Just some links to 3 stories you should take a look at:
1. Trouble in paradise: huge problems in Dubai which may possibly mean a new stage of the global credit crisis.
2. Secret dealings come to light: the £61 billion given in secret loans to banks by the UK government last year has been revealed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8378087.stm
3. But don't worry, the robots will save us:
Sunday, 29 November 2009
Friday, 27 November 2009
No 23: New Friday Fun
THIS is a link to the best economics game I have yet found on the net - "Budget Hero". It asks you to take control of the US economy and make decisions about spending and taxation. As a teacher, of course, I like the amount of educational detail it contains, but it can also be played mostly just for fun if education is not your objective >:O
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/budget_hero/
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
No 22: Poor Gordon
HERE is a Times article about Gordon Brown's 10 worst finanical mistakes as Prime Minister and Chancellor:
http://timesbusiness.typepad.com/money_weblog/2009/06/gordons-10-worst-financial-gaffs.html
The list is:
1. Taxing dividend payments
2. Selling our gold
3. Tripartite financial regulation
4. Tax credits
5. The £10,000 corporation tax threshold
6. Abolition of the 10p tax rate
7. Failing to stop the housing bubble
8. 50 per cent tax rate
9. Cutting VAT
10. Public-sector borrowing
You can also vote on the site for which you think is the worst.
Personally, I think it is terribly unfair that it is not possible to vote for "None of them were mistakes".
No 21: Cadbury takeover story
ALWAYS a very good idea to put together what you are learning in class at the moment with current events.
Currently my AS students and I are discussing monopoly power. The big news story in this area is about various companies wanting to take over Cadbury who make this:
Currently my AS students and I are discussing monopoly power. The big news story in this area is about various companies wanting to take over Cadbury who make this:
Here is a video from Fox News about this story:
And here is the BBC news report about it:
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
No 20: Talks last week
LAST week was a good one for interesting talks.
Apart from Mr. Krawiec's on Friday afternoon - see previous post, and make sure to ask any really hard questions about it to economics teachers who are not me :) - two students made presentations in my A2 classes.
In the morning A2 class, Yerke Bektayev spoke about this article on gender discrimination:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8366765.stm
We won't fully study theories of discrimination until A2 Module 3, but it is an interesting issue, particularly the question of whether or not there should be "positive discrimination" in favour of certain groups.
In the afternoon class, Sanzhar Ospanov picked this "Economist" story about China's amazing productivity improvements:
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/economicsfocus/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14844987
This introduces the idea of total factor productivity (TFP) which is fast becoming the accepted measure, as well as providing very useful details about how a country can successfully improve the productivity of its economic resources.
Thanks to all these interesting speakers!
(Note: also many thanks to Mr. Krawiec for allowing me to post his presentation on this blog.)
Apart from Mr. Krawiec's on Friday afternoon - see previous post, and make sure to ask any really hard questions about it to economics teachers who are not me :) - two students made presentations in my A2 classes.
In the morning A2 class, Yerke Bektayev spoke about this article on gender discrimination:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8366765.stm
In the afternoon class, Sanzhar Ospanov picked this "Economist" story about China's amazing productivity improvements:
http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/economicsfocus/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14844987
This introduces the idea of total factor productivity (TFP) which is fast becoming the accepted measure, as well as providing very useful details about how a country can successfully improve the productivity of its economic resources.
Thanks to all these interesting speakers!
(Note: also many thanks to Mr. Krawiec for allowing me to post his presentation on this blog.)
No 18: Two videos you really MUST watch
There are two extremely useful videos to help us with this. I show both of them to all my classes. If you haven't seen them, watch them now, and I make no apologies for showing them again in class in future. If you've seen them, watch them again.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOPICS CONTAINED IN THESE VIDEOS MAY SEPARATE THE TOP STUDENTS FROM THE OTHERS WHEN IT COMES TO OUR FINAL EXAMS.
The first is called the "Crisis of Credit" and explains the events that led to the credit crunch:
http://www.crisisofcredit.com/
The second is a part of the excellent Marketplace website's whiteboard series, and explains what governments are trying to achieve with quantitative easing:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/22/whiteboard_quantitative_easing/
Spot of Economics Health Warning: Watching These Videos May Seriously Improve Your Economics Knowledge!
Sunday, 22 November 2009
No 17: Minimum price for vodka
ALMOST as if they knew that us in AS classes will be studying the topic of demerit goods this week, the Russian government has announced it is going to introduce a minimum price for cheap vodka.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Commission_Approves_Setting_Minimum_Price_For_Vodka/1882839.html
http://www.rferl.org/content/Russian_Commission_Approves_Setting_Minimum_Price_For_Vodka/1882839.html
This kind of behaviour may have led to them doing this:
An alternative argument about this topic which you may not find in your textbooks:
- Control of demerit goods is argued for not only because of the high level of negative externalities, but since consumers are presumed to have less than perfect knowledge about these goods' private costs.
- However, it may be that consumers have made a fairly rational decision based on weighing up utility with possible costs, discounting any costs coming far into the future. As we saw last week Keynes said in a different context "in the long run, we are all dead" :( . I don't know any smokers, for example, who are unware of the health risks of their habit.
- Therefore it could be argued that all government action achieves here is a restriction of individual choice and interference with consumer's pleasure and business's profit.
No 16: These videos look good but.......
DISCOVERED here the Economist audio and visual page, with lots of interesting looking items
http://audiovideo.economist.com/
BUT my Flash Player is not working, so please let me know if any particular clips are good.
Friday, 20 November 2009
No 13: More about Queen's speech
HERE is a slightly easier to understand report about the Queen's Speech, as requested by some students:
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/queenaposs+speech+aposan+election+ruseapos/3428197
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/queenaposs+speech+aposan+election+ruseapos/3428197
No 12: Friday Fun
SORRY I realise the last couple of posts have asked you poor students to do some academic style work, so time to relax and have a try at this game, where you use your knowledge to run a farm:
http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/vla/farm/index.htm
If you play it, post your best score and next Friday I'll put up a high-score table on the blog.
Hopefully you will do better than I did here:
http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/vla/farm/index.htm
If you play it, post your best score and next Friday I'll put up a high-score table on the blog.
Hopefully you will do better than I did here:
It appears I should remain a teacher.
Thursday, 19 November 2009
No 11: The Queen's Speech
YESTERDAY was the Queen's speech. This is the occasion on which she reads out the government's proposed new laws for the forthcoming year. Historically, it is the only time of the year that the King or Queen is allowed to go inside the House of Lords. He or she is never allowed inside the House of Commons.
Here is a link to a BBC report about the laws proposed yesterday:
For AS students doing micro at the moment:
read through the list and think of the market failures some of the laws are trying to correct.
For A2 students doing macro:
- read through the proposed actions against bankers and the commitment to reduce the deficit.
Please post your comments below: I'm sure it will really help your fellow students to share ideas like this.
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
No 10: Keynes Quotes COMPETITION
FOR those neo-Keynesians who may be upset by the earlier post about Hayek (by the way, A2 economists should be deciding where they stand in the Keynesian - Classical economics argument), here are some quotes from Keynes which are quite relevant to current economic events.
1) "If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has."
2) "The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is past the ocean is flat again."
3) "If the Treasury were to fill old bottles with banknotes, bury them at suitable depths in disused coal mines which are then filled up to the surface with town rubbish, and leave it to private enterprise on well tried principals of laissez-faire to dig the notes up again ...... there need be no more unemployment and, with the help of the repercussions, the real income of the community, and its capital wealth also, would probably become a good deal greater than it actually is. "
THE FIRST STUDENT TO POST A COMMENT WHICH CORRECTLY LINKS EACH QUOTE TO AN ASPECT OF THE CREDIT CRUNCH WILL GET A PRIZE!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) "If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has."
2) "The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is past the ocean is flat again."
3) "If the Treasury were to fill old bottles with banknotes, bury them at suitable depths in disused coal mines which are then filled up to the surface with town rubbish, and leave it to private enterprise on well tried principals of laissez-faire to dig the notes up again ...... there need be no more unemployment and, with the help of the repercussions, the real income of the community, and its capital wealth also, would probably become a good deal greater than it actually is. "
No 8: 2 Hayeks
2 FAMOUS people with the surname "Hayek".
One a Nobel prize winner, and passionate defender of the free market, not only for its ability to create wealth, but as a defence against evil government control of society. These ideas are summarised in this Hayek's book "The Road to Serfdom" (published 1944) which you can see here in the form of a cartoon:
http://mises.org/books/TRTS/
(No Nobel prize yet for the other Hayek but she did win the 1998 MTV Movie Award for best teenage date movie.)
Other famous free market economists apart from Friedrich (not Salma) Hayek are Ludwig von Mises, Gary Becker and Milton Friedman. I'll try to post about some of them at a later date.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
No 7: Phillips Machine
THIS wondrous sight (not the strange professor) is the Phillips' Machine, invented by Bill Phillips, New Zealand Engineer and Economist, and also responsible for the Phillips' Curve. He built 14 of these machines, which model the economy using flows of water. This one was constructed for the LSE.
This video shows how it works:
Ah, if only the real economy could be controlled in this way. More advanced students might want to consider the advantages and disadvantages of modelling the economy in such a mechanistic Newtonian manner, and how recent Mathematical and Biological theories would challenge this.
Or you may prefer to watch funny cats on youtube......
No 6: Is your country in or out of recession?
THE lovely chart you see above (and yes, to be a true economist you need to find diagrams beautiful) is an interactive item from the Guardian.
You can hover over the planet like some alien visitor and find out about how GDP growth varies across the world at the moment.
Sorry though, you may not find your country on the chart :.(
No 5: New Inflation Figures
INFLATION figures for October: CPI now 1.5% from 1.1.%. RPI now -0.8% from -1.4%.
A reminder to all A-level students, you really need to remember, AT THE VERY LEAST, the current UK stats for inflation, unemployment and growth.
A reminder to all A-level students, you really need to remember, AT THE VERY LEAST, the current UK stats for inflation, unemployment and growth.
I will be testing you!!!! >:O
Monday, 16 November 2009
No 4: Dragons' Den for Economists
MEMBERS of the public suggest new taxes for the approval of economics experts in this Newsnight video named "Politics Pen".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8352611.stm
Despite unlikely how this might sound, my A2 class and I honestly had an enjoyable time afterward discussing the best methods of increasing tax revenue and how this related to Adam Smith's cannons of taxation, which are, anybody?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/8352611.stm
Despite unlikely how this might sound, my A2 class and I honestly had an enjoyable time afterward discussing the best methods of increasing tax revenue and how this related to Adam Smith's cannons of taxation, which are, anybody?
No 3: Recession tracker
THIS is a link to the BBC resource tracking the course of the current recession.With info like that over there about all the key macro indicators, it's sure to be fun for all the family.
Hats off to Ms Rossiter for the suggestion.
No 2: About
SO this blog and related resources are for my students, my ex-students, my colleagues, and their students.
Its purpose is to discuss economics news and direct you to useful resources.
How much and how often I post will probably depend on how much I feel this is being used. Please let me know if you are reading with comments and suggestions.
Its purpose is to discuss economics news and direct you to useful resources.
How much and how often I post will probably depend on how much I feel this is being used. Please let me know if you are reading with comments and suggestions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)