Automation and AI have been called the fourth industrial revolution. Robots replacing the jobs of human labour will increase efficiency and enables higher economic growth But, others are concerned that rapid automation can create unequal outcomes, with some losing their job and struggling to gain new forms of employment. A robot tax would, in theory, …
Readers Question: What is the cause of deflation? Deflation involves a fall in the price level – a negative rate of inflation. From a very basic standpoint, there are two main potential causes of deflation: A fall in aggregate demand (AD) A shift to the right of aggregate supply (AS) – i.e. lower costs of …
For those born in the digital age, a paper copy of business listings may seem something of an anachronism. Why leaf through a telephone directory, when you can search online and get more information at the tips of your fingers? Yellow Pages have announced that their paper directory will cease publication in 2019, and it …
Readers Question: What are the effects of increased investment on aggregate demand in the short term and the long term. Investment means capital expenditure (e.g. purchasing machines or building bigger factory) Investment is a component of AD – AD+ C+I+G+X-M. Investment spending takes about 15% of AD; it is not as significant as consumer spending …
A Pareto improvement occurs when an economic action leads to a net welfare gain, without anyone being made worse off. See also: Pareto efficiency. Pareto improvement and a production possibility curve Moving from point D to A or B – leads to a Pareto improvement because we can produce both more services and goods. However, …
Population density is the average number of people living per square mile/km. A high population density implies that the population is high relative to the size of the country. Countries, such as Belgium and the Netherlands have a high population density. Large countries, such as Australia and Canada have very low densities. Though this low …
Definition of a free good. A free good is a good with zero opportunity cost. This means it can be produced by society in as much quantities as needed with little or zero effort.
The Washington Consensus refers to a set of broadly free market economic ideas, supported by prominent economists and international organisations, such as the IMF, the World Bank, the EU and the US. Essentially, the Washington consensus advocates, free trade, floating exchange rates, free markets and macroeconomic stability. The ten principles originally stated by John Williamson …