About six years ago a study from Oxford University made the startling prediction of how in the next fifteen to twenty years 47% of US jobs are at risk of automation. With only nine to fourteen years left, will half of society’s jobs be stolen by AI? Or rather, is this just a product of our larger fear that “the robots are coming for us … Continue reading The Future of Work
Moving manufacturing jobs out of the US in search of lower labour costs dates back to the 1960s when several firms extended operations abroad to Mexico and China. Despite the increase in transport and shipping costs this caused, labour costs were reduced by up to 50% – thus supporting the case to offshore labour. The years to come would see further technological improvements in the transport elements of the supply chain … Continue reading Bringing it Home: The Rise of Onshoring
Growing nationalist sentiment and fears over security are giving rise to an internet broken between borders. It could spell the end for the world wide web as we know it. Continue reading The End of the World Wide Web?
From the termination of the Airbus A380 to the controversial third Heathrow runway, there has been growing discontent about the future of air travel. Continue reading The Cost of Fuelling Development
The growing digitalisation of payments is paving the way for a central bank digital currency. Its implications could be vast. Continue reading The New Digital Currency
Quantum phenomena have long been disregarded by Economic theory. Applications to human behaviour and money could lend themselves nicely. Continue reading The Science of Money
Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake’s ‘Capitalism Without Capital: The rise of the intangible economy’ reveals enormous new potential for businesses. It also explores the dangers. Continue reading A New Age of Inequality
Digital services like Netflix and Spotify are the face of a ‘subscription economy’ on a remarkable rise. The true extent of its consequences, both for the consumer and the environment, is stark. Continue reading Our Invisible Assets
An oligopoly is the most likely market structure to promote consumer welfare as it is likely to deliver the lowest prices. Oligopolies are made up of big firms who have greater economies of scale than firms in perfect or monopolistic competition. This means they can keep production costs lower and charge lower prices. Even though there are only a few firms in the market, if … Continue reading The case for oligopolies
North Sea oil supplies are running out. Peak oil extraction has been surpassed. The government’s policy of heavily subsidising renewable energy has cost the taxpayer billions and pushed household electricity bills up by £17 a year on average. The pressure to meet targets for carbon emission reductions has left the government forcing the closure of all coal power stations by 2025. Without a plausible reaction … Continue reading The UK is facing an energy crisis
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