EconomicsToo

This Guardian article reports that global supplies of salmon have been hit hard by a parasite affecting Atlantic farms meaning there could be as much as a 50% increase in salmon prices. Sea lice are infesting stocks in farms across Scotland and Norway, with rising sea temperatures claimed to be the cause. The consequences of reduced supply will contribute to cost push inflation however many U.K. supermarkets are said to be currently absorbing the initial price rises but some have engaged in 'shrinkflation' whereby consumers will continue to pay prices they are used to but for a smaller quantity.  Whilst the economic consequences are not yet being felt fully and efforts are underway to treat the fish, the short run price of salmon is almost certain to rise very soon. 

Bitcoin is now worth over $1000 USD, a three year high and it actually outperformed all  r eal  currencies over 20016, literally doubling in value. As a cryptocurrency , it could seem a little strange to some how a currency that doesn't actually exist outside of the digital world can perform better than currencies such as the Chinese yuan, the Russian ruble, although it might not be a surprise that it performed better than any currencies called the 'pound' in 2016 (think of the British and Egyptian pounds!). Image source: Bit4coin This excerpt from the WSJ explains bitcoin well, "...it is a digital currency , maintained by a software program that is run on a decentralized network of computers by the so-called “miners” (for a variety of reasons, the largest miners today are all located in China). No one person or entity controls the currency. Every transaction is recorded in a publicly viewable ledger, although user accounts are encrypted. It was conceived as ...

Tasked with a thought experiment known a ' dissoi logoi ', a classical idea in rhetoric where one considers an issue from the perspective of an opponent's argument to better understand it, Year 13 economist, Zhou Chen has produced this piece (originally on his  blog ).  Following a discussion on how ' sovereignty ' was a major reason behind many 'Leave' votes and reviewing this article  on sovereignty being 'reclaimed' but then the UK ignoring Parliament, Zhou Chen has produced the following on his blog: Brexit negotiations kept secret from Parliament does reclaim sovereignty from Brussels First and foremost, I acknowledge this is a strange and unpopular view but seemed like an interesting mental exercise to pursue. The idea that, as announced by Secretary of State for Leaving the EU David Davis, “Until Article 50 is initiated and Britain officially begins the process of leaving the European Union, no news on Brexit negotiatio...

The pound sterling has had its worst four day performance since June 2016's Brexit vote, having fallen to $1.23 and the expectations from the Bank of England are for it to fall further in the next few weeks. There has been a 19% drop since the referendum. Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37617813 Brexit is clearly responsible for much of this fall. Whilst the falling pound against the dollar has actually been positive for the FTSE 100 as a large percentage of listed companies earn revenue in US dollars and are seeing an increase in their value, what is actually causing this to happen and what will the consequences be? How is Brexit actually causing the fall in value? The value of the pound is seen a judgement on the future growth potential of the UK economy in comparison with the future growth potential of other currencies and economies. So this depreciation does mean that the UK is seen as having less potential growth and that is why demand f...

The impact of the introduction of the 5p charge on plastic bags in English supermarkets saw their usage fall from 7 billion to just over 500 million. This is obviously as massive drop and the main reason for the charge being introduced, so many would argue it has been a success. Image source:  http://greenmelocally.com/california-plastic-bag-ban/ Why reduce the usage of plastic bags? The main reason is down to the negative externalities of plastic bag usage. This page on the Ocean Crusaders website lists many of the key issues caused by discarded plastic bags to the oceans alone, including 1 million seabirds dying a year, ingestion by huge numbers of fish and that there is believed to be 46,000 pieces of discarded plastic in every square mile of ocean.   However, this Telegraph article  by Peter Spence argues that plastic bags make up only a tiny percentage, between 0.1 and 1%, of total rubbish, although about 2% of litter on beaches. Spence reports that the ...

We all know that essay structure is important. It's been said that a good essay is like a sandwich... you need an introduction, main body and a conclusion. This is rather vague advice, and so here are some pointers that should help you to construct an excellent economics essay. This post is designed to support questions that require all the assessment objectives tested. These types of questions tend to feature command terms like 'discuss', 'to what extent' or 'evaluate'... Image source The 5 step process This process is not perfect but does provide a framework to help you construct your essay. Feel free to use whatever elements you believe will add to your performance... 1 - Annotate the question Simply underline the command terms, highlight the parts which you need to respond to and the key terms etc. This will ensure you understand the question, helps you to focus and reduces the likelihood that you'll go off topic. 2 - Plan  I would...

There is a great collection of independent economics blogs in a recent Bloomberg View article by Noah Smith . The list has some great writers that are well worth a regular visit and provides an insightful guide to each with categories to help you decide who's to visit first! The article: These Are the Econ Blogs You Need to Read