The amount of UK retail sales increased by 2.5% in the 12 months from September 2011 to September 2012. This measure includes the amount (quantity) of goods in all retailing, seasonally adjusted. The amount spent (value of goods) increased by 3.2% Annual store price inflation was estimated to be 0.7 %. This suggests that the …
The Chinese government have been criticised for the ‘manipulation’ of their currency. They would prefer not to use the word ‘manipulation’ perhaps they have an unofficial exchange rate target to keep Chinese currency undervalued to promote growth and exports. At the moment China only pegs its currency against the dollar and not a wider basket …
Readers Question: What should the government do to improve the American standard of living? How could the President + Congress, make the biggest difference to improving American standards of living in the long run? These are a few policies which I feel would improve US living standards. 1. Reduce Unemployment. The rise in US unemployment …
This is an article published in the LSE about the Austrian view of the Eurozone crisis ‘The Work of Hayek shows why EU governments can’t spend their way out of problems‘ I’ve attempted to summarise the article, but I advise reading it for yourself: The recent boom and bust was caused by artificially low interest …
Readers Question: Would a devaluation help Greece? If you look at the Greek economy, their exchange rate has been effectively overvalued for several years. This overvalued exchange rate has caused Greek exports to be relatively uncompetitive and has caused various economics problems. Combined with efforts to tackle an unsustainable debt level, the over-valuation has contributed …
Readers Question: what axioms underlie the theory of consumer behaviour? How reasonable are they? I have the axioms: completeness, transitivity, continuity, non-satiation and convexity. but we have never been taught about how reasonable they are and I can’t find any info anywhere! please help It is an interesting question. I am not really qualified to …
Readers Question: Will Cutting Public spending bring economic growth?Do Countries with lower government spending as a % of GDP have higher economic growth rates? After recent data on -0.7% growth in Q2 2012, several experts offered suggestions for restoring economic growth to the UK. In the Guadian, Sheila Lawlor suggested (link): The UK’s output figures, …
Readers Question: What do you think about Argentina’s economical future, with the current presidents politics and ~v22% inflation, taken in mind? Argentina performed relatively well since crisis of 2002 (see: Argentina Recovery and Crisis). Leaving their exchange rate peg enabled some re balancing in the economy and helped to boost exports. Importantly, it left the …