Readers Question: I am also interested in Marxist economics and they seem to say the 2007-2008 crisis was a result of over-financialisation of the economy, and that investors/owners could not squeeze surplus out of other sectors in the economy as they once could. Financialisation of an economy refers to the situation where the finance sector …
During the 1990s and first half of 2000, Ireland had one of the longest property booms on record. Between 1996 and 2006, the average price of second homes rose in Ireland rose by over 300%. The average price of new houses rose by 250%, according to the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG). …
Another guide to inflationary pressures is the producer price index (PPI). Producer inflation measures the price of goods produced by manufacturing firms. This is sometimes referred to as ‘factor gate prices’ In the year to February 2013 the output price index for home sales of manufactured products rose 2.3%. In the same period the total …
In physics, escape velocity refers to the speed necessary to break free of gravitational field without further propulsion. For example, to leave the earth’s gravitational pull requires approximately 40,320 km/h, or 25,000 mph. This was first achieved in 1959 by Luna I. Very interesting, but what does escape velocity mean in relation economics? It refers to …
Readers Question: to what extent did the EU recession cause the UK recession? In economics often several factors occur at the same time, and it is difficult to give a weighting to the importance of each factor. To some extent, people will emphasise the factors which best suits their outlook / beliefs. It is no …
Readers question: Why is the stock market peaking when the economy is doing badly? There is an old saying that the stock market has predicted 10 out of the last three recessions. Similarly, you could argue the stock market has been predicting several recent economic recoveries which haven’t really materialised. How to explain why the …
Recently, the Economist published an article (You can fool some of the people…), pointing out several economic commentators were increasingly critical of UK economic policy and the Bank of England’s monetary policy in particular. Is the Bank of England really losing grip of monetary policy? or are they doing the best job in difficult circumstances? …
In the post-war period, consumption of vehicle fuel (petrol / diesel) increased dramatically as car ownership rose and more journeys were made by car. However, since 2007, there has been a significant drop in vehicle fuel consumption, with demand falling over 20% Many factors affect demand for vehicle fuel, including price, income, fuel efficiency, quality …