Category: Economics for Business: Ch 30
US national debt has got so large that the national debt clock in Time Square has run out of zeroes and they have had to order a new one. UK national debt is also set to rise in the current financial crisis as government borrowing rose sharply in September. The impact of greater public spending and the part-nationalisation of the banks is all likely to lead to a rapid rise in public borrowing and therefore national debt, but is this sustainable for the UK economy?
How the bank crisis hits Britain’s public finances Guardian (14/10/08)
National debt clock runs out of zeroes – new larger clock ordered Guardian (9/10/08)
Banks’ bail-out: ‘The money’s being spent on buying bank shares, so it shouldn’t hit public borrowing’ Guardian (14/10/08) (podcast)
Rescue plan underlines likelihood of tax rises and spending cuts Guardian (9/10/08)
Darling must spend now Times Online (20/10/08)
Public borrowing hits record high Times Online (20/10/08)
Gordon Brown defends level of national debt Guardian (20/10/08)
UK borrowing hits a 60-year high BBC News Online (20/10/08)
Crisis ‘to double UK borrowing’ BBC News Online (22/9/08)
Deep pockets The Economist (9/10/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain the relationship between the level of public borrowing and the national debt. |
| 2. |
Examine the reasons why public spending has risen. |
| 3. |
Discuss whether this increase in aggregate demand will be sufficient to prevent the UK economy falling into recession. |
A key determinant of the credit crunch was a shortage of liquidity and a breakdown of the interbank lending market. In an attempt to ease the credit situation and restart the interbank lending market, the Bank of England auctioned over £40bn of credit at the end of September. The aim of this was to boost the liquidity position of the banks.
Central banks pump billions into system Guardian (27/9/08)
Bank of England pumps £55bn into credit markets Times Online (26/9/08)
Where has all the money gone? BBC Magazine (15/10/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain why the Bank of England needed to boost liquidity in the money markets. |
| 2. |
Using diagrams as appropriate, show the impact of this increase in credit on the money markets. What constraints does the Bank of England face in ensuring that it achieves the desired outcome? |
| 3. |
Discuss whether the approach of raising liquidity is likely to be more or less effective than a change in the regulatory framework. |
During his lifetime Galbraith warned extensively of the problems likely to be associated with financial excesses, and if alive today would almost certainly allow himself a ‘told you so’ moment. He was a lifelong liberal who argued that capitalism was inherently a fragile and unstable system. So what relevance does his work have to the current financial crash?
Galbraith saw this coming Guardian (15/10/08)
In praise of …The Great Crash 1929 Guardian (15/10/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Write a short paragraph summarising Galbraith’s life and work. |
| 2. |
Assess the extent to which his arguments in relation to the fragility of the financial system are still relevant today. |
| 3. |
Galbraith commented that all stockmarket bubbles exhibit “seemingly imaginative, currently lucrative, and eventually disastrous innovation in financial structures“. Discuss the extent to which this kind of innovation (e.g. derivatives and sub-prime mortgages) may have been responsible for the current financial crisis. |
“‘Capitalism,’ Schumpeter wrote, ‘is by nature a form or method of economic change and not only never is but never can be stationary … This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism”. In the article below William Keegan looks at this process of creative destruction and relates it to the current financial crisis and the downturn in the business cycle.
Moral hazard? It’s just another danger along the capitalist way Guardian (5/10/08)
Time To Drop The Baggage That Comes With Moral Hazard Financial Times (4/10/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain what is meant by the term ‘Creative Destruction’. |
| 2. |
Explain what is meant by the term ‘Moral Hazard’. |
| 3. |
“In theory, enlightened economic policies can moderate the workings of the business cycle”. Discuss possible policies that can moderate the workings of the business cycle. |
| 4. |
Discuss the extent to which the recent economic boom was an ‘asset-price boom’ rather than a ‘traditional one’. |
The European Central Bank has its tenth anniversary this year and the year is shaping up to be one of the toughest of the last decade in terms of economic management. While the Eurozone has generally withstood the global credit crisis very well, there are some possible problems emerging and the ECB will have to manage interest rates carefully to cater for the conflicting demands from economies at different stages of the business cycle.
If the Eurozone is on fire, will the ECB get burnt? Observer (1/6/08)
More testing times ahead as the euro turns ten Times Online (26/5/08)
Euro growth better than expected BBC News Online (15/5/08)
Questions
| 1. |
Explain the role of the European Central Bank (ECB). |
| 2. |
Assess the difficulties faced by the ECB in setting interest rates for the whole Eurozone. |
| 3. |
Discuss the extent to which the economic performance of stronger countries in the Eurozone will be constrained by weaker-performing economies. |