This e-book concentrates on macro economics, issues such as economic growth, recessions, the credit crunch, inflation and globalisation. It also takes a look at economic history and also in-depth look at recent economic events such as the European debt crisis, deflation, and levels of government debt.
Updated Sept 2015.
Readers Question: Is there any other political influence on the falling rate of sterling, something like monetary policy or political uncertainty? And why did some news reports say inflation and weak sterling could be helpful to UK economy? Thanks. The value of a currency is primarily influenced by economic factors. E.g. weak sterling can be …
Readers Question: Greece has a current account deficit of almost 14% (!) of GDP and Greece is a member of the EU. How can it resolve the problem if it cannot devalue the currency ( the quick way out, which was used in the past when the greek drachma was around) and when productivity is …
Why is monetary policy easier to conduct than fiscal policy in a highly divided national political environment? Monetary policy is usually implemented by independent monetary authorities. For example, in UK, monetary policy is implemented by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. Therefore, they can take politically unpopular decisions such as increasing interest …
Readers Question: Could deflation lead to devaluation of the UK Pound? Deflation in the UK means prices fall. This hasn’t happened since the 1930s, but, if it did happen, it could lead to a further depreciation in Pound Sterling. Firstly, deflation would mean interest rates would likely fall to 0%. This fall in interest rates …
In response to an essay on – Is a Dollar collapse likely? These are some readers questions “US debt is high, but so is European debt”. Could you perhaps elaborate on that or point me to articles that discuss European debt? National debt in EU countries is a real problem. Countries like Italy already have …
Readers Question: Do you have any predictions for the AUS$ against the GBP in 2009? Thanks Both, the Australian and UK economy faces a year of uncertainty and sluggish growth. It is really a question of which will be weakest. However, I think the Australian economy and currency will be hit harder than many in …
Readers Question: If British industry was to become uncompetitive it would have the following adverse effects on the economy: one of them is a higher level of inflation. How to explain that? If British industry becomes uncompetitive it means that basically, the UK’s cost of production is rising faster than our international competitors. For example, …