Category: Essential Economics for Business 7e and 6e

Posted on

Millennium goals – are we on target?

At the turn of the century, the UN Development Programme identified a series of seven Millennium Development Goals (http://www.undp.org/mdg/). The article linked to below from the Guardian, considers the progress that has been made towards these goals. Urgent progress is required if the goals are to be met by the target date of 2015.

Poverty, hunger and disease: so much done yet so much left to do Guardian (10/12/07)

Questions

1. What are the seven Millennium Development Goals.
2. Discuss the action that is required if the goals are to be met by the target date of 2015.
3. Analyse the extent to which an increase in overseas aid will help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Posted on

Milk – is the price the white one?

A number of UK supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Safeway, have been fined £116m by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for price fixing. The OFT is still investigating other supermarkets, including Tesco which denies that it was involved in the price collusion. The collusion is estimated to have cost consumers around £270m in higher prices.

Supermarkets fined £116m for price fixing Guardian (8/12/07)
OFT hands out £116m in fines for milk price fixing Guardian (7/12/07)
Supermarkets admit milk price fix BBC News Online (7/12/07)

Videos

Farmers reaction to price fixing claims BBC News Online

Questions

1. Explain how Sainsbury’s and the other supermarkets colluded to fix milk prices.
2. Assess the market conditions most likely to lead to price collusion in a market.
3. Examine the role of the OFT in reducing uncompetitive and restrictive practices in markets.
Posted on

Is there such a thing as a free newspaper?

In the article linked to below from Slate magazine, Tim Harford, the author of the Undercover Economist, looks at how newspapers are approaching the pricing of online versions of their newspapers and articles. Why is it that all the articles we link to in these news items are free for you to read? How is this sustainable for the newspapers?

Why you didn’t pay to read this MSN Slate (27/11/07)

Questions

1. Explain the different pricing models that are available for newspapers when pricing the online versions of their papers.
2. Discuss the extent to which a newspaper website is a complementary product to the printed version.
3. Assess the extent to which competition between newspapers has driven the pricing strategies they have adopted for their websites.
Posted on

Death by water

In many parts of the world poor water and sanitation are one of the biggest killers. The article below looks at the situation in the shanty towns of Dhaka in Bangladesh.

Where death by water is part of daily life Guardian (26/11/07)

Questions

1. What is the difference between economic growth and economic development.
2. Assess the extent to which an increase in economic growth will help to deliver higher living standards.
3. Discuss the effectiveness of foreign aid as a policy to improve the standard of water and sanitation.
Posted on

Britain – the land of the $5 ice cream?

The fall in the dollar has continued with the value of sterling rising above $2.10 for the first time in 26 years. The articles below look at a range of issues related to the strong pound and there are also case studies of the impact on a guitar strings company and the manufacturer JCB.

Questions

1. Identify the main factors that have caused the fall in the value of the dollar. Use supply and demand to illustrate your answer as appropriate.
2. Assess the impact of the strong pound on UK exporters and importers.
3. Discuss whether intervention in the foreign exchange market may be appropriate to help UK exporters to remain more competitive in world markets.