Readers Question: How sustainable do you think that the austerity measured imposed on European countries are in economic and political terms? This is a good question. Firstly, I feel there is a certain political appeal of austerity. See: Why is austerity politically popular? When austerity was introduced, there was a reluctant support for austerity – …
In the late nineteenth century, firms with great monopoly power were the US railroads and oil companies. These days we have a new set of monopolies, companies like Google, Amazon. For example, Amazon has over 30% of the online retail of books and DVDs. Also, a firm with a monopoly selling power like Amazon can …
Universal credit is a new means-tested benefit, which, in October 2013, will replace several different means-tested benefits, such as: income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance income-related Employment and Support Allowance Income Support Child Tax Credits Working Tax Credits Housing Benefit. The aim of universal credit is to provide a simplified means-tested benefits system, which provides income to those …
Recently a reader asked whether economic growth was increasing living standards and why economic growth was not leading to more leisure time in developed economies. – Is economic growth necessary? Not only is leisure time not increasing, but it is becoming more common for ‘special holidays’ to become just another retail day. In the US, …
As a keen cyclist, I went down to London last weekend to watch the Olympic road race. It was pretty exciting standing on the Fulham road watching the peleton go past. That part of London seemed pretty busy and nearby cafes were doing very well. However, in the centre of London, many shops and hotels …
Readers Question: What policies could Germany / the EU use to help save the Euro? The Euro has many problems. The most obvious outer problem is rising bond yields and the threat of sovereign debt default. Related to sovereign debt default is a banking default, e.g. from Spanish banks which would cause knock-on effects. But, …
Italy has struggled to reduce national debt as a % of GDP since government debt has risen to over 100% of GDP in the late 1980s National Debt Italy Italy has the second highest public sector debt in Europe, after Greece. The IMF predict public sector debt of 123.4 % of GDP in 2012. By …
Is this the future of a world without oil? Readers Question: What would a world without oil look like? Oil is currently the most important commodity. It is vital to transport (air, sea, road and rail) and also the production of goods like tar and plastic. Without oil, society and the economy would look quite …