An important principle in economics is the idea of taxing goods with negative externalities (goods which impose external costs on the rest of society) Usually, in a free market, we ignore the external costs of our consumption. We only face the private costs. But, this leads to overconsumption of these goods and a deadweight welfare …
Readers Question: In a non-recession situation, if a government reduces it’s borrowing and thus it’s spending, how can that have a depressing effect on the economy? Wouldn’t that money be either be loaned to someone else or spent to on goods and services by the people who have it? Yes. If an economy is growing …
In a follow up to the previous post on the Luddite Fallacy. What would happen if we developed the ‘perfect – all-powerful robot’? Rather than looking at what happens if we start with no technology and increase, what if we start at the other end of the spectrum? Suppose technological advances lead to a robot …
Introduction – Recent UK economic performance The UK economy is currently growing at an annual rate of 1.6%, it has low inflation close to the governments target of 2.%. Unemployment has risen in the last 8 months but it is still low at 1.4 million (ILO Survey) compared to the last recession of 1992. The …
Catalytic converters help reduce pollution and therefore have positive externalities. This means that if consumers use them there will be benefits to a third party, because there will be less pollution and health problems. In a free market there may be under provision of catalytic converters, for various reasons. Firstly, because there are positive externalities …
A merger will lead to a bigger firm and a greater market concentration. This can have both advantages and disadvantages for the public interest. A merger is likely to reduce competition and give the new firm more market power. Therefore, it will be able to increase prices leading to a decline in consumer surplus and …
A merger occurs when two firms join together to form one bigger company. Therefore, the new company will have an increased market share. However, this higher market share will have significant problems. The competition commission will be especially concerned because the new firm is likely to have more than 25% of the market share, which …
There was reduction in the surplus on the current account of the French balance of Payments between 1998 and 2000. Essay Question: Using the data, assess whether this reflects a deterioration in the performance of the French economy. AQA (15) The current account measures the balance of trade in goods and service between France and …