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The lines show the number of publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charging points in each region of the UK, per 100,000 people. London is included as an outlier. The grey bars show the number of devices installed per month for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme. It is read off the secondary axis, on the right-hand side of the graph. October’s Chart of the Month focuses … Continue reading Chart of the Month – October 2021
Tokyo 2020 was a world-first in many ways. Amidst two golden weeks, the Games bore witness to sporting history, as well as heart-warming displays of camaraderie and sportsmanship. Held when Japan was in the grip of the pandemic, these Games were the first without a live audience. They were the first games for surfing, skateboarding, and karate. They saw the first golds for nations including … Continue reading The Economic Legacy of Tokyo 2020
How happy would you be if I said you won £1,000? Presumably rather elated; but would you be twice as happy if I’d instead told you that you’d won £2,000? To most people the answer is almost immediate: “Well I’d be happier but probably not twice as much!” Likewise, most people would choose a guaranteed £1,000 prize rather than a 50% chance of a £2,001 … Continue reading Prospect Theory
Think tanks are defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a research institute or other organization providing advice and ideas on national or commercial problems.” In modern democracies, think tanks play a crucial role in economic decision-making. They help the public to understand both sides of important policy decisions whilst holding governments to account. They also help policymakers: governmental entities, such as the Low Pay … Continue reading Financing Think Tanks
Covid-19 ensued chaos upon the UK, which has one of the highest death rates per capita in the world, and the most contracted of all G7 economies. UK GDP fell by 10.3% during the pandemic as a result of lack of consumer demand and withheld business investment. This means that there has been enormous pressure for the government to support the economy to avoid mass … Continue reading Are There Any Limits on Government Debt?
In a world where virtual transactions are becoming increasingly commonplace, there is ever increasing speculation that we are becoming a cashless society. The term cashless society has come to refer to an economy in which physical money is no longer used for transactions; instead, all payments and financial dealings are conducted electronically through, for example, bank cards and online accounts. Many economies across the world … Continue reading What are the implications of becoming a cashless society?
‘Spend as much as you can’, urged the IMF at the start of 2021 in order to accelerate the global economy’s revival. Others argue that the economy should be left to its own devices – government intervention only creates havoc. Governments spend in a plethora of ways, but we must examine the effects of government spending, originally intended to directly benefit the economy. On the … Continue reading Does Government Spending Benefit the Economy?
Behavioural economics has taken the world by storm, aided by catchy and digestible books and superstar researchers. One of the most prominent contemporary figures in the field is Daniel Ariely, the current James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University. He has authored multiple best-selling books on his research, most famously his ‘irrational trilogy’ of Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest … Continue reading Dan Ariely – Modern Behavioural Economics
This month’s Chart of the Month shows the real (inflation-adjusted) monthly value of UK fish and shellfish exports, bound for EU destinations. It reflects the short-term and potential long-term impacts of Brexit on UK businesses. Over the last twenty years, fish exports to the EU have remained relatively stable. The spike in August 2003 is unexplained, although it may have been caused by an unexpected … Continue reading Chart of the Month – September 2021
August’s Chart of the Month shows the proportion of English students in state-funded and independent schools who achieved A*-As, from 2014 to 2021. It highlights the pandemic’s impacts on education in the UK. In March 2020, the government cancelled public exams. Students instead received a centre assessed grade, based on what they most likely would have achieved. Grade inflation would be mitigated by statistical methodologies … Continue reading Chart of the Month – August 2021
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