Central bankers’ monetary toolkits have been exhausted, so they are looking for new ways to stimulate demand. — Keynes’ liquidity trap has prevented many central banks from implementing negative interest rate policy (NIRP). With interest rates so low and demand so dry in today’s modern economic environment, the once potent monetary policy is now becoming infertile. As interest rates approach zero, there is less scope for them to…

Wealth taxes can boost investment and productivity, though the administrative challenges cannot be ignored — Introduction Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are two advocates of a wealth tax. Thomas Piketty, a French economist, has also laid out a blueprint for the implementation of a fair and progressive global wealth tax. Some argue it can drive technological progress, others argue it will weaken it. Broader arguments surrounding…

Approaching the conflict from an economic perspective — Today, the Gaza death toll reached 200 following the reignited tensions between Israel and the State of Palestine in the single deadliest attack in the latest round of violence. Explosions have displaced children from their families and obliterated their homes. …

For the past decade, interest rates around the world have remained at all-time lows and show no sign of recovering. — During times of uncertainty and lack of consumer confidence within an economy, they tend to fall. This was apparent during the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, when the UK Base Rate fell to its lowest level for 300 years. In July 2007 it stood at 5.75%, but fewer than 2…

The costs and benefits of the gig economy, and how it impacts innovation — The gig economy employs taxi drivers and food delivery drivers to meet consumer demands. While it excels at moving goods or people around, its business involves selling the labour of insecure workers at rock-bottom rates. The gig economy can be considered an example of innovation, which is vital as it…

An economic review of policies to boost innovation and growth — Productivity is the units of output per worker, hour, unit of capital employed and others. While it is difficult to quantify, it is a concept that governments constantly monitor and strive to improve. One way of doing this is through aggregate demand management; another way is through fighting market power…

The effects of regional inequalities and how they can be fixed — Levelling up is the UK’s plan to use government support to boost specific parts of the economy. It involves investment in infrastructure in poorer, more neglected regions. Such spending allows governments to target specific areas of the economy that suffer from a lack of investment, which could spur private sector…

The impacts of free trade arrangements with organisation such as the EU — The Northern Ireland Protocol aims to allow Northern Ireland to remain within the trade bloc, while ensuring ties with the republic of Ireland are smooth. These new trade agreements allow some UK businesses to stay in the EU free-trade area, but are costing the governments a lot of money. …

How policies can help to mitigate runaway inflation, and how they affect our economy — The rise in inflation between August and September was the sharpest since the Bank of England gained independence in 1997, calling for policies to control it. Interest rate policy can reduce inflation by suppressing aggregate demand and forward guidance does so by managing inflation expectations. The former can be manipulated…