Global warming is a major economic and social problem facing the world. One study by Swiss Re, a provider of insurance suggested global warming could cost $23 trillion in lost output by 2050. In addition to the economic costs are perhaps the much more important costs to the environment, natural habitats and the life chances …
Historical US Unemployment since 1900 Sources 1890-1920 data are from Christina Romer (1986). “Spurious Volatility in Historical Unemployment Data”, The Journal of Political Economy, 94(1): 1920-1930 Robert M. Coen (1973). “Labor Force and Unemployment in the 1920’s and 1930” 1930- 1948 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Thanks to User Peace Generally, the US economy was …
An overvalued exchange rate implies that a countries currency is too high for the state of the economy. An overvalued exchange rate means that the countries exports will be relatively expensive and imports cheaper. An overvalued exchange rate tends to depress domestic demand and encourage spending on imports. An overvalued exchange rate can also be …
A historical look at US National debt from 1790 to 2021 The national debt is basically the amount the government owe to the private sector and other holders of US Treasuries. National debt is the accumulation of government borrowing over many years. The budget deficit is the annual amount the US government need to borrow …
At the start of the academic year, I always feel a little pressure to justify the study of economics. Students come up asking things like, should they do economics or history? It’s hard to know what to say, but to get people excited about economics it’s good to try and think how economics can be …
Labour productivity measures the output per worker in a period of time. Labour productivity is an important factor in determining the long-run trend rate of economic growth; tax revenues, inflation and real wages. Since the start of the great recession in early 2008, UK labour productivity growth has remained very low – well below the …
The throw-away economy refers to the prevalence of consumer goods which only last for a short period of time. When they stop working / no longer relevant, we throw them away and replace them with new goods. This is in contrast to an economy where resources are more scare – and if a good is …
The fundamental economic problem is the issue of scarcity but unlimited wants. Scarcity implies there is only a limited quantity of resources, e.g. finite fossil fuels. Because of scarcity, there is a constant opportunity cost – if you use resources to consume one good, you cannot consume another. Therefore, an underlying feature of economics is …