Arguably the most powerful idea in classical economics is how the free market enables unanimity without forcing conformity. In simple terms, the market lets people make their own choices without needing everyone to agree or follow the same lifestyle. This isn’t the case with some public services like national defensewhere customization isn’t possible. You can’t have one person more protected than another. For things like this, we need collective decisions through voting and g

In many developing countries, lack of access to credit is a major barrier for small entrepreneurs. Microfinance, providing small loans to low income individuals has emerged as a method to fight poverty. One great example is the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Founded by Muhammad Yunus, it offers loans to villagers, especially women, without requiring collateral. Recipients use these funds to start businesses, buy livestock, or invest in small-scale agriculture. Studies show that

When it comes to spending and saving, humans are far from perfectly rational although all the economic models are based on human rationality and perfect self interest. Behavioral economics studies how psychological biases shape economic decisions, often leading people to act against their own self interests. Take, for example, the anchoring effect. Retailers often place a high-priced item next to a mid-priced one, making the latter seem like a bargain. Even though the absolut

First, let's get our terms right, logistic is the globalisation of resource management from every local unit to the entire network of production points.  Think of logistics as the Tinder of resource management, it’s all about finding the right match between what you have and where it needs to go.  On the other hand, supply chain management contains logistics, but it is also the entirety of optimisation. Whereas warehousing is a commercial building where goods or raw materials

After World War II, the Bretton Woods system seemed stable, but a hidden tension quickly emerged. World trade was growing and countries needed more international reserves to finance it. Under Bretton Woods, these reserves were mainly U.S. dollars, but every dollar was supposed to be convertible into gold at $35 an ounce. This created a contradiction: to supply the world with reserves, the United States had to run balance-of-payments deficits, sending dollars abroad. Yet the m

Climate change poses one of the most pressing economic and social challenges of the 21st century. Economists argue that the best way to address it is to put a price on carbon emissions, thereby aligning market incentives with environmental responsibility. By making pollution costly, businesses and consumers are encouraged to adopt cleaner alternatives. There are two main mechanisms for carbon pricing: carbon taxes and cap-and-trade systems. A carbon tax sets a fixed price per

The setup (1941–1944)  Following the Great Depression and the currency wars in the 1930s, to keep exchange rates and trade stable, countries demanded a post WW2 system. On one hand, Sir John Maynard Keynes suggested a global clearing union with a new currency (“bancor”). Bancor was managed by a world central bank he called the International Clearing Union. By keeping the Bancor exclusive to cenntral banks, he aimed to limit speculation. Unlike the U.S. plan, which made the do

On 8 th  of October 1990, sterlin joined the ERM (Exchange rate mechanism), a system designed to stabilise exchange rates between currencies by setting a central rate and allowing limited fluctuations within a predefined band. The UK pegs to the Deutsche Mark (DM) at DM 2.95/£ with a ±6% band. That put the legal floor near DM 2.773–2.778/£; if the rate hits the floor, authorities must buy pounds and vice versa.   The timing was unfortunate. While Britain slid into recession i

In finance, an asset is a sequence of cashflows. This statement seems a bit abstract, yet—it is a precise way to describe how value is created and measured. When we assess the worth of any asset, what we are really doing is estimating the future money it will generate, and determining what that stream of money is worth today. An Example: Boeing’s Regional Jet Project To illustrate this, consider a real business decision. Boeing is evaluating whether to develop a new regional

Finance can seem super complex due to jargon, calculations, or diagrams. But at its core it can be explained through two simple actions, valuation and management. Valuing assets and managing assets. No matter what you are doing you’re constantly engaging in these two actions: first understanding the value of something, and then deciding what to do with it. The  Challenge of Valuation While managing assets is often simple (you choose between clear options (buy, sell, hold)) va

Bendegul Okumus PhD   Associate Professor, Foodservice and Lodging Department, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida.  Food insecurity remains a pressing global challenge, capturing the attention of policymakers, researchers, and concerned individuals worldwide. At its core, food insecurity means that countless households struggle to secure reliable access to enough safe and nutritious food, hindering their ability to lead active and healthy l

Capital markets : A vibrant valley of opportunities at one moment, a drifting compass in rough waves at another. If you take the capital markets in Turkey and the UK, there are two worlds, two mindsets, two realities. Turkey: Existing in the Shadow of Volatility In recent years, the capital markets in Türkiye have been a sort of "hypertension patients". Even if the indices at Borsa Istanbul record fresh peaks temporarily, such peaks are not based on a healthy climate of confi

Universal Basic Income (UBI), the idea of providing every citizen with a guaranteed cash payment, has gained attention as a potential solution to poverty, automation, and economic insecurity. In basic terms, UBI aims to give individuals a baseline financial safety system, freeing them from pressure of survival, poverty, homelesness, and allowing them to pursue work, education, or entrepreneurship without a fear of failure or loosing their access to basic needs. People arguing

Friedman argues that even when few people openly protest against state regulations, the impact of such restrictions on individual freedom remains profound and worth examining. Competitive capitalism, he says, not only enables economic efficiency but also promotes political freedom by separating economic power from political power. However, this relationship is not absolute, countries like Fascist Spain, Fascist Italy, and Tsarist Russia all allowed private enterprise yet lack

The labor market is changing rapidly, maybe even more rapidly than realized. The gig economy, which refers to the short-term and flexible jobs you hear about on apps like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Fiverr, and Upwork, is completely revolutionising the way people work, how companies hire, and even how governments try to regulate jobs. It is exciting, but also kind of risky. To start from the positive sides, gig work is flexible. You can pick up shifts or projects when it suits you,

Nobel Economics prize winner Daron Acemoglu’s work, Power and Progress doesn’t just analyze how artificial intelligence is transforming society but it questions things we don’t even think about. His thesis is urgent: technological advancement, when left to market forces alone, tends to deepen inequality, entrench political manipulation, and erode democratic accountability. Acemoglu takes us on a historical journey to show that the story of automation is not new. In fact, bac

The economic terminology used throughout this text is provided and explained in the definition list at the end. Thames Water is a private utility company based in the United Kingdom that provides water supply and wastewater treatment services. It serves around 15 million customers across London and the Thames Valley, making it the largest water and wastewater services provider in the country. The company is responsible for managing water reservoirs, treatment plants, and an e