Readers Question: Why is the cost of living in the UK so expensive? The cost of living depends on: The price of basic necessities – food, fuel, heating, transport, housing/rent, entertainment. The effective cost of living also depends on real wages. It is expensive to live in Nordic countries, but real wages tend to be …
External debt is the total public (government) and private debt owed to non-residents repayable in internationally accepted currencies, goods, or services. This is gross (total) external debt. It does not measure net debt. External debt is different to measures of public (government) debt. See: List of national debt by country. Some countries with very high …
Measuring economic welfare is not an exact science. Often in economics, we focus on GDP statistics (measuring national output). However, quality of life depends on many other factors apart from just GDP. Quality of Life Indicators GDP – the total output of an economy. This is a guide to national output and influences the level of …
International trade between different countries is an important factor in raising living standards, providing employment and enabling consumers to enjoy a greater variety of goods. International trade has occurred since the earliest civilisations began trading, but in recent years international trade has become increasingly important with a larger share of GDP devoted to exports and …
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 …
This is a list of the gross national debt of 178 countries, showing the variation in debt levels from Venezuela at 304% of GDP to Macau at 0% of GDP. National debt refers to the amount of total government debt a country has. This is also referred to as ‘public sector debt’. It is compiled …
The biggest absolute emissions of CO2 come from China and the United States. Source: World Bank CO2 emissions (kt) In recent years, China has accelerated past the United States and is the biggest polluter in absolute terms, (which is unsurprising given China’s population and fast economic growth. India is also catching up.) Biggest CO2 Polluters …
Definition of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). FDI is the net transfer of funds to purchase and acquire physical capital, such as factories and machines, e.g. Nissan, a Japanese firm, building a car factory in the UK. In recent years, foreign direct investment has also widened to include the purchase of assets and shares which give …