Definition of Rational expectations – an economic theory that states – when making decisions, individual agents will base their decisions on the best information available and learn from past trends. Rational expectations are the best guess for the future. Rational expectations suggest that although people may be wrong some of the time, on average they …
Readers Question: Evaluate the potential cost and benefits to the UK economy of adopting the Euro.” Costs of Joining the Euro Loss of independent monetary policy. In the Euro, interest rates are set by ECB but may be inappropriate for UK economy. For example, the 2008 recession hit the UK harder than other European countries …
Despite housing being a secure asset, the housing market can be prone to bubbles and periods of rapidly falling prices. In recent years, the period 2005-09 saw a prolonged and significant fall in house prices in both the US and Europe. A housing market crash can be precipitated by a change in economic fundamentals (higher …
In a recent post, we looked at the advantages of free movement of labour. But, what about the problems which might arise from free movement of labour? Firstly, free movement of labour depends on the area in question. To make an easy contrast, initially, the EU was free movement of workers between 12 / 15 …
Definition of free movement of labour – It means that workers are entitled to look for work in another country, without requiring any visa. Free movement of labour is a fundamental principle of the EU. It means EU citizens are entitled to look for a job in another EU country. Also, qualifications are universally accepted …
The credit crunch refers to a sudden shortage of funds for lending, leading to a decline in loans available. A credit crunch can occur for various reasons: Sudden increase in interest rates (e.g. in 1992, UK government increased rates to 15%) Direct money controls by the government (rarely used by Western Governments these days) A …
A budget surplus occurs when government tax receipts are greater than government spending. It means the government can either save money or pay off existing national debt. It is worth noting, that budget surpluses are quite rare in the past 120 years. Politicians have sometimes attempted to enshrine budget surplus into law but what are …
The Brexit vote has led to sharp fall in the value of the Pound, at one stage falling to £1 = $1.22 – a fall of over 15%. This will have a significant impact on British firms, consumers and also those outside Europe. In short: Winners from weak Pound UK exporters who will be more …