One of the great achievements of the twentieth century is a dramatic rise in life expectancy. For examples, life expectancy in the US has increased from 45 in 1902 to 75.7 in 2004 (link). However, increased life expectancy combined with declining birth rates have caused many to worry about the cost of an ageing population. …
Readers question: Hello Tejvan! I wonder if you can explain if crimes have a net beneficial impact on the economy? Thank you! A nice change from Brexit problems. Does crime increase economic welfare? Let us suppose Tejvan buys a nice bicycle for £1,000 to commute into work. But, whilst locked up outside the office it …
I try to keep politics out of this economics blog. Though in recent few days, I’m failing to do that. I do hope the past few weeks prove to be a rare period of political turmoil. This is just a personal view, and you’re welcome to ignore. UK democracy is a funny thing. Unless you …
It is getting close to the summer exams, and one reader asked if I had any tips for memorising information. Some things that worked for me Read then close book. I used to read a book, then close and try to remember was is in the closed book. If I couldn’t remember, I’d check and …
Readers Question: Can you explain the short-term and long-term effects of Osborne legislating that there must be budget surpluses in any year when growth exceeds 1%, which is almost every year, whilst we have a rather large current account deficit. What will be the effects of this on private sector companies, public investment, households, the …
Recently, Liverpool supporters protested about plans to increase the price of many ticket (the most expensive seat in the Main Stand will now be £77). Many supporters complain that football tickets have risen well above the rate of inflation in recent years, making football less accessible to supporters on lower-incomes. But, what are the economic …
October 2015 will see England introduce a charge of 5p for plastic bags. Early evidence from Scotland suggests that a tax on plastic bags can lead to a significant fall in demand. Supermarkets in Scotland reported an 80% fall in use of plastic bags a month after the charge was introduced. (Times). A study in …