• How increased expenditure on mobiles “eats” into other areas of household spending

    Updated: 2012-09-30 18:30:46
    As the title says, as we spend more of our (diminishing!) disposable incomes on our mobile devices and other related sundries, there's less left over for other wants and needs. This WSJ article looks at how Americans are sacrificing a host of other stuff in favour of better, faster phones and their accompanying bills:

  • Unit 4 Macro: Progress in Meeting Development Goals in India

    Updated: 2012-09-30 10:27:21
    Explain and discuss four indicators of progress made by India in achieving her main development goals.

  • Microsoft market domination

    Updated: 2012-09-30 02:22:24
    There was a time when if you asked students for an example of a firm with monopolistic tendencies more than 25% of them would give Microsoft as their answer.  hose days seemed a thing of the past as first Apple and then the more recent arrival of Google's Android platform suggested we were going tired of watching Bill Gate's egg timer.  owever, it would seem that the arrival of Windows 8 has brought the good old bad old days of market domination back.

  • The UK economy continues to contract

    Updated: 2012-09-29 01:47:45
    Here is a ray of brighter news for followers of the British economy! New figures suggest a weaker contraction than feared when early data on GDP was released a few weeks ago.

  • Economics in the News Quiz - 29 September 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-29 01:47:43
    Try your luck with these 10 questions from Geoff on Economics in the News over the last 7 daysLaunch conomics in the News Quiz - 29 September 2012 

  • Jim Kim on Prospects for Developing Countries

    Updated: 2012-09-29 01:47:41
    The recently-installed Head of the World Bank, Jim Kim is in conversation here with Bloomberg news - a ten minute interview that ranges far and wide on the macroeconomic challenges facing many countries including struggling Euro Zone nations. Colleagues may be interested to know that Jim Kim is speaking at the LSE on the 18th December at 6.30pm - ticket details available from the LSE web site in an evening hosted by the LSE's Danny Quah. ideo can be found by clicking here 

  • A2 Micro: What’s the difference between the OFT and CC?

    Updated: 2012-09-29 01:47:39
    I love Prezi as an alternative to PowerPoint, looks great and adds variety to lessons. Below is a brief one I made for my A2 students answering the above question. Please feel free to use, adapt or discard. Have a great weekend!

  • Scarcity and the Economic Problem

    Updated: 2012-09-29 01:47:38

  • Unit 2 Macro Building on the Green Belt in a Drive for Growth

    Updated: 2012-09-27 22:54:30
    Former Labour Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was once (perhaps) quoted as saying: "The Green Belt is one of Labour's greatest achievements, and we intend to build on it!". Danny Boyle's dramatic and wonderful London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony "Isle's of Beauty" began with an unforgettable rural landscape which was soon to be transformed by an altogether harsher industrial landscape during the pandemonium. or many years we have regarded our greenbelt protected land as a bulwark against urban sprawl and over-rapid commercial and industrial development. But this is about to change with a change in planning laws and regulations that will make it easier to turn farmland into business parks and new housing?

  • Unit 4 Macro: UK Aid Money - Key Data Sets

    Updated: 2012-09-27 22:54:28
    A hat tip to our good friend Vasilis Nicolaou, an economics teacher from Cyprus for spotting this excellent overseas aid data set available from the Guardian web site. As Britain renews its pledge to increase the aid budget, the Guardian has highlighted five datasets to help understand the debates - here is the link to click 

  • The new Merchiston Castle Economics Blog

    Updated: 2012-09-27 22:54:27
    Some students at Merchiston Castle School in the fair city of Edinburgh have started an Economics blog and are regularly posting interesting pieces. Please do have a look and add some comments to the blog posts already posted on their Merchinomics site! An autumnal hat tip to Will Clayton for sending through the details. We are always happy to showcase other school economics blogs, please do let us have details - it is a fantastic way to encourage independent learning and enrichment in our fantastic subject. Here is the link to use

  • Teaching Vacancy - Teacher of Economics and Politics (Stowe School)

    Updated: 2012-09-27 14:47:51
    Many thanks to Stowe School for providing us with exclusive notification of what looks like a terrific teaching opportunity. Details below.

  • Paul Ormerod: Is this a pleb I see before me? Reality and perception in the markets

    Updated: 2012-09-27 06:40:14
    Andrew Mitchell, the Government Chief Whip, remains in some difficulty after his exchange with the police at the gates of Downing Street. nbsp;At the heart of the incident, there is an objective reality. nbsp;Either he used the word pleb, or he didn’t. nbsp;Either the police were officious jobsworths, or they were the epitome of politeness. 

  • Khan Academy - Exhange Rates

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:32
    The Khan Academy nbsp;is a cracking wesbite that is a great trick to have up your sleeve, especially when teaching Exchange Rates nbsp;or Trade. Whether you are teaching IB International Economics or OCR Global, this resource is a helpful tool and can allow some extension of your brighter students. Although a lot of what is on here doesn't actually appear on the AL or IB spec, it does give students a broader understanding of these topics - so best to use sparingly incase you confuse (or frighten) your weaker students. It does give some helpful information on micro nbsp;and macro topics but again, not all of what is on here is needed for AS or A2 in the UK so I would suggest you are selective with what you use.   

  • Market Failure - Child Obesity

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:29

  • Transport Economics

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:28
    A good article from the BBC worthy of discussion when teaching transport economics. This article looks at the problems facing the key stakeholders of a new public transport policy being introduced [bus lanes] in Belfast and how teething problems nbsp;can hinder the objective of the govornment.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Financing Trade - Renminbi Rising

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:26
    The Chinese renminbi is not yet as recognisable as the US dollar or the Euro but with China's continued growth and rising influence as a major global economic power, their domestic currency is becoming more widely used when settling accounts in trade in goodsand services. In this new Financial Times video Denise Law explores the benefits of using renminbi in trade even though the renminbi is not yet fully-convertible in world foreign exchange markets.

  • LSE lecture: Policy Challenges for Growth in Africa and South Asia

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:24
    Yesterday I took some Oundelians to attend the Public Policy lecture at the LSE, entitled Policy Challenges for Growth in Africa and South Asia. t was sponsored by the IGC – the International Growth Centre: http://www.theigc.org/ - as part of the LSE Growth Week http://www.theigc.org/events/growth-week-2012 .

  • Unit 1 Micro: Smartphone Penetration and Creative Destruction

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:21
    The speed with which new consumer product technologies are taken up is of enormous interest for lots of reasons. Emerging products and services challenge demand, revenues and profits for established products and bring about - as Schumpeter pointed out - gales of creative destruction. In the United States, fresh data suggests that more than half of US consumers have smartphones and if the information is accurate, this means that smartphones have become one of the most rapidly adopted consumer technologies of all time.

  • Paul Ormerod: Lessonsin Economics from the Nobel Laureates

    Updated: 2012-09-26 22:36:19
    The presentation streamed below is from a talk given to the 2011 Economics Teacher National Conference organised by Tutor2u entitled "The future of economics – lessons fromthe Nobel Laureates… and beyond"

  • Diseconomies of Scale Activities

    Updated: 2012-09-26 04:44:38
    I always imagined that if an Economics Teacher ever had the equivalent of a go-to flat-headed screwdriver in their teaching toolkit, it is the activity they use to illustrate the concept of diseconomies of scale.  t is a theory that will probably be taught early on during the course and has the tendency to cause a look of confusion - 'Hold on, yesterday you said that big is good!  e've just got used to the idea of falling average costs.'Inventive teachers are always looking for ways to prove the proverbial 'too many cooks....' idea.  ere are a couple of lesson starter resources that you might like to use to illustrate your point.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Agri-Chemicals and Infant Mortality in India

    Updated: 2012-09-25 10:08:46
    Using agrichemicals is directly correlated to infant mortality in India. This is the central finding of research presented by Nidhiya Menon (Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University) at the International Growth Centre’s Growth Week 2012.

  • Behavioural Economics: Lessons from Poker in Business and Life

    Updated: 2012-09-25 10:08:44
    Here is the wonderful Caspar Berry on the decisions we take and the investments we make in business and in life - superb as a complement to your studies in behavioural economics. Caspar was a vibrant, curious and ambitious presence in the first Economics class that I ever taught in the autumn of 1988.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Mining and the Natural Resource Curse

    Updated: 2012-09-25 02:05:47
    Mining should not be subject to special fiscal treatment, argues research presented by Robert Conrad (Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Duke University) t the International Growth Centre’s Growth Week 2012.

  • The World Trade Organization

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:39
    A few resources when ooking at he role of the WTO.

  • Behavioural Economics: Getting People to Wear Seat Belts

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:34
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  • Behavioural Economics: Taking the P? Video Games to Reduce Splash

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:30
    Following on from the legendary flies embossed into the urinals at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam - a behavioural nudge to reduce spillage and cleaning costs - a UK business called Captive Media has created a p-controlled video game for bars, clubs and restaurants. Will it take on? Might it lead to higher consumption as customers load up to beat their personal best? Will Nintendo launch it on their Wiiplatform? Time will tell.

  • Behavioural Economics: The Babes of Woolwich

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:28
    Behavioural nudges have the prospect of at least addressing some intractable social issues and in this example we see how a simple idea can be harnessed in a bid to reduce vandalism. Inspired by Rory Sutherland and the team at Ogilvy, the shuttered streets of Woolwich were brought to life with pictures of faces of local babies. Can this work to help connect people to their neighbourhood and lower the risks of repeated vandalism of shuttered shop fronts?

  • Proving Marginal revenue product (MRP)

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:26
    MRP I find difficult to teach - until I did this- Making burgers! Read on for instructions!MRP burger lesson nbsp;

  • Introduction to labour markets- Economics of work and leisure-Starters

    Updated: 2012-09-24 18:03:25
    Updating my resources on this fantastic OCR unit - his BBC clip I will use as a starter  Also if you have a copy of the fantastic film "Far from a madding crowd" , there is a amazing scene where Gabriel is looking for a job and attends a open labour market - good for both work and leisure and introduction to markets

  • Does Strong Alumni Participation Make US Universities Stronger?

    Updated: 2012-09-24 04:22:51
    | Peter Klein | What explains the dominance of the US in elite higher education? Shailendra Mehta offers a novel explanation: the role of alumni. Graduates of US colleges and universities tend to identify strongly with their institutions and care deeply about their school’s reputation and ranking. Only in the US do alumni play such a [...]

  • Teaching Economics After the Crisis

    Updated: 2012-09-23 17:50:02
    Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis many people in the economics community are debating the future for our subject and in particular how we might reform teaching to equip students with the skills and knowledge appropriate to a complex inter-connected world.  ew book of short essays nbsp;on the teaching of economics edited by Diane Coyle from nlightenment Economics nbsp;is a superb contribution to the debate. I recommend it whole-heartedly to my teaching friends and colleagues. With exam boards charging silly money for online and face-to-face CPD, a modest investment in this book will pay rich dividends!

  • AS and A2 Macro: Income Distribution by Religious Belief

    Updated: 2012-09-23 17:50:02
    There's lots of ways to analyse wealth distribution data and compare different countries, regions inside those countries, socio economic groups as well as across racial lines, but we're perhaps not as used to comparing data across religous beliefs.

  • Unit 1 Micro: Capacity problems following Olympic surge in demand

    Updated: 2012-09-23 08:58:27
    A hat tip to Ed Marsh from Glyn School for potting this excellent short news video nbsp;from BBC Midlands. Demand for swimming lessons in Corby and Northampton is running well ahead of the capacity of the pools to offer them - the problem is not a lack of pool capacity, more a shortage of qualified swimming coaches - what are they doing to rectify this? 

  • Teachers Pay - Sir Michael Wilshaw’s Labour Supply Curve

    Updated: 2012-09-23 00:47:49
    England’s chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw has been in the news again today giving an interview to The Times. The controversial Sir Michael has suggested that teachers who wish to increase their salary should work that ‘extra mile’ and stay at school beyond the 3pm buzzer. Sir Michael is fast becoming the Joey Barton of the education world – the public are split between those who loathe him with a passion and those who think he’s just a misunderstood genius who’s gotten in with the wrong crowd. The article did, however, get me thinking about how I might present Sir Michael’s argument in a lesson discussing the incentive of wages and the supply of labour by an individual (my A2 students would love a discussion about ‘lazy’ teachers). 

  • A Chance to Shine! Blog on Economics for Tutor2u!

    Updated: 2012-09-22 00:30:07
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  • Living Diagrams - Supply and Demand in Action!

    Updated: 2012-09-22 00:30:06
    This is a fantastic teaching idea! This week economics students at Ipswich School have been having a go at living supply and demand diagrams in AS economics. Here are a couple of examples of students getting home and finding wonderful ways of illustrating the price mechanism in action! Can anyone surpass the two examples shown below? If so please send them in or post on a twitter feed using the hash tag #ecbusteach

  • Unit 4 Macro: Chile - Development Growing Pains

    Updated: 2012-09-22 00:30:03
    This new video from the Financial Times is superb on some of the growing pains for the Chilean economy, a country widely praised for good economic management in recent years. Her economy is heavily dependent on copper exports, and a target of developed country status by 2018 looks ambitious. The Chilean government believes that it can be met a year early! But there will be many obstacles to overcome not least in meeting growing demand for reform in a country where income and wealth inequality has widened.

  • All Tied Up - AD-AS diagrams

    Updated: 2012-09-21 05:04:43
    Yesterday I took one of my IGCSE classes outside to construct large AD-AS diagrams using some old climbing rope, some playing cones and large A4 labels. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the lesson and learnt a lot from working in teams and applying the theory to a variety of scenarios.

  • Economics in the News Quiz: 22 September

    Updated: 2012-09-21 05:04:41
    Here is our weekly selection of ten questions nbsp;testing some key news items over the last seven days! Have a go!

  • Unit 2 Macro: King senses the start of a recovery

    Updated: 2012-09-21 05:04:40
    Channel 4 news tonight carried a major interview with the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King. In it he remarked that there were tentative signs of a stronger and more durable recovery in the British economy. What signs might you look for in assessing whether the economy is moving into a sunnier stage of the business cycle? This would make for a good independent learning assignment and classroom discussion for economists are fond of their own favourite indicators, some of them conventional and predictable, others a little wackier but perhaps useful!

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development Economics - Focussed Links

    Updated: 2012-09-20 20:57:05
    An autumnal hat tip to Mo Tanweer for providing this really useful selection of economic development related links

  • Paul Ormerod: We are all better off than we think

    Updated: 2012-09-20 20:57:03
    Apple’s iPhone5 has already smashed sales records. The first day on which consumers could make purchases over the web, more than 2 million online orders were placed. Little wonder that JP Morgan has estimated that sales of the iPhone5 could add as much as 0.5 per cent to American GDP. These numbers have attracted criticism. If consumers simply buy iPhones instead of other products, it is hard to see how output could be boosted by such an amount. 

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics- The Impossible Trinity

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:47:01
    The sixth in the series of 60 second videos from the OU looks at the trilemma' which suggests that it is impossible for a country to maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement and an independent monetary policy at one and the same time.

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Principle of Comparative Advantage

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:47:00
    Another core introductory concept beautifully described here by the OU - comparative advantage. avid Ricardo's famous economic model, predicts that if there are just two countries and two products both can be better off if they specialise and trade in the thing they're relatively best at.

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics - Rational Choice Theory

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:46:58
    In this OU video, David Mitchell explains that without a belief in rational behaviour, it's hard to design an economic policy with predictable results. In practice, people's errors or misinformed choices can frustrate policy design.

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Paradox of Thrift

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:46:56
    Another superb 60 second video from the OU which introduces the concept of the paradox of thrift. he Paradox of Thrift suggests that while it may be wise for an individual to save money when income is low and job prospects are precarious, it could be collectively disastrous if everyone is thrifty together.

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Phillips Curve

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:46:55
    In this 60 second summary, David Mitchell explains that ill Phillips' curve historically described an inverse relationship between the rate of unemployment and the rate of wage (and therefore price) inflation - but since his analysis became popular the relationship has changed.

  • 60 Second Adventures in Economics - The Invisible Hand

    Updated: 2012-09-20 12:46:51
    In this superb new series of bitesized 60 second videos, David Mitchell introduces Adam Smith, used the term The Invisible Hand to describe the self-regulating nature of the market place - a core concept for so-called free-marketeers.

  • Unit 2 Macro: UK Productivity Gap Grows

    Updated: 2012-09-20 04:36:25
    New figures that make international comparisons of productivity suggest that the UK is once more fallig behind efficiency improvements made in some of our major trade rivals. The productivity gap is regarded by many as one of the key supply-side weaknesses in the British economy.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development - Building Capabilities in Ghana

    Updated: 2012-09-20 04:36:23
    Building sustainable growth and industrial development requires investment in capabilities - institutions, enterprises and infrastructure upon which new wealth can be generated. The LSE's John Sutton has been at the forefront of a new series of publications focusing on the enterprise maps for a cluster of strong-performing African countries. He talks about this project in a short video from the International Growth Centre. Click below to view it.

  • A Very European Break Up - New Romantic Comedy

    Updated: 2012-09-20 04:36:21
    What a fabulous new resource for students and teachers! She's German. He's Greek. Can their ten year relationship survive the pressure? This great short comedy from director Bob Denham is jam packed with references to the Euro debt crisis - show it to your class and see how many the A-Level student gets (offer a prize!)

  • Regressive taxation in France

    Updated: 2012-09-20 04:36:19
    A good chance to discuss the effects of different taxation policies using this as a stimulus. Students have very firm ideas on what is fair and what is not. It is usually up to me to lob in the idea that taxes pay for the things that allow wealth to be created or that 'taxes are what we pay for a civilised society'. Finally the thing that they are least receptive to is that if most extremly successful people put their success down to luck (which they do, then why should they not pay high taxes as it could easily have been somebody else? I love playing devil's advocate to make them think!

  • Unit 3 Micro: Costs Assignment

    Updated: 2012-09-19 03:51:46
    I have attached a classroom assignment on short run production costs designed for Unit 3 A2 micro students

  • AS Macro: Data Search Assignment

    Updated: 2012-09-19 03:51:44
    I have attached below a data search assignment for my new AS macro students. I will point them in the direction of some useful sites such as the BBC economics home page and the Economist. But for some of them they will have to engage in some data digging! Contained within the assignment are two data description questions.

  • Benefits linked to inflation

    Updated: 2012-09-19 03:51:42
    One of the stock answers students are encouraged to make when describing the pitfalls of high inflation is its link with increasing the burden on the poorer sections of society.  he argument goes that periods of high inflation are not traditionally matched by an equal increase in benefit payments.  his has not been the case in recent years in the UK - benefits have been rising at a faster rate than inflation, even during its upwards blip of recent years.  ow the argument has reverted to one of how the cost of benefit payments have become excessive for a Government attempting to reduce its deficit and bring spending under control.  eports by the BBC and covered by the uardian today nbsp;have suggested that the Government is about to break this link.

  • Unit 2 Macro: Circular Flow Discussion Questions

    Updated: 2012-09-18 19:45:07
    Here is a short exercise (updated for 2012) that I use when teaching the circular flow, injections and withdrawals (leakages) and the effects on the equilibrium level of GDP. Available to download as a pdf file and also as a word file.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Growth Constraints - Population Factors

    Updated: 2012-09-18 19:45:05
     emographic change can have a direct bearing over time on the growth and development potential of individual countries.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Growth Constraints - Conflict and Poor Governance

    Updated: 2012-09-18 19:45:03
    Governance refers to how a country is run and whether the exercise of authority manages scarce resources well improving economic outcomes and the quality of life for a country’s people. High levels of corruption and bureaucratic delays can harm growth by inhibiting inward investment and making it likely that domestic businesses will invest overseas rather than at home.

  • Unit 4 Macro: South Africa must diversify the economy

    Updated: 2012-09-18 19:45:00
    A recent BBC World Service's World Business Report included an interview with Moeletsi Mbeki, deputy chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs. The discussion focused on the problems facing the South African mining industry which currently accounts for nearly 60% of total SA exports. 

  • Arruñada’s Institutional Foundations of Impersonal Exchange

    Updated: 2012-09-18 18:04:34
    | Peter Klein | Former O&M guest blogger Benito Arruñada has a new book, Institutional Foundations of Impersonal Exchange: Theory and Policy of Contractual Registries (University of Chicago Press, 2012), presenting his influential and important work on the measurement of property rights and transaction costs. Here’s the blurb: Governments and development agencies spend considerable resources [...]

  • Unit 4 Macro: Protectionism

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:30
    As discussions of free trade and protectionism enter the presidential race in America, we have been using some of the following resources in the classroom.

  • Unit 1 Micro: Prices in Action - Ticket Pricing at Derby County

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:30
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  • Unit 4 Macro: Infrastructure Gaps and Development

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:29
    Infrastructure includes physical capital such as transport networks, energy, power and water supplies and telecommunications networks. Poor infrastructure hampers growth because it causes higher supply costs and delays for businesses. It reduces the mobility of labour and affects the ability of exporters to get their products to international markets.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Constraints on Growth and Development

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:29
    This blog will link to a series of posts on some of the possible constraints or limitations on the sustained growth and development of a country. Keep in mind a high level of diversity between countries and regions, some of these constraints have a bigger effect on potential growth and development in some countries than others. Successful and effective policies are those that target and address the constraints. Some of these factors apply mainly to developed countries and some are focused on the growth potential of lower-income emerging economies many of whom have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years. Remember that economic growth is a long-term concept referring in the main to a nation’s productive potential and competitiveness:

  • The Globalisation of Work

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:29
    The BBC is on spanking good form at the moment. Here’s another little gem from them this time on globalisation. nbsp; Usually we think of lobalisation as moving production to China or the fact that you can get Coke Cola in every country nbsp;in the world (except Cuba and North Korea apparently! ). We might look at how this means lower costs of production and how this might be hard to organise and manage due to language nd distance. Perhaps even looking at any regional differences that are needed to make the brand work (McDonald’s ave just announced their first vegetarian outlet in India, for example) and so on.

  • Teaching Macro: Data on Real GDP Growth Rates

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:23:29
    For colleagues teaching macro and economic growth in particular I have attached below a word document containing growth rates for a selection of countries, I will be using this when discussing the determinants of growth with my A2 and AS macro groups.

  • Unit 1 Micro: Division of Labour

    Updated: 2012-09-18 03:18:27
      hat tip to my L6th IB set for this clip from the Big Bang Theory.

  • First, They Ignore You. . . .

    Updated: 2012-09-17 21:21:44
    | Peter Klein | Paul Krugman writes a typically silly column on the Austrian school’s approach to defining the money supply. As usual, his purpose is not to inform, or analyze, or explore, but to ridicule anyone who disagrees with The Paul. A few reactions: The substantive question, do Austrians consider money-market mutual funds as [...]

  • Unit 4 Macro: What Is a Natural Resource Curse?

    Updated: 2012-09-17 04:56:43
    As Geoff’s earlier log entry on the Kwale Mineral Sands Project in Kenya nbsp;used the term natural resource curse, I thought it apposite to develop the idea with application to both high income countries (HICs) and low income countries (LICs). In both cases, it would seem, the idea that 'all that glitters is not gold' is a persuasive one.

  • What’s Worse? The Great Depression or this Great Recession

    Updated: 2012-09-16 20:50:19
    Great infographic below and found here looking at the whos, whats and whys of these two horrendous downturns...and by the looks of things, we "fortunately" have someway to go before this one gets that bad!

  • Unit 1 Micro: Who Consumes the World’s Energy

    Updated: 2012-09-16 20:44:21
    Questions in the data response part of the Micro paper often want students to explain some of the factors that influence the demand or supply of the particular commodity found in the stimulus material and its impact on price. The graphic below looks at how China's consumption of global energy from 2000 to today has risen, far outstripping the US' consumption and no doubt contributing to the high energy bills we're all now facing.

  • Masters of Money on the BBC

    Updated: 2012-09-16 04:23:15
    Stephanie Flanders, the BBC's Economics editor, is starting a new series looking at famous Economists.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Can large scale mining boost Kenya?

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:56
    Kenya has never had a large scale mining sector before but there are hopes that once production starts in the Kwale Mineral Sands Project in 2013, the income from mining will act as a catalyst to Kenyan growth and development. But many lower income countries are at risk of a natural resource curse - can Kenya successfully avoid this trap? And will this project lead to a surge in fresh investment to find what lies beneath the country's surface? 

  • Unit 4 Macro: Primary Export Dependence

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:54
    Many lower-income developing nations still relying on specializing in and exporting low value added primary commodities. The prices of these goods can be volatile on world markets. When prices fall, an economy will see a sharp reduction in export incomes, an adverse movement in their terms of trade, risks of a higher trade deficit and a danger that a nation will not be able to finance investment in education, healthcare and core infrastructure.  

  • Economics in the News Quiz - 15 September 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:49
    The latest edition of the Economics in the News Quiz is now available.Launch conomics in the News Quiz - 15 September 2012 

  • Unit 4 Macro: Micro-insurance and development

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:48
    Micro insurance is a growing sector within developing country finance. The number of people covered by micro-insurance has increased almost 6.5 fold in five years, reaching nearly 500 million worldwide, with China and India leading the charge. Micro-insurance attempts to protect poor people against risks arising from accidents, illness, a death in the family or the damage caused by natural disasters - in exchange for insurance premium payments tailored to their needs, income and level of risk.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Urbanisation in Indian Cities - Challenges and Opportunities

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:46
    Many of India's biggest urban areas have witnessed massive migration in recent years - the inflow of people stretches a city's resources, making the basics, like housing, electricity, sanitation and education a luxury inaccessible to many. This selection of news videos looks at Indian urbanisation and the economic, social and environmental challenges this process poses

  • Unit 4 Macro: Technological Progress and Indian Development

    Updated: 2012-09-15 20:19:45
    This regularly updated blog will feature news video features on the role that technological progress and advances can play in stimulating growth and development in the Indian economy.

  • G20 GDP growth figures

    Updated: 2012-09-14 17:47:53
    Huge variations in the growth rates of G20 Economies should provide for classroom discussion on limits to growth and trategies o promote growth, particlarly in a developed world setting.

  • Economics at the Movies: Hunger Games

    Updated: 2012-09-14 02:31:39
    A hat tip to Paul Mills at Ashby School for spotting that The Hunger Games is just out on DVD. He used the film today to discuss specialisation and division of labour. Each of the districts in the film specialises in the production of different products for the Capital. Also leads to discussion on how resources are allocated and different economic systems.

  • Paul Ormerod: A Tale of Two Recessions: Grounds for Optimism

    Updated: 2012-09-14 02:31:36
    The economic news at the moment is mixed, and the impact of the 2007-2009 financial crash is far from over. But looking back into the past may give us something to feel cheerful about.

  • Geoff Riley interviewed in The Ricardian

    Updated: 2012-09-14 02:31:34
    It was a pleasure recently to answer some questions from Rory Gillies, one of the student editors of The Ricardian. He quizzed me about aspects of economics teaching and my replies are repeated below. Click here for more on The Ricardian.

  • The Economic Slowdown in India

    Updated: 2012-09-13 10:17:06
    News that the ndian economy continues to slow down resents a useful case study in both globalisation and development economics. he effects of the financial crisis have begun to bite and the pillars on which its high GDP growth rate was built have faltered. xports to the US and Eurozone have fallen sharply, alongside capital inflows, with the government looking to develop new markets in Asia and the Middle East.

  • The Myth of Talent

    Updated: 2012-09-13 02:11:21
    At the start of the academic year, I always make the effort to introduce those student new to the subject to some of the current thinking on high achievement. There are a number of excellent books on this: Carol Dweck’s “Mindset” is perhaps the most igorous for the teacher. lternatively, Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” posits that excellence in any discipline is only EVER a function of hard work. He argues that in order to become a high class performer, the individual needs to devote 10,000 hours of their life to the thing they want to excel in and then high attainment is made likely. He backs this up with examples from all walks of life: from Bill Gates to Tiger Woods.

  • Interesting Paper on Entrepreneurship and Growth

    Updated: 2012-09-12 21:58:45
    | Peter Klein | Does entrepreneurship cause economic growth, or do high growth rates stimulate entrepreneurship? Ed Glaeser, Sari Pekkala Kerr, and William Kerr have an interesting new paper that uses the presence of heavy industry to instrument for the population of potential entrepreneurs (using startups as the proxy for entrepreneurship). Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: [...]

  • The Marshmallow Challenge in Action!

    Updated: 2012-09-12 03:13:30
    This is an activity that I have wanted to try with my students for some time now. The Marshmallow Challenge has been used across the world in different settings and has produced some fascinating results from groups as diverse as CEOs of Fortune-500 businesses and kindergarten kids! My own students seem to lie somewhere in between (!!) and, as part of an introduction to behavioural economics, I popped to my local Tesco and bought the necessary equipment. It is really simple to set up in the classroom and it works in all kinds of different contexts. It is straightforward to complete in any 30-40 minute lesson.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development Indicators Top Trumps!

    Updated: 2012-09-12 03:13:28
     ere is a new version of the Macro Top Trumps game we put on the blog a few days ago - this time we look at 27 countries at different stages of development and take seven indicators. Again the idea of the activity is to familiarise students with some of the data, prompt discussion about the results and improve awareness and enthusiasm as a basis for investigating these countries in more depth.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Developing Countries - Similarities and Differences

    Updated: 2012-09-10 23:48:06
    Of the 192 member states of the United Nations, only 52 are currently classified as high-income countries. In other words, 140 countries (73 per cent) are still considered developing economies.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Patterns of Trade

    Updated: 2012-09-10 15:29:42
    A lot of teachers will be looking at international trade as they start the A-level ourse and here are some resources that may be of use for teachers and pupils.

  • Unit 1 Micro: Positive and Normative Statements

    Updated: 2012-09-10 15:29:40
    This is an introductory blog note for new students of AS microeconomics. It focuses on positive and normative economics.

  • The Wrong Way to Measure Returns to Public Science Funding

    Updated: 2012-09-10 03:49:51
    | Peter Klein | A new Milken Institute report purports to show that “[t]he benefit from every dollar invested by National Institutes of Health (NIH) outweighs the cost by many times. When we consider the economic benefits realized as a result of decrease in mortality and morbidity of all other diseases, the direct and indirect effects (such [...]

  • Economic News 2-9 September 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-09 20:29:12
    A weekly round up of some of the economics news stories in the Sunday papers and from the last week

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development Goals - Combatting HIV and Malaria

    Updated: 2012-09-09 08:38:22
    Goal 6 of the Millennium Development Goals focuses on combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. One of the targets is to have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

  • Behavioural Economics: A Standing Ovation

    Updated: 2012-09-08 21:55:42
    On Wednesday I listened to one of the best teacher training talks I have heard in over twenty years and five minutes before the end I was contemplating standing up to applaud when it was over ..........

  • The Complex Relationship Between GDP and Economic Welfare

    Updated: 2012-09-08 21:55:41
    The link between GDP and living standards is one that is increasingly questioned. A raft of books, from Richard Layard’s “Happiness” to Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett’s “The Spirit Level” and beyond, argue that there is more to life than the pursuit of economic growth. Indeed there are many ther measures of welfare that have been compiled, all of which offer alternative indicators of well-being.

  • Unit 3 Micro: Apple - the most valuable company ever

    Updated: 2012-09-08 21:55:40
    According to this article , Apple is now worth more than $619bn (£394bn) $200bn more than the world’s second biggest company, Exxon Mobil.

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development Goals - Child Mortality & Maternal Health

    Updated: 2012-09-08 13:48:26
    The Millennium Development Goals include targets for reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. These targets include:Target: Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rateTarget: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

  • Unit 4 Macro: Development Goals - Gender equality and empowerment

    Updated: 2012-09-08 13:48:24
    The Millennium Development Goals include ambitious targets on gender equality and female empowerment. Here are two examples of targets designed to be met by 2015. Target: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

  • Introducing the tutor2u Revision App!

    Updated: 2012-09-06 03:59:41
    It’s here! Version 1 of our new revision app, marking tutor2u’s first steps into mobile learning. Details below about the new App, how to get hold of it, what you can do with it and our development plans.

  • tutor2u A Level Economics Revision Workshops - Winter 2012

    Updated: 2012-09-06 03:59:06
    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 Contact tutor2u tutor2u News Buy Resources Facebook Page tutor2u on Twitter 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 Blog Study Notes Quizzes Blog Study Notes Strategy Blog Strategy Theory Marketing Blog Marketing Theory Finance Blog Finance Theory History Blog Geography Blog Give It A Go Blog Revision Games

  • Conference in Honor of Oliver Williamson

    Updated: 2012-09-03 22:05:37
    | Peter Klein | The University Paris-Dauphine is awarding an honorary doctorate to Oliver Williamson Friday, 19 October 2012, and organizing a one-day conference to honor his work. The conference is co-sponsored by the European School on New Institutional Economics (ESNIE). Speakers include Carmine Guerriero (U. of Amsterdam), Roger Guesnerie (Collège de France), David Martimort (EHESS [...]

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