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 …
The rust belt is an area of mid-west US dominated by declining manufacturing industry. Cities and regions affected tend to have: High unemployment Declining populations Falling real incomes Social problems associated with structural unemployment. Although the rust belt refers mostly to the mid-west of the US, it can refer to any area which experienced a …
New statistics from the ONS, show that there are large disparities in wealth within the UK. In 2010/12, aggregate total wealth of all private households in Great Britain was £9.5 trillion, (increasing from £9.0 trillion in 2008-10. Some highlights from the report The wealthiest 10% of households owned 44% of total aggregate household wealth. The …
Readers Question: Why does the government borrow? Essentially, the government borrows so that it can enable higher spending without having to increase taxes. The annual amount the government borrows is known as the budget deficit. The total amount the government has borrowed is known as the national debt or public sector debt. There are many …
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 …
The Money Multiplier refers to how an initial deposit can lead to a bigger final increase in the total money supply. For example, if the commercial banks gain deposits of £1 million and this leads to a final money supply of £10 million. The money multiplier is 10. The money multiplier is a key element …
Readers Question: To what extent is it necessary for the government in a developing country over-reliant on tourism to consider the expansion or agriculture and manufacturing? In theory, the law of comparative advantage states that you should specialise in producing the goods and services where you have a comparative advantage (can produce at the lower …
In behavioural economics, loss aversion refers to people’s preferences to avoid losing compared to gaining the equivalent amount. “losses loom larger than gains” (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979) For example, if somebody gave us a £300 bottle of wine, we may gain a small amount of happiness (utility). However, if we owned a £300 bottle of …