macro application use

Question 1

UK inflation rate

Answer 1

2.6%

Question 2

UK inflation expectations (useful when referring to speculative effects and confidence)

Answer 2

3.9%

Question 3

UK wage growth (useful when referring to Phillips curve)

Answer 3

5.9%

Question 4

UK 10-year bond yields (useful when referring to crowding out)

Answer 4

4.6%

Question 5

UK growth rate

Answer 5

1.5% (Q4 2024)

Question 6

UK GDP per capita

Answer 6

£36k

Question 7

UK unemployment rate

Answer 7

4.4% (Dec 24-Feb 25)

Question 8

UK employment rate

Answer 8

75.1% (% of economically active 16-64)

Question 9

GBP:USD exchange rate

Answer 9

£1 = $1.34

Question 10

UK CA deficit as a percentage of GDP

Answer 10

2.9%

Question 11

UK HDI

Answer 11

0.940 (2022)

Question 12

UK Gini-coefficient

Answer 12

0.351 (2022/23)

Question 13

UK PSND (public sector net debt) as a percentage of GDP

Answer 13

95.8% of GDP (end of March 2025)

Question 14

UK budget deficit

Answer 14

4.8% of GDP (2023/24)

Question 15

UK debt interest payments

Answer 15

£107bn 3.9% GDP

Question 16

UK average labour productivity growth since the financial crisis

Answer 16

0.5%

Question 17

UK corporation tax

Answer 17

25%

Question 18

UK VAT

Answer 18

20%

Question 19

Bank of England Base Rate

Answer 19

4.25%

Question 20

Examples of major credit agencies

Answer 20

Fitch

Question 21

UK credit rating

Answer 21

AA (or equivalent)

Question 22

Examples of AAA credit rating countries

Answer 22

Norway, Luxembourg, and Singapore

Question 23

Examples of large-scale infrastructure projects (not HS2 or Elizabeth line) [2]

Answer 23

-Hinkley Point C (two nuclear power plants)
-Heathrow’s third runway (£17bn)

Question 24

Interventionist supply-side policies to boost skills of the workforce [2]

Answer 24

-National retraining scheme (2017)
-‘Returnerships’ to encourage adults over 50 to pursue new careers

Question 25

"Greenest" countries in the world

Answer 25

Sweden and Denmark

Question 26

UK emissions

Answer 26

4.5 tonnes of CO2 per person

Question 27

DRC emissions

Answer 27

0.03 tonnes of CO2 per person

Question 28

Before QE was introduced, how much had interest rates already fallen between September 2008 and March 2009?

Answer 28

5% (Sept 2008) to 0.5% (March 2009)

Question 29

Total QE

Answer 29

£895 bn

Question 30

Market-based SSPs in UK [2]

Answer 30

-Attract FDI with Nissan Sunderland (6000 jobs) -Cut corporation tax from 28% in 2010 to 19% in 2020 (now up at 25%)

Question 31

Austerity in 2010 [2]

Answer 31

-Benefits cut by 10% -Criticised for 190000 excess deaths from declining public services

Question 32

Brexit [2]

Answer 32

-Labour shortage (76% of farmers claim it is harder to recruit seasonal workers) -Lower FDI (estimated 22% reduction in FDI in ten years following Brexit)

Question 33

Low Bank of England base rates in response to major economic events? [3]

Answer 33

-0.5% (March 2009) -0.25% (August 2016) -0.1% (March 2020)

Question 34

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme [2]

Answer 34

-11.7 million employee jobs were furloughed through the scheme -Cost of £70 billion

Question 35

UK leading import partners

Answer 35

USA (12.9%) Germany (10%) Netherlands (6.9%)

Question 36

UK leading export partners

Answer 36

USA (21.7%) Germany (7.1%) Netherlands (6.9%)

Question 37

UK main services exports

Answer 37

Financial services (£98.7bn) Travel services (£66.1bn) Computer+ Information services (£43.5bn)

Question 38

UK main goods exports

Answer 38

Cars (£32.9bn) Mechanical Power Generators (£32.7bn) Pharmaceutical products (£24.4bn)

Question 39

Sunset industry example USA

Answer 39

Detroit car manufacturing from 296,000 jobs in 1950 to 27,000 in 2011

Question 40

Infant industry example UK

Answer 40

-Green hydrogen sector -Lack EoS to compete with other energy sources -aim to have 10GW of low carbon hydrogen capacity by 2030

Question 41

Sunset industry example UK

Answer 41

-£500m subsidy to Tata steel plant in Port Talbot -Blast furnace operations losing £1 million a day

Question 42

Example of tariff retaliation

Answer 42

US tariffs on Chinese goods reached 145% while China's retaliatory tariffs have reached 125%

Question 43

Example of changing comparative advantage altering patterns of trade

Answer 43

India developed a comparative advantage in professional services so professional services exports rose from $53bn to $338bn (2005-23)

Question 44

UK annual tariff revenues

Answer 44

£4.8bn 2023/24 (roughly 0.5% of government revenues)

Question 45

Average tariff of high-tariff nations like Gambia and Chad

Answer 45

Over 16%

Question 46

Example of trade blocs leading to trade creation [2]

Answer 46

-Portugal lithium extracts to 27 EU members -Bovine meat from Argentina to Mercosur

Question 47

China globalisation [3]

Answer 47

-Average growth rates of 10% from 1979 to 2010 -Roughly 200 million people in Chinese rural-urban migration -$1 trillion trade surplus

Question 48

China middle-income trap [1]

Answer 48

-Chinese wages have doubled over the last decade, leading TNCs to move to low cost nations like Bangladesh

Question 49

Containerisation [2]

Answer 49

-MSC Irina class vessels can carry 24000 containers -Before containerisation, transport costs were roughly 25% of value of good

Question 50

Example of a country with a fixed exchange rate system

Answer 50

Saudi Arabia

Question 51

Increase in public sector wages stimulating multiplier effect

Answer 51

5.5% nurses pay rise (2024/25)

Question 52

DRC population size

Answer 52

105.8 million

Question 53

DRC GNI per capita

Answer 53

$660 (ranking consistently in poorest 10 countries in the world)

Question 54

DRC HDI (2022)

Answer 54

0.481

Question 55

DRC growth rate (2023)

Answer 55

8.4%

Question 56

DRC unemployment

Answer 56

4.5%

Question 57

Percentage of DRC in extreme poverty (ie. less than $2.15 per day)

Answer 57

73.5%

Question 58

DRC currency

Answer 58

Congolese franc (CDF)

Question 59

DRC median age

Answer 59

15.8 years

Question 60

DRC fertility rate

Answer 60

6.11

Question 61

DRC infant mortality rate

Answer 61

60.85 per 1000 live births

Question 62

Percentage of 10-year-olds in learning poverty (unable to read/understand simple text)

Answer 62

97%

Question 63

The percentage of global cobalt supply that the DRC accounts for

Answer 63

70%

Question 64

The common market which the DRC joined in 2022

Answer 64

East African Community

Question 65

Percentage of workers represented by the informal economy (Congo Trade Union Confederation estimate)

Answer 65

97.5%

Question 66

Recent IMF loan to DRC to reduce the savings gap

Answer 66

$2.7bn loan from IMF

Question 67

Debt relief given to the DRC under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative

Answer 67

$12.3 bn

Question 68

DRC conflict statistics [2]

Answer 68

-Conflict waged in the eastern regions of DRC (North and South Kivu) since 1996 -Estimated 6 million deaths

Question 69

DRC poor infrastructure statistics [2]

Answer 69

-Half of power plants require refurbishment -Only 42% of roads are in good condition

Question 70

Percentage of population with bank account

Answer 70

14%

Question 71

Joint ventures in the DRC [1]

Answer 71

-Orange and Vodacom providing network access for 19 million

Question 72

What is Japan’s national debt?

Answer 72

250% of gdp

Question 73

How much is Germany dependent on exports by?

Answer 73

70% of gdp is from trade

Question 74

Who has comparative advantage for exporting renewable energy?

Answer 74

-China (solar panels) -Denmark (wind turbines)

Question 75

What are some examples of fixed exchange rates?

Answer 75

-danish krone -Bulgarian lev -Saudi riyal