How to know when you’re in a recession?

A recession is defined as a decline in real GDP for two consecutive quarters. An economy is in an official recession after six months of falling national income. A recession will typically lead to higher unemployment, a decline in confidence, falling house prices, decline in investment and lower inflation. However, although that may seem quite …

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What Determines Pay / Wages?

Readers Question: What factors determine the wage that someone receives? Basic economic theory suggests that wages depend on a worker’s marginal revenue product MRP. (this is basically the value that they add to the firm which employs them.) MRP is determined by two factors: MPP – Marginal physical product – the productivity of a worker. …

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Importance of exports to the economy

Exports play an important role in the UK economy, influencing the level of economic growth, employment and the balance of payments. In the post-war period, lower transport costs, globalisation, economies of scale and reduced tariff barriers have all helped exports become a bigger share of national income. In 2011, exports of goods and services accounted …

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Rational expectations

rational-expectations

Definition of Rational expectations – an economic theory that states – when making decisions, individual agents will base their decisions on the best information available and learn from past trends. Rational expectations are the best guess for the future. Rational expectations suggest that although people may be wrong some of the time, on average they …

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UK Company Profits

Level of Company Gross Profit in the UK Profitability of companies – ONS In 2016, Gross profit by UK non-financial companies was £2,993,446 million or £2,993 bn Cash reserves of companies have increased. In 2014, the Bank of England estimated cash reserves of UK firms at £284 billion See: Cash reserves PNFC – Private non-financial companies. …

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What caused the Wall Street Crash of 1929?

The 1929 stock market crash was a result of an unsustainable boom in share prices in the preceding years. The boom in share prices was caused by the irrational exuberance of investors, buying shares on the margin, and over-confidence in the sustainability of economic growth. Some economists argue the boom was also facilitated by ‘loose …

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Costs and Benefits of Adopting the Euro

costs-of-euro

Readers Question: Evaluate the potential cost and benefits to the UK economy of adopting the Euro.”   Costs of Joining the Euro Loss of independent monetary policy. In the Euro, interest rates are set by ECB but may be inappropriate for UK economy. For example, the 2008 recession hit the UK harder than other European countries …

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