their future business prospects. It is a term coined by the economist John Maynard Keynes, who explained how the economic cycle could be volatile because of the changing ‘spirits’ of the businessmen involved. “Most, probably, of our …
The main macroeconomic objectives of the government will include: low inflation, increasing the sustainable rate of economic growth full employment and balance of payments equilibrium. Full employment involves zero or very low unemployment. In practice, there will always be some frictional unemployment as people are looking for new jobs or leaving school. Economists suggest an …
Substitute goods are two goods which can be used for a similar purpose – they provide different alternatives to consumers. In the case of Android and the iPhone, they offer similar functionality and form, but to some consumers there is a big differential in terms of brand loyalty, meaning for certain types of consumers they …
The current US administration have suggested they want to increase the US budget deficit to enable higher rates of economic growth. What does economic theory state about this idea? “We need to have new deficits because of that. We need to have the growth,” Mulvaney said. “If we simply look at this as being deficit-neutral, …
The current US administration is proposing tax cuts which ‘The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget’, estimates it will include $5.8 trillion of total tax cuts over the decade and a net cost of $2.2 trillion through 2027. The problem with these tax cuts It is unclear how these tax cuts will be financed. An …
Say’s law states that the production of goods creates its own demand. In 1803, John Baptiste Say explained his theory. “It is worthwhile to remark that a product is no sooner created than it, from that instant, affords a market for other products to the full extent of its own value.” (J. B. Say, 1803: …