Economics help blog – Page 45

Prospects for inflation in 2022

21 September 202121 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

us-inflation-cpi-cpi-food-energy-2000-2021

In the past two decades, we have had a remarkable period of low inflation. Inflation has been so low, some economists have suggested a new paradigm – the end of inflation as a primary economic concern. Since 2009, any predictions of imminent inflation have proved to be wide of the mark. There have been warnings …

UK Grocery Market Share

1 July 202220 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

The market share of leading supermarkets, in the UK grocery market industry. Market share 2014 – see: Battle for UK Supermarket market share Blog from 2012 The UK supermarket industry often makes a popular data response question. The five firm concentration ratio for the industry is 66% – a case of an oligopoly. Tesco – …

Effect of Labour Shortages

9 December 202113 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

Labour shortages occur when employers struggle to fill labour vacancies because of insufficient labour applying for the jobs. Labour shortages can occur in geographical regions or in occupations with special requirements in terms of skill or function. Labour shortages can also be seasonal in industries like retail (Christmas) and agriculture (harvest time). Recently, since Brexit …

Slowbalisation – Is globalisation slowing down?

9 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

world-foreign-direct-investment-fdi-global-1970-2021

Slowbalisation – a phenomena which involves a slowing down of the pace of global integration.

In recent decades globalisation has become so dominant, that we often assume the process is never-ending. Between 1970 and 2008, world exports as a share of GDP rose from 13% to 31%, and it seemed that globalisation was an unstoppable force.

However, since 2008, something unexpected has happened. Exports as a share of GDP has flatlined and even started to fall. Other metrics show a similar fate, a fall in global bank loans, foreign direct investment has fallen quite sharply and multinationals share of profit has decreased.

Global Tariff Rates

9 December 20218 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

This shows that in the past couple of decades, average global tariffs have continued to fall to less than 3% Falling EU tariffs to just under 2% The rise in US tarrifs in 2019, a reflection of the Trump trade war.

Reasons for shortage of lorry drivers in the UK

31 March 20227 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

Back in 2015, I wrote a post about the shortage of lorry drivers in the UK. Six years on and the crisis has got worse. The Road Haulage Association states that a fully functioning UK economy requires over 600,000 drivers, but we are currently 100,000 short. The shortage of drivers is not unique to the …

Historical US Unemployment

6 September 20216 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

Historical US Unemployment since 1900 Sources 1890-1920 data are from Christina Romer (1986). “Spurious Volatility in Historical Unemployment Data”, The Journal of Political Economy, 94(1): 1920-1930 Robert M. Coen (1973). “Labor Force and Unemployment in the 1920’s and 1930” 1930- 1948 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Thanks to User Peace Generally, the US economy was …

Problems of Overvalued Exchange Rate

15 February 20233 September 2021 by Tejvan Pettinger

An overvalued exchange rate implies that a countries currency is too high for the state of the economy. An overvalued exchange rate means that the countries exports will be relatively expensive and imports cheaper. An overvalued exchange rate tends to depress domestic demand and encourage spending on imports. An overvalued exchange rate can also be …