Economics in Education

Alas, poor Italy - it has fallen foul of the EU Growth and Stability Pact with debt levels of more than 130% of GDP, and not the 60% that the EU require.

Worse still, it's current policy choices are seen as to blame for this - with the decision to cut taxes, in the hope that growth will outstrip the growth in debt, thus reducing the % debt, seen as playing a key part in this.

Mandy on Brexit - money for old rope?

A headline that says it all. 

"No deal would be horrific".

It certainly would for Welsh farmers whose largest export market, by a considerable margin, is the EU.

Is this really 'the best a man can get'? It would seem that Brexit is likely to see an increase in the price of basic toiletries, if Brexit is going to see tariffs imposed upon the import of goods from the EU. 

Another in the Brexit basics series - this clip looks at what the single market itself actually means, highlighting the free movement of goods and services, financial capital and factors of production - principally EU citizens.

An introduction - little more...

Brexit and fishing. This Observer piece looks at the reaction of the fishing sector to the prospect of Brexit, with fishermen left complaining that Brexit gave the government a 'last shot' at getting fisheries policy correct. 

And there view? They've botched it - they argue that leaving the EU gave us a chance to exclude foreign boats from UK waters, protecting indigenous fishermen. 

Greece. Still in crisis. And facing a fourth collapse unless the EU writes off some debt.

Proof that you can continue to kick the can along the road, in the knowledge that although the road has to end somewhere, it can occasionally be an exceptionally long road.

William Keegan's Brexit-tinted glasses look at how Brexit and the EU have become the fall guys for austerity, arguing that the real ideological basis of the Leave campaign is Thatcherite economics and not a fear of immigration. An interesting read, but I wonder whether this is actually the case, or more of a 'conspiracy theory'? 

...but the potential for trouble in the Eurozone, with a leading German expert warning that there are underlying factors in Italy and to a lesser extent in other economies that might precipitate a crisis.

Nothing for you to see here, officer, according to Barclays. But it's an oligopolistic market, and where one goes, others usually follow. 

#Brexit

Still, if UK growth slows post-Brexit, at least we'll be able to rely on the EU to bail us out. 

Or not, as the latest data might suggest. Eurozone growth is slowing and the President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, has sounded a note of caution about future prospects, and signals that future interest rate rises are unlikely.

And more uncertainty - this time for UK expats who've made their lives in the EU. They feel abandoned by the government. 

Some people have been promoting the notion of 'the Norway option' as an alternative to Brexit - however, this isn't the risk free option, and this article suggests that it isn't the panacea that it has sometimes been presented as.

The Economist nails its colours to the mast regarding Brexit. This five minute clip looks at the Norway option, suggesting that a "softer Brexit is a bigger Brexit".

Larry Elliott has been in brilliant form recently: this article is a top-drawer analysis of the state of the Euro, and dare I say it Parkinsonian. I say this, because many years ago, a former colleague discussed at great length why it would make sense for Germany to leave the Euro, and raised the possibility of a two-speed Euro. Hat-tip to 'absent friends and Parky". 

However, Larry Elliott's piece goes beyond this to look at why the prospect of Germany leaving the Euro is highly unlikely, if only politically. 

It is an excellent piece of writing for those of you interested in some stretch and challenge material.