Archive for November, 2011
The 2011 Eurozone Crisis
Nov 27th
Image: Some rights reserved by Images_of_Money
Here are some online resources to explore the so called Eurozone crisis that is occurring in late 2011:
Is the Euro Crumbling? Excellent, simplified infographic video on background behind current Eurozone crisis by BBC.
How can countries go bust? Useful one minute summary by the BBC’s Robert Preston.
In graphics: The Eurozone’s crisis – BBC provides useful graphs for comparing deficit, GDP, Unemployment and Debt in Eurozone countries and UK.
Timeline: The unfolding eurozone crisis by the BBC
Eurozone debt web: Who owes what to whom? infographic by BBC
EU Debt Crisis in Charts Infographic – via forexnewsnow.com
It’s All Connected: An Overview of the Euro Crisis – NYT Sunday Review (Interactive Graphic)
Paradigm Lost – Mapping The Crisis – carnegieendowment.org
Image: via infographicsinsights.com
Q&A: Greek debt crisis – BBC News round up of the Late 2011 economic crisis in Greece, and how it impacts on the Eurozone
Beware of falling masonry – article by the Economist (26th November 2011):
The crisis in the euro area is turning into a panic and dragging the zone into recession. The risk that the currency disintegrates within weeks is alarmingly high
Is this really the end? – article by the Economist (26th November 2011):
EVEN as the euro zone hurtles towards a crash, most people are assuming that, in the end, European leaders will do whatever it takes to save the single currency. That is because the consequences of the euro’s destruction are so catastrophic that no sensible policymaker could stand by and let it happen.
Eurozone crisis: Terms explained – The Telegraph defines some of the buzz words which frequently appear in current media analysis of the Eurozone crisis.
Are you struggling to understand your credit default swaps and your buybacks? Here are some of the terms used to discuss the eurozone debt crisis
An interpretation of possible outcomes of Greek debt (as at 26th October 2011):
Source: http://www.el-baghdadi.com
Further reading:
More useful updates can be found at these sites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/global_economy/
http://www.scoop.it/t/eurozone
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/debt-crisis
http://www.economist.com/node/21524378
World Trade Organisation (WTO)
Nov 16th
The syllabus requirements:
4.4 World Trade Organization (WTO)
• Aims
• Success and failure viewed from different perspectives
Accordingly, your goal from learning about this part of the syllabus should be to be able to answer the following questions:
1) What are the aims of the World Trade Organisation?
2) What are some of the positive contributions of the World Trade Organisation to the world trading system? Evaluate these advantages and, in particular, identify the stakeholders who would agree that these are advantages with reasons for their agreement.
3) What are some of the criticisms made against the World Trade Organisation? Evaluate these advantages and, in particular, identify the stakeholders who would agree that these are disadvantages with reasons for their disagreement.
Image: Some rights reserved by World Trade Organization
A flash-based slideshow courtesy of the guardian gives an historical introduction:
This infographic by http://www.themoscownews.com sums up the main aims of the WTO:
History and functions of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
The ever reliable mjmfoodie gives us a introduction to GATT, which later became WTO. It gives us the history, moving on to the reasons for the WTO (aims). It is quite pro-WTO in its approach:
Episode 37: GATT/WTO by mjmfoodie (4’ 38”)
This is an impressive student project on the same topic which gets very detailed about membership requirements, but then moves on to the main aims of the WTO, which is useful for our syllabus requirements:
World Trade Organization by sdhettige (9’28”)
The World Trade Organisation is a documentary excerpt posted online by 
It is good for the historic set-up of the WTO (originally GATT – what was this?), and the various Rounds which shaped its development. It is also good for an overview of some global economic developments (such as the 1970s World Oil Crises) that are useful to know about in general for IB Economics.
This next video is an engaging infographic on some of the difficulties faced by Kenya. Kenya’s WTO membership required in trade liberalisation (reduction of protectionism). This video is biased, but puts forwards some pretty clear arguments against the imposed trade regulations placed by rich Western/Northern economies, which some argue the WTO simply supports at the expense of poorer economies such as Kenya. Remember, the syllabus expects us to see the issue from different perspectives.
Animation: Trade Justice – why world trade rules need to change by tradeaid (2’ 28’”)
Michael Moore is a renowned political commentator/critic famous for a number of documentary films. In this clip he is clearly very critical of the WTO, giving a more extreme view of its possible ‘failure’:
Michael Moore by ProtestGlobalisation
Next we have short interview clips with various stakeholders in the Philippines, giving strong criticism of the potential effects of trade liberalisation, as actively encouraged by the WTO, on such a LDC.
Why WTO is Bad for Developing Countries by ymataglenn (3’ 46”)
Finally, ‘CuteChadz’, a student, sets out her own revision-focused overview of the World Trade Organisation:
A2 Economics: World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 8 mins by CuteChadz
Quizzes and an IGCSE Past Paper Question to Assess Your Understanding of Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium
Nov 11th
Image: Some rights reserved by Valerie Everett
a) Exploring Supply and Demand by Kim Sosin – useful in that you can get feedback on the impacts on the Supply and Demand graph, shown on the right hand side of your browser.
b) True/False Quiz hosted on a http://www.oup.com site.
c) SELF-GRADING PRACTICE QUIZ #3 via http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu
The following four quizzes by Pearson via http://wps.aw.com are good means of testing your understanding of demand, supply,and the market equilibrium. Usefully, at the end of each quiz you can email your results to yourself and your teacher.
d) Quiz 1
e) Quiz 2
f) Quiz 3
g) Quiz 4
Source: CIE Economics Paper 4 Exam, May/June Session 2002
Trading Blocs
Nov 10th
IBO 2005-2012 Syllabus Requirements:
Trading blocs
• Free trade areas (FTAs)
• Customs unions
• Common markets
Higher level extension topics
• Trade creation and trade diversionObstacles to achieving integration
• reluctance to surrender political sovereignty
• reluctance to surrender economic sovereignty
Introduction to Trading Blocs
Episode 38: Trade Blocs by mjmfoodie
Perhaps a simpler introduction is here:
Trading Blocs by LanternaEducation
A more discursive explanation by student CuteChadz …
A2 Economics: Trade Blocs by CuteChadz
Trade Creation and Trade Diversion
Towards the end of the previous video, there was reference to trade creation and trade diversion, although the explanation was quite simple. You can get more depth out of these two effects of economic integration (the formation of trade blocs). The following two websites are recommended for reading up on these two topics:
http://tutor2u.net/economics/revision-notes/a2-macro-trade-agreements.html
http://www.revisionguru.co.uk/economics/creatdiver.htm
Obstacles to Achieving Integration
Finally, for brief but useful discussion of the obstacles to achieving integration, and summary of some of the above, visit this site:
http://centralecon.wikia.com/wiki/Economic_Integration
Should Eggs Be Sold At Their Pre-Flood Prices During the Flood Crisis?
Nov 3rd
In 2011, Thailand suffered one of its most destructive floods in history. This link will hopefully update with some accuracy to give this post some context in the future (at the time of writing, the floods are still very much underway): 2011 Thailand Floods on Wikipedia
Due to a combination of reduced supply (as many farms, factories, and transport links in the country were flooded) and an increase in demand (as people stocked up on essentials in case they would not be able to get any later on as the floods worsened), prices of many goods increased considerably.
Some news items and social media
On October 30th, this report from The Nation newspaper online emerged (click on the image to see the original article):
The day before, on the 29th October, the following tweet appeared reporting that the Commerce Minister apparently said consumers should not accept higher (“inflated”) prices for eggs:
Typically eggs, before the floods, would sell at 3 or 4 baht each, so the new price represented an approximate doubling.
On 31st October, the Commerce Ministry announced Price Controls on 9 Essential Goods – although eggs weren’t specifically included in the 9 Essentials, a representative from the ministry said “about 3.2 million eggs from Malaysia will reach Thailand on November 3. It would be sold at no more than Bt4 each”.
On the same day, 31st October, this report emerged (click on the image to see the original article). [Note, to “sell like hot cakes” means to sell very quickly and in large numbers].
In the scenario above, why did they sell like hot cakes? Why did huge queues form? Why did the government have to ration eggs after maintaining a ‘ceiling’ (maximum) price of 3 Thai baht?
On 1st November, this tweet appeared on the topic:
Now we are introduced to the word ‘shortage’ – in Economics that has a specific meaning – what does a shortage mean?
Some graphs
Let’s for simplicity argue that the price of eggs had risen because of a severe reduction in supply (although it is possible that the demand for eggs increased as well, it seems likely that supply would have reduced by more than any increase in demand). Follow the steps on the graphs below:
So the question you should try and answer, as a student of Economics, is in the title …
Should Eggs Have Been Sold At Their Pre-Flood Prices?
- Use diagram(s), fully labelled and explained.
- Refer to the developments in the news and items social media references given above.
- To conclude, try to explain the possible advantages of sticking with pre-flood prices and the possible disadvantages (you might have to think from a mixture of social, political and economic perspectives).
Here are some suggested resources to help you for the economics- side of things:
mjmfoodie on Market Equilibrium
Reffonomics gives interactive diagrams on Shortages and Surpluses.
mjmfoodie on Price Floors and Price Ceilings
A bit more advanced, Biz/Ed on Putting Demand and Supply Together: The Market Mechanism. The interactive diagrams could be used to explore the changes.
Regional Climate in Brazil
Nov 3rd
A resource suitable for Key Stage 3 students (aged 11 to 14 years) studying Brazil as a topic within Geography. Introduces the climate of Amazonia, centred on Manaus, through a ‘living graph’ activity and then provides a chance to create a climate graph, with instructions, of the coastal lowlands in South East Brazil.
Direct link to original MS Powerpoint file. (Microsoft Powerpoint 97-2003 format)
Supply Side Policies – Guiding Questions
Nov 2nd
1) How can we define supply side policies?
http://www.bized.co.uk/reference/glossary/Supply-side-policy
http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/bank/business/external/policy/expl.htm
2) Why have supply-side policies been so appealing to governments? How could this be shown on a graph?
3) How does the supply-side economists’ approach differ in general from the Keynesian economists’ approach?
4) What policies exist and how can we categories them?
Summary of some supply side policy concentrating on increasing the productivity of firms. NOTE: UK bias!
http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/supplyside/product_markets.htm
Summary of supply side policy concentrating on increasing the quantity and quality of labour. NOTE: UK bias!
http://www.tutor2u.net/economics/content/topics/supplyside/labour_policies.htm
Your text book(s) should be a key resource here.
5) What are the advantages and disadvantages of supply side policies?
India Case-Study – Skim-read this article and briefly summarise how the author perceives India has been successful with supply-side policy. What has the policy concentrated on? Give one fact to show its success. Be sure to skim read to the bottom.
http://www.blonnet.com/2005/08/23/stories/2005082300271000.htm
What is meant by Reagonomics? You can read about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply-side_economics
See also the further resources listed below.
6) Why are supply-side policies difficult to evaluate?
Additional Resources
pajholden on Supply Side Policies:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9HEm8w5nL8
BrynJonesOnline gives us this useful analysis, with points of evaluation:
This next video is a documentary excerpt uploaded by socialontology gives an idea of what is meant by government intervention in an economy and the associated administrative barriers (red tape), etc. – these barriers to productivity are what ought to be removed through deregulation and market-oriented policies:
A good written summary of the main issues:
http://economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Supply-side_policies.html
Here is a printable worksheet to check your overall understanding of supply-side policy. http://www.bized.co.uk/virtual/bank/business/external/policy/worksheet3.htm
Applied Macroeconomics – Evaluating Demand Side Policies
Nov 2nd
Aims:
· To recap the Paper 1 Mark Scheme
· To revise learning on the macroeconomic equilibrium, Keynesian and neoclassical perspectives and demand side policies.
· To apply the above learning to examples, both theoretical and real-life.
· To develop critical analysis and evaluation skills.
Step 1 – Recap Exam Technique
· Remember the Paper 1 Mark Scheme
· Remember the tips on evaluation
Step 2 – Analyse a Theoretical Scenario.
Image: Some rights reserved by APMus
You should ideally work in a pair or three and, as a team, will analyse the likely macroeconomic impacts of one of the following scenarios.
1) Government announces a large increase in spending on health and education.
2) Chancellor announces tax exemption scheme on new investments for small to medium sized firms.
3) Average wage rises way above inflation for the third month running.
4) Exchange rate appreciation knocks export hopes for manufacturing.
5) Institute of Directors (IOD) latest survey shows clear signs of optimism for the future of the economy
6) Central Bank signals rise in interest rates of ½%
- You should include at least one diagram.
- You should evaluate the likely effects – how strong will the impact be?
- There may not be one single answer – you simply need to be able to justify your predicted outcomes. Evaluation often needs to look at the assumptions we start with – you should be clear about what you are assuming.
Prepare a presentation (using for example Google Docs Presentation on MS Powerpoint) and prepare between two and four slides to show and explain the effects.
Step 3 – Analyse a Real Life Scenario.
Image: Some rights reserved by RambergMediaImages
You ideally need to form different pairs / threes in which you will be able to offer feedback to each other.
Each pair focuses on a region of the world, and each person selects a separate and current headline and article related to a demand side policy that has been introduced by the government there.
· North America
· South America
· Europe
· Africa
· Asia (not Thailand)
· Thailand
You need to summarise:
· Why there was a need for the demand-side policy
· The likely impact and successes / shortcomings of the policy.
· Include reference to at least one diagram
Try to use all of the techniques needed for a top scoring evaluation based essay.
Create a Google doc (or some similar document) that you will share with your partner(s).
A suggested site to search on: http://news.google.co.uk/
Here is the evaluation spreadsheet to provide feedback with. Make a copy and share it with your partner to offer them feedback with.
Aggregate Supply and Macroeconomic Equilibria
Nov 1st
This title refers to a lot of theory which it is worth having explained to you first by a teacher of Economics. Having looked at Aggregate Demand, we now introduce Aggregate Supply which gets a bit complicated with two different schools of thought, and we also need to refer to three possible different equilibrium situations (at full employment, the deflationary (or recessionary) gap and the inflationary gap). Equilibria is simply the plural of equilibrium.
Here are the syllabus requirements:
• Aggregate supply
a) short-run
b) long-run (Keynesian versus neo-classical approach)
• Full employment level of national income
• Equilibrium level of national income
• Inflationary gap
• Deflationary gap
Make sure you can define each of these as well as explain them.
To recap on inflationary and recessionary (deflationary) gaps, refer to this video by ACDCLeadership but note that it explains it from a neo-classical perspective. He then goes on to explore fiscal and monetary policy responses, which we will explore in more detail later, but is worth watching now.
A quick and very useful summary of some of the key differences is given by ACDCLeadership in his video Classical vs. Keynesian Aggregate Supply- Macroeconomics. He is delivering this to an AP audience (as opposed to IB). Notice that he combines Keynesian, Intermediate and Classical ranges into what we can simply think of as the Keynesian AS curve.
This next clip could also help understanding already reached in class / revised through the text book.
pajholden on Keynesian Vs Monetarist on the LRAS curve
He refers to those holding the neo-classical perspective as ‘monetarists’. Good for understanding how the market for labour is understood under each perspective. Notice the simplified (original) Keynesian AS curve which he starts off with for the Keynesian perspective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG56sFoNNa8
BrynJonesOnline on Aggregate Demand & Aggregate Supply
Notice that his AS curve is very similar to the Keynesian version. So he assumes a Keynesian perspective (without saying it), and it is good for showing the three different phases / segments along it. Note that at 2 minutes 10 seconds, he is now mentioning supply side bottle necks (again without actually saying it). For now, you do not need to view any further from 2 minutes 45 onwards (after the interlude) as he now moves on to AS changes – (a) increased costs and (b) successful supply side policy which we explore later.
From http://reffonomics.com, this slideshow also combines the Keynesian and neoclassical perspectives on to one graph whereas we have preferred to keep them separate. However, this is very good for getting the history of thought behind these two perspectives, including the name of influential economists, and for seeing the simple differences between the Keynesian and Neo-classical view of AS. Note also that they put Yfe (Full employment level of national income – what they say is 97%)) at the vertical segment whereas some text books prefer to think of that as the maximum level of employment (100%).
Click here: Aggregate Supply Ranges
Finally, from the same website, this slideshow is excellent for summarising where we are and indicating where we are headed next with possible government policies
Aggregate Demand Part 1
Nov 1st
Relevant Syllabus Points:
3.3. Macroeconomic Models: Aggregate demand—components
3.4 Demand-side and supply-side policies: Shifts in the aggregate demand curve/demand-side policies [fiscal policy, interest rates as a tool of monetary policy]
Questions:
- What is Aggregate Demand?
- What are the components of Aggregate Demand?
- What shape does the curve have and why? How are the axes labelled?
- What causes a movement along the AD curve?
- What factors affect Aggregate Demand, causing it the curve shift? Categorise your answers under the four main components. Give examples and show the effects in diagrams.
Overview of the Aggregate Demand Curve:
CuteChadz gives a 2 minute overview. Note that figures given are UK based and the 2nd bullet point on Consumption is a bit confusing and so can be ignored:
mjmfoodie on AD and AS. Watch the first 4 minutes (we can use the last 1 and a half minutes later when we cover Aggregate Supply)
Why does the Aggregate Demand Curve slope downwards?
econsteve12 gives quite a thorough and clear explanation here:
Reffonomics on Slope of Aggregate Demand
What factors affect aggregate demand?
CuteChadz gives a 10 minute overview, referring to such things as loose, tight, fiscal, and monetary policy.
Specifically, what influences Consumption, the main component of AD?
pajholden gives a 7 minute 15 seconds overview:
