Readers Question: There just seems to be many paradoxical actions taking place in markets and economies at the moment. How do we explain? Paradoxes of UK economy Low interest rates have not increased spending / economic growth Despite recession, inflation has been above target. Despite recession and depreciation of Pound, current account deficit increased in …
Perfect competition is a market structure with the following features Many buyers and sellers – 1000s of firms. Freedom of entry and exit into the market Homogenous good Perfect information In a way, stock markets are an example of perfect competition. There are hundreds of buyers and sellers. When buying shares you can choose from …
Readers Question: Does money printing/QE always lead to inflation and price increases? No. Increasing the money supply does not necessarily cause inflation. In particular, we have seen a large increase in the monetary base (narrow money) that hasn’t led to an increase in the general price level. If you look at link between money supply …
An Overview of the Indian economy in 2012 and its prospects for the future. (Depressed by events in Europe, a look at an economy with a very different economic outlook). Summary In the past few years, the Indian economy has been growing rapidly – (e.g. 8.5%2010-11). However, this growth has led to an increase in …
Readers Question: What would happen if the Euro collapses? The most likely scenario is that countries will leave one by one. A country would default on its debt and decide best option is to leave and create a new currency. The first country to leave would be Greece. Greece would be damaging, but if Greece …
In this post, I looked at the long-term effects of a recession. It examined the various short-term and long-term costs of recession (fall in output) The impacts of a recession can vary depending on the type of recession and also the extent of the existing welfare state. Extent of Welfare state. The impact of a …
A primary budget deficit refers to the amount by which government spending exceeds government tax revenues. It does not include the additional cost of debt interest payments on the government bonds. This is why you sometimes hear different statistics. For example, the primary budget deficit of Greece is about 9% of GDP, but with debt …
Readers Question Can a fiscal stimulus package reduce the extent of the recession? Fiscal stimulus involves a combination of lower tax cuts and higher spending. In theory the tax cuts will increase disposable income and therefore encourage consumer spending, leading to higher aggregate demand and economic growth. Fiscal stimulus is typically financed by higher government …