Current issues in economics
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the EU’s tool to address carbon leakage by ensuring that the price of imports reflects their embedded carbon emissions. The CBAM applies from 1 January 2026. Carbon leakage occurs when companies based in Continue reading
With some schools now doing their mock exams, here are some thoughts on approaching Data Response questions which are a part of the CIE and IB assessment. These questions are all about deep reading of the extract and interpreting the Continue reading
Sustainable development is part of the CIE A2 Economic Syllabus and greenhouse emissions are significant barrier in trying to achieve specific goals. Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) requires a collective agreement and to advance towards a society which is more respectful Continue reading
You will have noticed in the FIFA World Cup that national football teams didn t have commercial sponsor logos on their shirts due to strict FIFA regulations. However, watching any club football game today you are most likely to come across Continue reading
I have blogged on football and Schumpeter before with the proposed European Super League in 2021. The proposed ESL was all but free-market capitalism with an American style franchise system with 12 teams guaranteed a place in the competition – Continue reading
Third-degree price discrimination occurs when a firm divides consumers into separate groups or market segments and charges each group a different price for the same or similar product, based on differences in their price elasticity of demand (PED). For example, Continue reading
F D magazine (June) from the IMF recently had an article on ‘How Much Does the World Work?’ It is often assumed that people in wealthier countries work fewer hours, but the reality is more complex. The relationship between hours worked Continue reading
An interesting piece research that I came across looks at the correlation between corruption and GDP per capital. Global Business Leader Emerging Countries Expert Abdul Isu states that corruption is not just a violation of public trust but also Continue reading
On 27 April this year New Zealand and India signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) although the agreement has not yet come into force. The theory of trade revolves around a country s ability to produce a specific good or service Continue reading
With the recent World Cup game between England and Norway, The David McWilliams Podcast England v Norway: A tale of two oil discoveries discusses how the discovery of North Sea oil created two very different economic stories. Norway and the Continue reading
Despite improvements in technology, low unemployment, and economic recovery productivity has remained unusually weak. Economists refers to this as the productivity puzzle as workers as not producing much more output per hour than they were years before. Economists expected productivity Continue reading
The Iran war was predicted to push economies into a recession and although there has been an economic slowdown it hasn’t been significant enough to push economies into a contractionary phase. The main reasons for this include: Oil prices rose, Continue reading
Tutor2u have updated and enhanced their Economics Diagram Bank. The Bank is provided as a downloadable PowerPoint so that you can adapt and amend the diagrams for your own use. A great resource which covers just about every secondary school Continue reading
Despite the narrative that AI will be inherently disinflationary, the current infrastructure development is actively creating inflationary bottlenecks that prevent central banks from lowering interest rates. In the near term the effect of AI on rates comes down to a Continue reading
With the World Cup in the knockout stages and the end of a long term approaching I thought it would be useful to add a bit of humour to lessons. I hark back to the last World Cup in Qatar Continue reading
Covering this topic with my A2 class and recall an amusing interview on ABC with Clarke Dawe about such a policy see video at the end of the post. QE started in Japan in 2001 when they went Continue reading
Many thanks to Yr 13 students Thomas Nand and Jai Sohal for their recent presentation on New Zealand productivity to A Level Economics students at Millfield School in the UK. Below are a couple of their slides. Sign up to Continue reading
Some useful data in the June Monthly Economic Review from the NZ Parliamentary Library when looking at the primary sector and its value to the NZ economy. Conflict in the Middle East has increased uncertainty for New Zealand s medium-term economic Continue reading
Keeping with the World Cup theme, I read a very interesting book a few years ago by Franklin Foer entitled “How Soccer Explains the World” (new version just published) in which he outlines that soccer is not merely a pastime Continue reading
Excellent graphic below showing the change in the % GDP by sector in New Zealand from 1900. It also indicates along the top the global ranking of the economy in that year.