Dambisa Moyo’s new book Winner Take All debuts at #13 on the New York Times Best Seller list this week.She is currently on a speaking tour in the United States but flies back to the UK to speak at our Economics Teacher National Conference on Wednesday 27th June. Click here for information on how to book a place at this super end of term event.Username Passw Forgot your password Not a member Please register tutor2u Economics Business Stds Politics Intl Bacc Sociology Law Religious Stds Management History Geography Give It a Go Other Blogs Search tutor2u Contact tutor2u Online tutoring Latest News Buy Resources Teacher Newsletters Facebook AS A2 Blog GCSE Blog Revision Materials Economics Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops econoMAX Business Blog Biz Quiz Bus Studies Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops Business Cafe Politics Blog Revision Materials Politics Shop Teacher CPD FPTP TOK Blog IB Economics Blog IB Bus Management Blog Sociology Blog GCSE Revision Materials Shop Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography Blog Russia is one of the world’s biggest producers of crude oil and gas and the price that these energy supplies fetch on world markets have a disproportionate effect on Russian GDP growth, their balance and payments and the Russian government fiscal position. In the summer of 2012 oil prices in particular have been falling quite sharply - a concern for the Russian Finance Ministry To mark the 2012 Rio Summit, the United Nations has started to publish an Inclusive Wealth Index which builds into an evaluation of a country’s wealth the impact of economic growth and development on the stock of a country’s natural capital. This chart from the Economist would be an excellent starting point for discussion of changes in natural wealth for a range of countries. The World Bank has this short 3 minute video on measuring poverty This 101 East programme from Al Jazeerah shown in June 2012 looks at attempts within China to fast track investment and progress in product innovation as part of the drive to sustain growth and make the leap from middle to higher income living standards. The programme is 25 minutes long. China faces allegations of unfair trade practices and intellectual piracy by some of its major trading partners in the US and Europe Sunk costs cannot be recovered if a business decides to leave an industry. World crude oil prices are falling back from their recent highs and this will bring blessed relief to hard-pressed consumers and many businesses in the UK. High oil and gas prices effectively act like a tax on consumption because they increase the prices of many goods and services for which demand is price inelastic. Yea we can try to switch to more energy-efficient products over time - and many people are doing this albeit at a short term cost - but essentially when petrol and home energy costs rise, it causes a direct hit on the real purchasing power of millions of households, many of whom have barely seen any rise in their wages over the last couple of years.
Sir Terry Leahy, formerly CEO of Tesco makes this point in this interview on Channel 4 news Many thanks to the fantastic audience of Economics teachers who packed the British Library Conference Auditorium on 27 June 2012 for the Economics Teacher National Conference.
We were delighted with the day - a simply stunning speaker line-up was complemented by a real buzz amongst the delegates who took full advantage of the opportunity to renew existing friendships and many new contacts. The packed-out wine reception after the event was further proof that the Economics teacher community is really strong and growing!
Many thanks also to Ian Pryer (Freman College) who has done a superb job curating the many tweets from delegates attending. His Storify summary of the day is provided below:
If workers are needed for the output they are required to produce, then it follows that they could be paid up to the extra value of revenue that their output generates for the firm, and that wage differentials will reflect differences in labour productivity - in other words, I am talking about the marginal revenue product of labour. The University and College Union (UCU) have commissioned a report from the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) called ‘Further Higher? Tertiary education and growth in the UK’s new economy’, looking for some evidence of the differences in the productivity of workers who have A levels and those with degrees - you can see the results in the table above. A useful series of flow charts on the BBC Business Webpage outlining some of the causes and effects of the present problems of the Eurozone economies.
A good starting point for AS students and teachers preparing for A2 Economics courses. A year ago today a group of teachers established an informal twitter network within a matter of seconds by collectively using the hash tag #ecbusteach to connext with each other and share links, ideas and resources. Over the last year for many of use Twitter has become a tremendously useful platform for collaborating, supporting and enriching our passion for Economics. If you would like to connect to like-minded colleagues on Twitter then please post a tweet with the hash tag #ecbusteach and in a few days we will create a new network map teaching colleagues using this link. Here are the details of the final shortlist and highly commended essays for the 2012 competition. The standard of writing this year was very high - congratulations to those listed below and thank you to everyone who entered and the teachers who encouraged them to produce such interesting and vibrant economics. Judging by the quality of the entries, the future of our wonderful subject is in good hands.Username Passw Forgot your password Not a member Please register tutor2u Economics Business Stds Politics Intl Bacc Sociology Law Religious Stds Management History Geography Give It a Go Other Blogs Search tutor2u Contact tutor2u Online tutoring Latest News Buy Resources Teacher Newsletters Facebook AS A2 Blog GCSE Blog Revision Materials Economics Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops econoMAX Business Blog Biz Quiz Bus Studies Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops Business Cafe Politics Blog Revision Materials Politics Shop Teacher CPD FPTP TOK Blog IB Economics Blog IB Bus Management Blog Sociology Blog GCSE Revision Materials Shop Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography Blog Yields on Spanish government bonds reached 7% yesterday, a level at which most experts believe the nation cannot survive without a bailout and this led to José Manuel García-Margallo, Spain’s foreign minister releasing the rather dramatic statement “‘If the Titanic sinks, it takes everyone with it, even those travelling in first class,’’ he said, in a warning clearly aimed at Germany and other eurozone countries” as reported in this Guardian piece.
Brinkmanship or is impending doom just round the corner? Maybe this is a reaction to Spain’s 100 billion no strings bank bailout, a mere bagatelle according to this Economist article “It is a plaster, not a cure.” On a class trip to an advertising and media company today, we were shown an ad campaign that bore a strong resemblance to the Smoking Kids campaign that Geoff blogged about a few days ago. This has been a focus of debate today, sparked on the one hand by new data showing that the number of children living in poverty in the UK last year fell by 300,000, or by 2% to 18% of children living below the poverty line. This is based on the government’s Households Below Average Income statistics which define
child poverty as children living in homes taking in less than 60% of the median UK income. Thousands of students across the UK and overseas are entering the final stages of preparation for their Unit 4 macroeconomics paper. A summer hat tip to several colleagues who have been posting some really good exam advice for students who are using twitter as a source of help, thoughts and key themes ahead of their exam. We are using the twitter hash tag #econ4 so that these exam-related tweets are easily followed. It is another good example of how this fast-growing platform can be used as a way of providing reassurance for students as they get closer to their final economics paper.
Click on this link to access the Unit 4 Economics Tweets I am heading to London to make final preparations for the 10th Anniversary Economics Teacher National Conference at the British Library Conference Auditorium. We have a large gathering of over 150 teachers and I am looking forward to meeting as many of the delegates as I can for a day that is built around four key-note speakers - here are the timings and details and travel directions and travel news links for those making the journey. Last minute bookings: https://tutor2u.wufoo.com/forms/economics-teacher-national-conf-2012-booking-form/
Username Passw Forgot your password Not a member Please register tutor2u Economics Business Stds Politics Intl Bacc Sociology Law Religious Stds Management History Geography Give It a Go Other Blogs Search tutor2u Contact tutor2u Online tutoring Latest News Buy Resources Teacher Newsletters Facebook AS A2 Blog GCSE Blog Revision Materials Economics Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops econoMAX Business Blog Biz Quiz Bus Studies Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops Business Cafe Politics Blog Revision Materials Politics Shop Teacher CPD FPTP TOK Blog IB Economics Blog IB Bus Management Blog Sociology Blog GCSE Revision Materials Shop Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography BlogUsername Passw Forgot your password Not a member Please register tutor2u Economics Business Stds Politics Intl Bacc Sociology Law Religious Stds Management History Geography Give It a Go Other Blogs Search tutor2u Contact tutor2u Online tutoring Latest News Buy Resources Teacher Newsletters Facebook AS A2 Blog GCSE Blog Revision Materials Economics Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops econoMAX Business Blog Biz Quiz Bus Studies Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops Business Cafe Politics Blog Revision Materials Politics Shop Teacher CPD FPTP TOK Blog IB Economics Blog IB Bus Management Blog Sociology Blog GCSE Revision Materials Shop Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography Blog We are delighted that Jonathan Portes, the Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research will be one of our four keynote speakers at the Economics Teacher National Conference at the British Library on Wednesday 27th June. Booking a place at our event could not be easier - just click here for details or call us on 0844 800 0085 (office hours are 8:30 a.m.to 5:00 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Here is my selection of economics books for students keen on deepening their understanding - revised and updated for summer 2012 to include a selection of new books that have just hit the bookstores! As the American presidential race starts to heat up, one of the key differences between the two candidates is their policies on how much support the government should give to the average person (in this case “Julia”). Barack Obama favors more support (and therefore more spending) whereas Mitt Romney favors less support (and therefore less spending).Username Passw Forgot your password Not a member Please register tutor2u Economics Business Stds Politics Intl Bacc Sociology Law Religious Stds Management History Geography Give It a Go Other Blogs Search tutor2u Contact tutor2u Online tutoring Latest News Buy Resources Teacher Newsletters Facebook AS A2 Blog GCSE Blog Revision Materials Economics Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops econoMAX Business Blog Biz Quiz Bus Studies Shop Teacher CPD Revision Workshops Business Cafe Politics Blog Revision Materials Politics Shop Teacher CPD FPTP TOK Blog IB Economics Blog IB Bus Management Blog Sociology Blog GCSE Revision Materials Shop Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography Blog Here is an innovative advert from Ogilvy Asia emphasising a behavioural economic idea that reminding yourself of the consequences of a choice can often be a strong deterrent or lever to sustain a change of lifestyle. When Robert Skidelsky gave his talk on Keynes here in Madrid last October, he spoke at length about the importance of effective government spending emphasising that the focus of the spending should be on capital rather than current. Yes, when aggregate demand is lacking, the government should increase spending on capital projects, even if that means deficit spending, in order to kick start the economy with the accompanying multiplier effect on output, jobs and growth.
| Peter Klein | This looks like a mighty interesting conference: Scientific theory choice is guided by judgments of simplicity, a bias frequently referred to as “Ockham’s Razor”. But what is simplicity and how, if at all, does it help science find the truth? Should we view simple theories as means for obtaining accurate predictions, [...] Great FT interview and article here with Paul Krugman (”most hated and most admired columnist in the US”) that fits nicely with Geoff’s recent post on Krugman’s LSE visit.
| Peter Klein | Some of you have heard me suggest — at least half seriously — that we ban the word “entrepreneurship” from scientific discourse. The word has so many definitions that its use often obfuscates rather than clarifies. (If you mean self-employment, better to say say “self-employment”; if you mean opportunity discovery, say [...] The answer to that question according to this NPR blog seems to be a definitive Yes! The video below shows a driver-less tractor working a field using advanced GPS systems to help with the planting. Similar technology is used to power robots that milk cows and do other farm related tasks - great as the farmer can now do something else and/or not hire a worker. Substituting labour for capital is now deemed more profitable for the business. Does this spell the end of the line for the farm hand?
“There’s very much a human element in all of the business decisions and all of the equipment selection and maintenance and fleet decisions, I don’t think you’re going to eliminate the farmer with automation.” Will the East slow before it counts? Is the East only big enough to be culpable but not mature enough to be responsible? In this TED talk recorded at the LSE a few months ago, Danny Quah, Professor of Economics and Kuwait Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science looks at some of the darker undercurrents, dangers and risks from the changing centre of gravity in the world economy.