Readers Question: What effect does expansionary fiscal policy have on the fishing sector? If successful, expansionary fiscal policy will increase Aggregate demand and increase the rate of economic growth. In a recession, expansionary fiscal policy could play a significant role in increasing level of living standards and levels of consumption. Expansionary fiscal policy involves changes …
The River Cam in Cambridge. Recently, we looked at why water can be more expensive than beer, even though water doesn’t attract excise duty Water is the most important commodity in the world, it is indispensable for life, yet, it is also one of the cheapest. In many circumstances we can say water is a …
The Baltic Dry Index is a measure of the international price for sending commodities by sea. It is calculated by combining the price of different shipping sizes for dry commodities. Commodities include metals, grains, crude oil. The Baltic Dry Index developed in the mid-eighteenth century. It gained the name Baltic Dry index partly because at …
Today, is the first day of term for my students. A few are in their second year. A few are doing retakes and a few are studying economics for the first time. For many students, taking economics can be challenging because it is a subject they haven’t studied before. There are quite a few new …
Many argue that on simple purchasing power parity, the Chinese currency the Renminbi is undervalued by approximately 30%. This is a source of friction in the US, with firms claiming they lose out to a cheap Chinese currency which can undercut US goods. The Chinese government wish to keep the currency undervalued because: A weaker …
Readers Question why do cafes charge extra service tax when they remain open on public holidays? Firstly, cafes are likely to have to pay higher wages to staff to compensate for the inconvenience of working on a public holiday. Charging extra service tax is a way of paying for the increased wage costs. Secondly, on …
Readers Question: Why do the Government often fail to achieve its main objectives of high economic growth, price stability, and a surplus on the balance of payments. Other objectives worth adding are low unemployment, low government borrowing and maybe stable exchange rate. Looking at the current climate of the UK economy, the government is only …
A recession is a period of negative economic growth. Falling output leads to higher unemployment, and this rise in unemployment causes a negative multiplier effect. e.g. those made unemployed will spend less causing even less demand in the economy. Thus there are many factors which make it difficult to get out of a recession. What …