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The world of fine art presents a curious economic paradox: pieces that might seem to hold little intrinsic value often fetch astronomical sums, confounding the traditional relationship between cost and value. This disparity reflects the influence of social and cultural forces that determine the price of art in ways that deviate from standard economic principles. This article will investigate the factors that affect the art … Continue reading The Pricing of Fine Art
It is no secret that the U.K. economy is not in a great state: A recession (three consecutive quarters of economic contraction) was declared after the last fiscal quarter of 2023, following a decade of borderline economic stagnation, and with annual GDP growth (a measure of all the goods, and services produced) no greater than the two per cent pre-COVID[1] rate. The picture painted by the … Continue reading UK Productivity – JKP 2024
Labour currently face a catch-22 situation: they need to encourage growth in a country that recently exited a recession, while also filling in the £22 billion fiscal ‘black hole’. But how will they approach fiscal policy in this upcoming Autumn Budget? Will Labour continue their approach of making ‘hard decisions’ or will they take a tamer approach on the 30th of October? As always, the government has … Continue reading Labour’s Autumn Budget: Balancing Growth with Fiscal Reality
Amidst the complexities of the UK economy, productivity stands in the way of sustained economic growth. The UK’s productivity has barely grown since the financial crisis. One method of measuring this is through using total factor productivity (TFP). Since 2007, just before the financial crash the following year, the TFP of the UK has only increased 1.7%, compared to the 27% increase from the 16 years preceding … Continue reading What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
In the 1950s, St Lucian economist Sir William Arthur Lewis theorised the ‘Dual Sector Model’ or the ‘Lewis Model’. The model examines structural change within developing economies which results in rapid periods of economic growth. The Lewis model centres upon a dualistic economy, which is split into the agricultural “subsistence” sector and the industrial “modern” sector. This divide can be simplified to those working in … Continue reading The Lewis Model of Development
Productivity is defined as the amount of output produced per unit of input. The most commonly used notion is labour productivity which denotes output per working hour. It has been widely acknowledged that the UK has suffered from a productivity problem: a 0.3% decrease in GDP per hour compared to 2022 and a decrease of 24% from the forecasted trend pre-financial crisis, ranking the UK bottom of all … Continue reading What strategies would be most effective for improving UK productivity? – JKP 2024
The launch of Uber in 2009, heralded the birth of the so called “Gig Economy” involving the exchange of labour and resources through a digital platform that could actively match buyers (riders in the case of Uber) with sellers (the drivers). On such platforms, workers perform smaller jobs, commonly referred to as ‘gigs’, instead of, or perhaps on top of, a full-time job and are … Continue reading Does the gig economy support sustainable economic growth?
“I’ll be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” – Donald J. Trump The arrival of Donald Trump into the White House initiated a new wave of industrial policy in the West. Prior to Mr. Trump it was the 2008/09 recession that ushered in Mr. Obama’s economic nationalism: “Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing”, and before that … Continue reading Room for Industrial Policy?
Amidst a cascade of financial challenges and operational setbacks, Thames Water finds itself at a critical juncture. It is teetering on the brink of a profound transformation, with headlines echoing defaults on debt, investor withdrawals, and a funding crisis. From regulatory scrutiny to underinvestment in infrastructure, Thames Water’s journey to this precarious position reflects a complex interplay of factors. As stakeholders grapple with the repercussions, … Continue reading The Collapse of Thames Water
What is a just price? On the face of it, this might seem like a fairly arbitrary question; in a capitalist, free market economy, businesses seek to maximise their profits, and thus charge consumers the highest price that they are willing to pay. However, is it fair for a business to protect their profit margins in a time of inflation and a rising cost of … Continue reading Justice in exchange: the ideas of the Scholastics
