Bank of England base interest rates are currently 0.5%. Economists are divided about when interest rates will rise. Some point to the evidence of a strong economic recovery to suggest interest rates could rise by mid 2015. Others argue that the strong global deflationary pressures mean that UK inflation is likely to stay very low …
In the UK, smoking rates have fallen significantly in the past 40 years. A combination of factors have led to declining smoking rates. Higher tax Health campaigns warning about the dangers of smoking. Regulations to ban smoking in many public areas, making smoking less attractive. Changing social attitudes and decline in the fashionability of smoking. …
With economic sanctions and a plummeting price of oil, the Russian economy is seeing a real economic crisis. The value of the rouble is falling – causing inflation and a decline in living standards. Government tax revenues are falling as oil tax revenues decline. On top of a falling Rouble, the economy faces recession due …
Readers Question: Why do the costs of living keep going up and our wages do not match it? In recent years, many people have seen the cost of living rising faster than wages. This has led to a fall in real wages – wages increased less than inflation. This effectively means a fall in the …
How has the coalition government fared on its economic policies? Firstly, there are quite a few paradoxes. Ignore own promises. The first paradox of the coalition government is the best thing they did was to ignore their own advice. When they came to power, they promised spending cuts, austerity and a balanced budget within a …
Firstly, I thought it might be helpful to talk about the different types of spending cuts that people refer to. An actual cut in government spending. e.g. one year we spend £39bn on defence, the next year that is cut to £38 bn. This is a nominal cut of £1bn. The real cut will be …
A concise definition of economics Economics is the study of how to deal with the problem of scarcity and opportunity cost of decisions. Economics is concerned with the optimal distribution of scarce resources in particular What to Produce? How to Produce? Whom to Produce? To this end, economists investigate economic decisions made by individuals, firms …
A mansion tax (or property tax) would be an annual progressive charged that would be paid by homeowners. It is effectively a tax on housing wealth. The Labour party has suggested implementing a property tax on homes worth over £2 million. Exact details have not been confirmed, but the suggestion is that it will be …