To many people’s surprise, UK house prices have risen quite strongly in the past 12 months. If we look at the experience of Japan, United States, Ireland or Spain, it seems the experience of Britain is unusual. Countries like Japan and the US had a boom and bust in house prices, similar to the UK. …
I was looking at the scale of previous recessions. The current recession, which technically ended last quarter with a 0.1% rise in GDP, is the second worst on record. I was surprised to find that in the Great Depression, UK GDP only fell 10%. However, it is somewhat misleading. The UK economy struggled in the …
Readers Question: What is the Economic significance of the construction industry to the UK economy, how it impacts, with respect to trend in economy. According to BIS The UK construction industry contributed 9.2% of the nations GVA (Gross Value Added) in 2007. The UK construction industry consists of over 250 000 firms employing 2.1 million …
Readers Question: Discuss the case for and against relying on the market mechanism to produce clean alternatives sources of energy that can replace fossil fuels such as oil and coal. (15) Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources. Therefore, as they run out, the price will rise. This will create an incentive for firms to look for …
Readers Question: I trying to find appropriate policies that the Icelandic government could adopt to deal with the country`s substantial current account deficit. Do you know what policies they are using for the moment, and more importantly which policies they should adopt? Related Problems with Iceland Economy Solving UK Current account deficit At the height …
Readers Question: Is it possible the phenomenon to have a relationship between GDP and house prices where an increase of the mean GDP to lead to decreased house prices? Yes, An interesting phenomena is that UK house prices have shown an increase during 2009 – despite a prolonged recession. Typically, in a recession, you would …
Fear is a powerful emotion which can have significant economic implications. Often real fears are ignored in a wave of over-exuberance. Sometimes, if people had greater fear of getting into debt and falling asset prices e.t.c, the economy would be less prone to bubbles and the consequent mess. Perhaps fear isn’t the right word. – …
Readers Comment: I believe if you want to solve the recession then look at footballers. they earn millions and for what/kicking a ball around!! I think their wages should be cut down to say 75k a year and the remaining money should be used wisely. This recession illustrates that economic policy often involves making decisions …