No 190: UK Trade in Goods and Services 1955-2010

THIS graph shows the UK balances for trade in goods, services, and goods and services put together.

There should be some clear trends you can see here.....

No 188: Pound Dollar Exchange Rate 1976-2010

FROM timetric via tutor2u, comes the first of a series of useful interactive graphs I will be posting in the next few weeks.

In recent homework, the answers to the graph question from Data Response have, to be honest, not been very good, so one way to use this graph is to practice for the exam by picking out key features.

Another use is to use your knowledge of UK economic history and to see what was happening to the £ / $ exchange rate during those periods.

No 183: The Provinces of China Compared to Countries

THIS infographic from "The Economist" compares Chinese provinces with similar countries, in terms of GDP, GDP per capita, population and trade.

(To see a similar map about the USA see Post 37).

No 182: World Economic News

HERE ARE the latest economic news stories from some of your countries. 

Please email me or add a comment if your country is not included here and you find a story of interest to us.

You can also try to answer some of the questions at the end of this post, if you like!

Russian Inflation Problems


Import tariffs on food have been removed, and there is a good chance that the central bank interest rate will be increased, in order to fight inflation. Government spending will also be tightly controlled this year.

The rate of inflation was 8.4% in 2010, but 2.4% just in January alone (which would work out as an annualised rate of more than 25% if repeated throughout 2011). The government inflation target is 7%. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12560719

Strong Growth in Hong Kong in 2010
The Hong Kong economy grew by 6.8% in 2010. Much of this was due to the expanding property market, and particularly from people from other areas of China investing their money into Hong Kong.

However, this has raised fears that there is a speculative bubble that might burst with disastrous results not just for Hong Kong but also the rest of China. Increased property prices are also affecting the general price level, leading to fears about rising inflation.

The Hong Kong government is trying to cool down the property market by making sure there is a supply of new land and new houses for sale - difficult in such an crowded place! Other measures include a 20% tax if owners sell a property within 2 years of buying it, and restrictions that stop buyers of luxury properties borrowing more than 50% of the sale price.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12548766

Vietnam Government Raises Interest Rates
The Vietnamese government is taking measures to fight inflation, which is currently 12%. The base rate of interest has gone up from 11% to 12%.

There are further fears of increased inflation since electricity prices are due to rise 15% on March 1. There are also criticisms that government itself has contributed to inflation through its devaluation of the currency of 8.5% earlier this month. This was done because of Vietnam's 2010 trade deficit of over $12 billion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-22/vietnam-premier-to-push-central-bank-to-fight-inflation.html

Bad News and Bad News in Japan
In a surprising development, Japan has posted its first trade deficit in 2 years.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12548277

Also this week, Moodys - an agency which rates how safe it thinks different countries' government bonds are - downgraded Japanese government bonds from AA to AA-. This is due to worries about government borrowing and spending. Japan has the world's 2nd highest government debt to GDP ratio, with 196%.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12533405



QUESTIONS FOR EXTRA ANALYSIS
1. Why is the Russian government especially worried about the food supply at the moment?
2. Find out more about the Russian government's inflation target: how long has it been 7%? Is there any room for error? What happens if the central bank fail to achieve the target?
3. Find evidence to support the view that the Hong Kong property market is a bubble dangerously close to bursting. Find evidence against this view.
4. Do you think the Hong Kong government's measure will work?
5. Who decides prices of utilities such as electricity in Vietnam?
6. What are the possible positive effects for Vietnam of its currency devaluation?
7. What contributed to Japan's recent trade deficit? Why was it a surprise?
8. Why has government spending and borrowing recently increased again in Japan?

9. From the stories above, what seem to be the common economic problems affecting different countries at the moment?

No 173: Top 10 Economics Stories of 2010

CLICK on this link to get to a sideshow from the "Daily Telegraph" of its top 10 economics new stories of 2010.

Here is a list of which stories they have included:

1. Deficit, debt and austerity worries

2. Government debt problems for European countries

3. Currency wars

4. Global imbalances in trade

5. China's continued growth

6. Difficulties with job creation

7. Inflation and interest rate decsisions

8. Problems for the Bank of England's monetary policy

9. The formation of the Office for Budget Responsibility

10. Unpredictable UK growth

These stories will be the starting point of our classes on Macroeconomics this coming term (5 more days of holidays - use them wisely and enjoy - I myself am mostly watching cricket!).

Therefore, please make sure you have a look. There may even be an exciting quiz about them next week.....


If you want more, here is a link to the Telegraph's Top 10 Banking Stories of 2010.


And if you'd like even more, this is a link to "The Week" magazine's Most Newsworthy Dogs of 2010, including the sad story of Target, the war hero dog :,(

 

No 157: Newspaper questions for Wednesday 10 November

 

Page 6 - "Train fare rises being used to ease peak-time congestion"
Do you think the rises in fares will ease peak-time congestion on trains?

Page 11 - "Move to Biofuels Will Add Carbon"
Biofuels have been praised as providing a solution to the use of petrol. Does it seem to be a good solution?

Page 41: "Forecasters predict oil will reach $200 a barrel"
Why?

Page 42: "Gold hits record high of $1,420 per ounce"
Why?

Page 42: "Trade deficit narrows slightly"
Why?

 

No 140: World Economic News

UK GDP expanded by 1.1% in the 3 months up to the end of June, a better performance than many expected.
This is compared to the 0.3% growth in quarter 1 of this year.

 Meanwhile South Korean growth slowed to 7.2% in 2010 Q2, from 8.1% in Q1.

USA growth dropped to 2.4% Q2 from 3.7% Q1.

Export figures boomed for India (up by 30.4% so far this year) and Malaysia (17.2% more compared to this time last year).

Unemployment fell in June in Brazil (to 7%) and Mexico (from 5.4% to 5.1%) but in the Eurozone stayed at 10%. Spain's jobless figure is still 20%.

Inflation decreased in Russia (down to 5.5% from 5.8%) and Switzerland (now 0.4%).

The generally positive news is reflected in the statistics for World GDP:

No 122: More tutor2u presentations

HERE they are as requested:

For both AS and A2 Macro
The Credit Crunch and possibilties of recovery
http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/workshops2010/AS3/player.html


AS Module 2
The balance of payments (note: needs to be downloaded into Powerpoint)
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/economics/comments/as-economics-revision-the-balance-of-payments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economics_news+%28tutor2u+Economics+Blog%29#When:17:12:00Z

A2 Module 3
Evaluation of the NMW
http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/a2economics/evaluation/nmw/player.html

Interdependent Behaviour in Oligopoly (a post not a presentation)
http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/economics/comments/a2-economics-revision-interdependent-behaviour-in-oligopoly/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economics_news+%28tutor2u+Economics+Blog%29#When:06:59:00Z

No 121: New economic indicators

RECENT changes to key economic figures:

Unemployment
Up to 2.51 million but rate remains 8%. The highest number of unemployed workers since Decemeber 1994.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10109965.stm

Balance of Trade
A deficit of £3.7 billion in March compared to £2.2 billion in February.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10113630.stm

Base Rate of Interest
Bank of England keeps it at 0.5% despite inflationary pressures. It has been at this level since March 2009.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/10104900.stm

No 120: Tutor 2 U presentations

TUTOR2U has produced some very useful revision presentations. Here are links to some of them:

For AS Module 2

Supply side policies: http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/workshops2010/AS2/player.html 

Manging the economy: http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/workshops2010/AS4/player.html
(watch out for strange AD/AS diagrams!)

For A2 Module 4:

Protectionism: http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/workshops2010/A22/player.html 
(watch out for some anti-Chinese exchnage rate stuff!)

Global trade and investment: http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/presentations/workshops2010/A21/player.html


LET ME KNOW IF THESE ARE USEFUL AND WANT SOME MORE!

No 115: And finally some more good

REGARDING the UK balance of trade:

Read article here.

No 101: Update to Key Information

.

THERE have been a few changes to the UK macroeconomic indicators.

First was a fall in the rate of inflation in February, partly due to falling home fuel costs.

Second, another update that slightly increases 2009 Q4 GDP growth.

Third, a small fall in unemployment that has not changed the overall percentage.

So now the figures are:

• CPI INFLATION: 3.0% (FEB)

• UNEMPLOYMENT 7.8% (FEB)

• GDP GROWTH 0.4% (Q4 2009)

• TRADE BALANCE -£3.8 BILLION (JAN)

I don't want to repeat myself - I'm sure it bores you - but I  am disappointed when some students don't know these numbers. It will help you to get a better grade if you remember them!