Readers Question: my question is If the UK. had joined the Euro back when it first started would the UK. have benefited like Germany or would we be in the same situation as Greece, Italy, and Spain? If the UK had joined the Euro from the start in 1999, the UK economy would definitely have …
Back in February 2007, I wrote an essay – Evaluate the effectiveness of the MPC in controlling inflation. The last line was: MPC have done a good job so far. However the real test may come when there is a rise in structural inflation or global instability. Given the knowledge of the past five years, …
Readers Question: I am also interested in Marxist economics and they seem to say the 2007-2008 crisis was a result of over-financialisation of the economy, and that investors/owners could not squeeze surplus out of other sectors in the economy as they once could. Financialisation of an economy refers to the situation where the finance sector …
Credit policy / financial policy is the use of the financial system to influence aggregate demand (AD). Monetary policy affects AD through the Central bank controlling interest rates and the money supply. Fiscal policy affects AD through the use of government spending and taxation. Credit policy looks at factors such as: Bank lending rates to …
Readers Question: how to revise for a possible exam question like: discuss the likely effectiveness of ‘expansionary fiscal and monetary policies as means of closing the output gap’ Firstly write down the question on a blank piece of paper. Then try and revise in three parts. Part One – Knowledge define terms Expansionary fiscal policy …
This years OCR F585 global economy pre-release stimulus material is about Estonia and its economic performance. This post gives a few extra graphs about the state of the Estonian economy and considers important issues and questions, related to Estonia. Brief synopsis From the early 2000s Estonia experienced rapid economic growth as it benefited from joining …
A new series from the ONS shows an index of labour costs per hour. (this is an experimental series and looks as if it is not seasonally adjusted) Labour costs seem to be persistently highest in Q1. Labour costs per hour are primarily comprised of 1. Wage costs per hour but also 2. Non-wage costs. …
Recently, the Economist published an article (You can fool some of the people…), pointing out several economic commentators were increasingly critical of UK economic policy and the Bank of England’s monetary policy in particular. Is the Bank of England really losing grip of monetary policy? or are they doing the best job in difficult circumstances? …