The world’s richest 1% have enjoyed a wealth increase of $33.9 trillion over the last ten years, more than enough to eliminate global poverty for over 22 years (Ables, 2025), whilst 3 billion cannot afford healthy diets. (Herforth, 2020) Wealth inequality has never been worse, and anyone outside that 1% should be worried.  Figure 1: (Equality Trust, 2025) To explain how we got here, we must understand the cyclical process that drives such a concentrated accumulation of wealth

Introduction  Why does a Ferrari SF90 Stradale cost over £350,000, while a high-performance Audi RS5 costs a fraction of that? At first glance, the price of a supercar may seem like a product of flashy branding or mechanical extravagance. But from an economist’s perspective, the price is a signal — one that conveys scarcity, value, and consumer desire. This blog will explore how economics, particularly microeconomic theory, behavioural economics, and market structures, can ex

The UK is a place of significant inequality - 1 in 4 households in the South East are millionaires, compared with just 1 in 50 in the North East, and the average woman owns £101,000 less wealth than the average man. One driver of wealth inequality in Britain is the soaring value of wealth. Whilst wealth inequality has changed little since 1980, growth in the value of wealth has far outstripped UK economic growth from about 3 times GNI in the 1980s to around 8 times today. Des

The aviation industry provides 1 million jobs, contributes £22 billion to the UK’s GDP [Sustainable Aviation, 2025], and facilitated nearly 300 million passenger journeys annually pre-COVID [CAA, 2025]. However, it accounts for 7% of the UK’s environmental emissions [Tyers et al., 2025], a number expected to increase as other sectors decarbonise. The UK’s net-zero 2050 target under the Climate Change Act, along with its 6 th carbon budget, mandates the immediate adoption of

Understanding Tariffs A tariff is a tax on goods crossing national borders which can be imposed to protect domestic industries, raise government revenue, punish unfair trade partners, or encourage local productions. However, tariffs carry far-reaching consequences for all involved. How tariffs affect consumers Higher Prices: The most direct effect of tariffs is that they raise import costs, which businesses usually pass on to consumers (USITC 2021). During the 2018-2019 U.S.-

“You’re supposed to love being a mother, but don’t talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman, but also always be looking out for other people.” America Ferrera’s monologue in Barbie (2023) may have been written for cinema, but it reads like an economic parable. Across the developed world, falling birth rates are one of the most urgent demographic challenges of the 21st century - and the contradiction Ferrera describes, to be a perfect worker and a

The Economics Network and Discover Economics are thrilled to announce the launch of a  new tool  that enables prospective students to browse economics courses across UK universities. Whether you are interested in a single honours course or studying economics with another discipline (such as politics, modern languages, management, history, law or many others), you can search this interactive tool and find courses by location and/or entry requirements, including UCAS tariff (wi

For the first time in the history of the ‘Young Economist of the Year’ competition sponsored by KPMG UK, this year the judges could not choose a single winner and had to call a tie! Our joint  winners for 2025 are The King’s Economists (Sen Patel, George Champion, Lucas Day, Deni Darenberg and Joseph Brannigan), and Ishwa Nawaz – huge congratulations to you all! An esteemed panel of judges selected the winners at an in-person final hosted by KPMG UK at their London offices on

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A Nudge In The Right Direction   Obesity is at an all-time high. With unhealthy food more available than ever, obesity has expeditiously...

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This article, part of the free FT Schools programme, won the 2024 Young Economist of the Year competition run in partnership with...