What is Econophysics? Econophysics is an interdisciplinary field that combines concepts and methods from physics and economics to study complex economic systems. It applies statistical physics, network theory and other physical models to understand financial markets and the behaviour of economic agents. History of Econophysics The term ‘Econophysics’ was coined in 1995 by H Eugene Stanley in reference to the outrageously large number of papers … Continue reading Econophysics
“Microfinance is an idea whose time has come.” – Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN Since independence in 1947, India has prioritised the issues of poverty, rural livelihoods, and women’s economic and social empowerment. Whilst the percentage of Indians who live rurally has been declining since 1951 , this figure still stands at a staggering ≈64% . Poverty in India is also concentrated in rural … Continue reading An Investigation into Microfinance in India
In a decimalised economy like the UK, one pence coins are often regarded as useless, and rarely spent on goods. Instead, they are given as change for products. In the 1950s, these pennies were important on a daily basis, providing the means for transactions such as buying milk and eggs, which roughly cost 3p and 8p respectively. This utility has been lost today due to … Continue reading The future of the Penny
On the 7th of September 2021, El Salvador accepted Bitcoin as a legal tender, joining the USD as the second official currency of the country. This is the first time a nation has accepted Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency as a legal tender. Nayib Bukele, the 40-year-old Salvadoran president, was described as a “young president trying to capitalise on a popular image” with the Bitcoin … Continue reading El Salvador and Bitcoin
Microfinance is commonly regarded as the promise of innovative, cost-effective paths to poverty reduction and social change. However, we are not living in a perfectly competitive credit market, so downsides such as moral hazard and asymmetric information that tend to create inefficiency make the program less effective, or even counterproductive in certain cases. So why don’t we ask people to help others and do the right … Continue reading Solution to the moral hazards of microfinance?
The Return of Depression Economics combines Krugman’s narrative with his analysis of the significant economic recessions of the past century, culminating to the crisis of 2008. Krugman assesses the crises in the United States of the early 1900’s and the crises in Asia and Latin America of the 1990’s, before perceptively demonstrating their similarities to the Great Recession. He observes that we did not learn … Continue reading “The Return of Depression Economics” by Paul Krugman
The Euro was created at midnight on 1st January 1999 when members of the Eurozone fixed their currencies against each other, but it did not become a legal tender until 1st January 2002. The creation of the Euro was seen to be a step towards the political and social unification of Europe through economic means: the means being an optimal currency area (OCA) – a theory … Continue reading The Euro: A failed project?
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