The qualities of a good tax

There are different ways for the government to raise tax revenue. While tax is often unpopular, economists set criteria for what makes a ‘good’ and ‘fair’ tax. This includes – fairness, easy to collect, non-distortionary and increases social welfare. Principles of a good tax include Vertical equity – Fair. Vertical equity is concerned with setting …

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AD = C + I + G + X – M

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Readers Question: what does AD stand for in economic terms? AD = Aggregate Demand – the total planned expenditure in an economy. Aggregate Demand is composed of various factors C, I, G, X – M C= Consumer spending I = Investment (Gross Fixed Capital Formation) G= Government Spending X= Exports M= Imports AD places a …

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How to increase economic growth

supply-side-policies

Economic growth is an increase in national output/income (higher real GDP). There are two main aspects of economic growth: Aggregate demand (AD) (consumer spending, investment levels, government spending, exports-imports) Aggregate supply (AS) (Productive capacity, the efficiency of economy, labour productivity) To increase economic growth We need to see a rise in demand and/or an increase …

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What could cause the next recession?

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A recession is a period of negative economic growth – a fall in output accompanied by rising unemployment. Recessions tend to occur in cycles of 8-10 years, though there is no hard and fast rule. Attempting to predict a recession by the number of years is not guaranteed to work. Recessions in UK Source: ONS …

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Indifference curves and budget lines

indifference-curve

An indifference curve is a line showing all the combinations of two goods which give a consumer equal utility. In other words, the consumer would be indifferent to these different combinations. Example of choice of goods which give consumers the same utility Table plotted as indifference curve Diminishing marginal utility The indifference curve is convex …

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Pros and Cons of Inflation

Readers Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of inflation? The Government have an inflation target of CPI 2%. This suggests they would rather have moderate inflation than no inflation at all. Advantages of Inflation Deflation is potentially very damaging to the economy and can lead to lower consumer spending and lower growth. For example, …

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Does a trade war cause a recession?

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A trade war involves the imposition of tariffs between trading partners. This will almost certainly cause a fall in economic welfare for all the countries who experience higher tariffs and a fall in trade. However, this fall in economic welfare is not the same as a recession (a fall in GDP). In some circumstances, a …

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