Oil Externalities

This New York Times article discusses a textbook case of negative externalities - the recent BP oilspill. This article is useful for Unit 1 reading.

Define negative externalities and list some of the external costs as a result of this oilspill.

To what extent has the government taken measures to counter the effects of these externalities?

The UK's Economic Recovery

This article from the Economist provides a useful discussion of the key macroeconomic problems faced by the UK even as it begins to recover from the recession.

What kind of monetary policy has been in place since early 2009?

With reference to the case of the UK, discuss whether devaluation will necessarily lead to an increase in the level of exports.

Boys Stink... or Is It Just Plain Economics?

This article is an entertaining attempt to explain an age-old complaint using economics - in situations where there is a shortage of eligible bachelors (or to put it more harshly, an excess supply of girls), the bargaining power unquestionably lies in the hands of the scarce resource. Hence, the author finds this complaint particularly common amongst women in American universities, where, according to the American Council on Education, at least 57% of enrolments have been female since 2000.

Note for Cambridge Students

The reading material on this blog is organised according to the corresponding unit for Edexcel A Levels. If you are doing Cambridge A Levels, please note that Units 1 & 2 roughly correspond to the AS level, while Units 3 & 4 correspond to the A2 level.

Unit 1- Reading Material

The following articles from the Financial Times provide an analysis of the demand and supply for two luxury food and beverage items: lobster and champagne.

Using a demand and supply diagram, explain the causes of the price trends discussed in the various articles.

Using evidence from the 2nd passage, to what extent is the demand for champagne elastic/inelastic?

Christmas Gift Trends (Unit 1 Reading)

The e-book is rapidly becoming a threat to the book as most of us know it. This Christmas, the Guardian documents how sales of e-books on Amazon overtook printed books for the first time.

What is the relationship between e-books and printed books? Comment on the cross elasticity of demand for these products.

Name two factors that are likely to increase the demand for e-books.

The NHS (Unit 1 Reading)

For a good example of government intervention to provide a merit good as well as some of the problems associated with this, the following article from the Economist has some useful insights.