food and drink federation: UK-EU Food and Drink Trade Snapshot: January 2021 Report published: February, 2021 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (international trade) While this is not a suitable article for your commentaries, it provides an interesting snapshot into the UK-EU trade numbers for January 2021. On a year-on-year basis, UK exports to the [...]
BBC: Cognac targeted with tariffs in US-EU trade row Article published: December 31, 2020 IB Economics syllabus: International Economics (trade protection, tariffs) As the trade war between the US and the EU goes on, European cognac gets hit by new tariffs. This is yet another step in the ongoing battle about their aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, [...]
BBC: What is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)? Article published: November 16, 2020 IB Economics syllabus: International Economics (economic integration) With "29% of global gross domestic product" produced in the nations which signed the RCEP, the trade agreement has generated the largest ever trading bloc. "It includes the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian [...]
Reuters: Trump lifts tariffs on Canadian aluminum, warns he may resume them Article published: October 27, 2020 IB Economics syllabus: International Economics (trade protection, tariffs) Trump eliminated the 10% tariffs the US had against Canadian aluminum imports, but the President warned that the tariffs may be put back in place should imports increase a lot. This [...]
Bloomberg: World Gets First Rate Hike of 2020 With Surprise Czech Move Article published: Feb 6, 2020 IB Economics syllabus: Macroeconomics, International economics (monetary policy, exchange rates) The first Central Bank to increase interest rates was the Czech National Bank - and the move surprised the markets as no one was expecting a rate hike. As a [...]
The Wall Street Journal: British Pound Surges as Johnson’s Conservatives Win U.K. Election Article published: Dec 13, 2019 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (exchange rates) "The pound surged to its highest level since May 2018, hitting $1.3515." This is due to the fact that the Conservatives, led by Boris Johnson, have won the election in the UK [...]
Bloomberg: China Hit by EU Tariffs as High as 66% Article published: Oct 10, 2019 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (protectionism, tariffs) This is a superb article for an international economics IA. The EU steel road wheel producers accused their Chinese competitors of dumping (selling below their costs of production). Chinese producers are able to sell at [...]
BBC: Pound hits three-year dollar low in Brexit turmoil Article published: Sep 2, 2019 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (exchange rates) No-deal Brexit is becoming a likely scenario for the United Kingdom to leave the EU and if it becomes reality, only one thing will be certain: uncertainty. But, as the article mentions, "[c]urrencies, as a rule, [...]
Bloomberg: U.S., China Lack Deal But Avoid Rupture After Tariff Hike Article published: May 10, 2019 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (international trade, protectionism, tariffs) NOTE: This article is a little bit long, make sure that you (1) fit it into two pages and (2) that you highlight the parts that you are commenting on. Why is [...]
Reuters: Trump says strong dollar hurting U.S. competitiveness Article published: March 2, 2019 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (central bank policy, exchange rates) Trump is openly against further monetary tightening (raising interest rates) and hints that the strong dollar can reduce export competitiveness: “I want a strong dollar, but I want a dollar that’s great for our country [...]
Reuters: EU-Japan free trade deal cleared for early 2019 start Article published: December 12, 2018 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (economic integration) "The European Union and Japan will launch the world’s largest free trade zone early next year after their economic partnership cleared a final hurdle on Wednesday." Source of image: REUTERS/Yves Herman Do you [...]
CNN Business: India just made life tougher for Amazon and Walmart Article published: December 27, 2018 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (trade barriers, protectionism) In order to cut back the influence of large American firms such as Amazon and Walmart, India is now set to restrict foreign e-commerce companies. This is good news for domestic [...]
CNN Business: China is temporarily slashing tariffs on US auto imports Article published: December 15, 2018 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (protectionism, tariffs) After placing additional tariffs on cars in July, China has now decided to reduce these tariffs on a temporary basis for the next three months. The decision was made in order [...]
Reuters: Shut out of China, U.S. coal exporters find favour in India Article published: Nov 20, 2018 IB Economics syllabus: International economics (protectionism, trade) This article talks about how the higher tariffs in China made American coal producers sell coal in other countries (e.g. India) instead of China. This is a real-life example of trade diversion. [...]
BBC: Turkey raises interest rates to 24% in new bid to boost lira Article published: Sep 13, 2018 IB Economics syllabus: Macroeconomics, International economics (monetary policy, exchange rates) While President Erdogan described himself as an "enemy of interest rates", finally the Central Bank of Turkey has made the move to significantly increase the interst rates in order [...]
CNN Money: Macy's sales slump as foreign tourists stop spending Article published: May 13, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: International Economics (exchange rates, export prices) As the USD got stronger, tourists in the U.S. started spending less (especially when it comes to luxuries). Source of image: Kena [...]
The Economic Times (The Times of India): Qualcomm to pay $975 million fine over Chinese anti-monopoly claim Article published: Feb 10, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Microeconomics HL (monopoly power, collusion), International Economics (protectionism) China has stepped up against large firms violating anti-collusion laws. This time, [...]
LET'S BOOST YOUR IB ECONOMICS GRADE Will you pass the exams? Fill out the below quiz, and check out how much you know of IB Economics. I'm taking the micro quiz Do you need some more help? If you feel you need some help with [...]
Reuters: Ukraine's central bank to lift benchmark rate to 30 pct Article published: Mar 3, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Macroeconomics (inflation, monetary policies), International economics (exchange rates, IMF) A great article about the unfortunate circumstances of Ukraine and how the Central Bank and the Govt' [...]
Reuters: U.S. agriculture delegation visits Cuba, protests embargo Article published: Mar 2, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Microeconomics (opening up new markets - boosting demand) and International Economics (trade agreements) Source of image: endthesanctions.com Do you need a little boost with IB Economics? Register for private lessons here. [...]
Reuters: Dollar hit by Japan government adviser's yen comment, Aussie jumps as RBA stands pat Article published: Mar 2, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: International Economics (exchange rates) Source of image: IndiaCrunch.in Do you need a little boost with IB Economics? Register for private lessons here. Looking for [...]
LA Times: U.S. wine exports in 2014 second highest on record Article published: Feb 25, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: International economics Source of image: Santa Barbara Wineries, aluncboxblog.com Do you need a little boost with IB Economics? Register for private lessons here. Looking for more articles? Click [...]
CNN Money: End of OPEC is closer to reality Article published: Feb 10, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Microeconomics and International Economics Source of image: IT Works for Business You might also want to have a look at these charts about oil output, demand and U.S. [...]
The Globe and Mail: Greece comes away empty handed in faceoff with Germany over debt relief Article published: Feb 5, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Macroeconomics and International Economics Source of image: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters Do you need a little boost with IB Economics? Register for private [...]
Business Insider: The Swiss Franc Is Rocketing Upwards Article published: Jan 15, 2015 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: International Economics Press release of the Swiss National Bank can be read here. Source of image: Business Insider Do you need a little boost with IB Economics? [...]
New York Times: Scots, What the Heck? and its follow-up: Scotland and the Euro Omen Articles published: Sep 7 and 8, 2014 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Section 3, International Economics In just one week, on Sep 18, 2014 Scotland will hold a referendum about their [...]
Businessweek: Putin's Economic Model Showing Strain as Russia Is Cut Off From Global Finance Article published: Jun 27, 2014 - out of date: no longer suitable for your IB Economics commentary IB Economics syllabus: Section 3, International economics Russia is slowly "cut off from global finance." Or is it? Well, Europe is careful with sanctions as it [...]