George Osborne has recently stated that leaving the EU could leave a black hole in public finances of £30bn and this would lead to sharp budget cuts – tax rises and spending cuts. This raises the interesting question of whether you can talk yourself into a recession. Do predictions of recession become self-fulfilling? How can …
A devaluation (depreciation) occurs when the exchange rate falls in value. This causes exports to be cheaper and imports to be more expensive. In theory, it can help increase economic growth, though it may cause inflation. In theory, a devaluation will cause the following to happen: The price of UK exports will be lower in …
A few readers have asked me about where I stand on UK, EU and Brexit. These are some personal notes – not necessarily economic (or coherent!) I will probably vote Remain, though not with any particular enthusiasm. I do identify as both British and European. I would like to see Britain act closely with European …
If a large firm / industry becomes unprofitable and appears in terminal decline, what should the government do? If the firm goes bankrupt, it will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs, and negatively affect the areas where the firm is based. See: Problems of industrial decline. This creates a strong economic and political …
Readers Question: Which Financial Institutions are most exposed to a recession in the UK? A recession in the UK could hit several financial institutions quite hard. This is because of the nature of the current economic downturn which is likely to be focused around the previously booming housing market and service sector. In the 1981 …
Readers Question is recession causes unemployment or unemployment causes recession? Essentially, it is a recession which causes unemployment. As output and demand fall, firms cut back on hiring new labour. This leads to a rise in unemployment as there are fewer job vacancies. Graph showing rise in unemployment after 2008 recession Also, some firms may …
The global economy faces many difficulties, both short term and long term. In the short term, the global economy risks a prolonged period of sluggish growth, which will lead to problems such as high unemployment, debt default and low investment. In the longer term, the global economy faces greater threats from the environment, demographic changes …
Readers Question: Economic theory says that when Quantity (Q.S) increases Price (P) should ordinarily fall. After the 2007 crisis in the USA, the FED pumped billions of Dollars into the economy through QE. However the price of dollars, interest rate has not only fallen lower, but is closer to zero as of today ( 2016). …