Readers Question: Should the world adopt a unified currency? I haven’t given it much thought; given the great difficulties of the Euro single currency within parts of the European Union, the idea of extending this to include even more disparate countries seems a non-starter. From a philosophic point of view, I think the world is …
Politicians are often keen on making targets to eliminate budget deficits by a certain year. There is a strong political motivation to be seen as strong and committed to reducing government debt. Politicians who are vague about the debt are often heavily criticised and it is seen as poor politics. An advantage of budget deficit …
Question and answers on the difficulty of switching from non-renewable energy sources, such as fossil fuels. (from – finding alternatives to fossil fuels) Readers Question: Why is it that on a global scale, alternative fuels are somewhat being ignored? Firstly, fossil fuels are still cheaper. However, the gap is narrowing. For example, see how …
Readers Question: What policies could be used to ease pressure on housing market? Firstly, the main pressure in the UK housing market is the persistent and continued above inflation price increases. Back in 2004, Kate Barker’s report into housing market trends found that the UK would need to build 250,000 houses to reduce the house …
Readers question “If a firm does not have access to the supply of a good then the market will not be contestable. E.g. Oil firms could restrict the supply of petrol to petrol stations, making it difficult for new firms to enter. E.g. for airlines a big issue is whether you can get a landing …
Readers Question: would you be able to comment on what the Labour party’s latest proposal to break up the banks to create competition? I can see some reasons that relate to safe guarding possible failures of large banks which can prove costly if the government are needed to bail them out. However, in terms of …
Readers Question: I understand “externalities” and why certain economic actors will tend to dispute the scale/existence of them. What about the complementary idea, of benefits conferred by many societies which are centrally planned and financed (roads, defence etc.)? Libertarians of any political stripe may downplay/deny their importance though benefitting. My question: is there a technical …
Readers Question: In Risks and benefits of Quantitative easing one point the programme mentioned was: The scale of quantitative easing could make it impossible to sell bonds back to market and this will damage the UK’s ability to borrow in the future. If the UK’s ability to borrow is constrained, this will lead to higher …