This privatization was left to the last for a number of reasons Loss-making nature of British Rail Heavy dependence on external subsidies for rural and provincial services The need to see safety as an overriding priority Positive externalities of railways, – taking traffic off congested roads BR was an integrated national network with a complex …
Distribution of income refers to the relative incomes that people have within an economy. For example, in the UK the poorest 10% of people have roughly only 2.5% of the nations total income. The richest 10% have approximately 35%. This suggests there is a degree of relative poverty because the richest have a bigger % …
The Natural rate of unemployment is mainly composed of frictional and structural unemployment. Therefore, factors that affect these types of unemployment will alter the natural rate. It is argued the level of unemployed benefits can affect frictional unemployment. If the ratio of benefits to paid employment is high, then there is little incentive to take …
Deregulation involves removing government legislation and laws in a particular market. Deregulation often refers to removing barriers to competition. For example, in the UK, many industries used to be a state monopoly – BT, British Gas, British Rail, local bus services, Royal Mail. However, deregulation allowed new firms to enter these markets and reduce the …
Agglomeration economies or external economies of scale refer to the benefits from concentrating output and housing in particular areas. If an area specialises in the production of a certain type of good, all firms can benefit from various factors such as: Good supply networks Supply of trained workers Infrastructure built specifically for the industry Good …
An adverse supply-side shock is an event that causes an unexpected increase in costs or disruption to production. This will cause the short-run aggregate supply curve to shift to the left, leading to higher inflation and lower output. Diagram showing supply-side shock SRAS shifting to the left causes a higher price level and lower real …
Broad money is the definition of the Money Supply which includes a wide scope for the definition of money – including both notes and coins, but also more illiquid forms of money – such as bank deposits, treasury bills, gilts. These are considered ‘near money’ because it can easily be changed to cash. Narrow money …
Definition A budget surplus occurs when tax revenue is greater than government spending. With a budget surplus, the government can use the surplus revenue to pay off public sector debt. Budget surpluses are quite rare in modern economies because of the temptation for politicians to spend more money and cut taxes. The UK experienced a …