Economics Online (Page 8)

Economics Online

A person's hand reaching out to tap the screen of a point-of-sale touchscreen terminal, with a card reader and cables visible in the background of a blurred retail or restaurant setting.

Business economics

Top 5 Cafe POS Systems for Managing Orders and Payments

Many cafe owners are unaware of the significant financial cost of using an inefficient point-of-sale (POS) system until they experience a peak period, such as a busy Saturday morning. The most effective cafe POS systems go beyond processing orders. They help track ingredient-level inventory, allow staff to split payments without

White private jet taxiing on an airport tarmac at dusk.

Behavioural economics

Is Private Travel Becoming a Rational Economic Choice, Not Just a Luxury?

Gary Becker's 1965 paper, A Theory of the Allocation of Time, argued that the cost of time should be considered alongside the cost of market goods, treating time as an important economic resource. Becker's idea was that each minute of flying time represents an opportunity cost

Cloud data storage has rapidly become a huge industry, with some unexpected third party costs.

Digital Hoarding: The Economics of Data Storage

Today, we generate tons of digital content that we want stored, potentially forever. As a result, companies spend big bucks to store terabytes (or even petabytes) of data in cloud storage centers. What are the costs of all this digital storage?

High-voltage electricity transmission pylons silhouetted against an orange sunset sky

Business economics

Why Energy Efficiency Remains a Business Priority

Energy consumption can create a negative externality when the emissions associated with it impose costs on third parties. The price on the meter reflects what energy costs a business, but it does not necessarily reflect the wider costs of emissions, which can fall on third parties. Because these external costs

Person holding phone and green credit card while sitting at desk with laptop.

Bad Credit Car Finance Runs on Credit Rationing, Not Just Higher Interest Rates

The financial behaviour of UK sub-prime borrowers is a prime example of how bad credit affects the borrower's ability to obtain a loan to purchase a vehicle. The average finance rate charged to UK sub-prime borrowers is 24.2%. However, while this is a clearly high-cost finance option

The increased incidence of extreme weather due to climate change is stressing insurance markets.

Climate Insurance and the Pricing of Risk in an Uncertain World

Recent years have seen some property insurance companies exit the market in coastal areas due to increased incidence of extreme weather. Will climate change cause severe disruptions in insurance markets in the coming years?

More and more people are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and relationships, raising economic and ethical debates.

The Economics of Loneliness: Markets for Companionship

As AI companions become increasingly popular, serious questions are raised about the implications of "subscribing" to digital friendships. Should we be concerned about people entering AI relationships?

Bitcoin price candlestick chart on a trading screen showing BTC/USD value and technical analysis panel

Macro Triggers for Crypto Rallies: How Fed Policy, ETF Flows and Institutional Demand Ignite Bull Market

The cryptocurrency market is not isolated from other economic sectors, and that can be seen in how fluctuations in interest rates, financial framework and access to assets can have an effect on bitcoin demand. The concept of opportunity cost helps illustrate this. Investors consider various options and cannot invest in

Cryptocurrency market tracker screen showing prices and 24-hour changes for Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB and other coins

A Practical Guide to Comparing Crypto Exchange Fees and Security

If you are thinking of investing in crypto, choosing the right exchange is one of the first decisions you'll have to make. But while it's tempting to focus on whichever platform advertises the lowest trading fees, that shouldn’t be the sole basis on which you

Abstract 3D blockchain network of connected nodes, illustrating how the XRP Ledger settles cross-border payments

How XRP Moves Cash Across Borders in Seconds

Sending money across national borders with your bank usually leads to a wait time of three to five days, and often longer, based on Ripple's description of the traditional method of transferring funds. By contrast, sending the same amount using Ripple's blockchain will settle in seconds,

Some remote workers are accused of time theft for only working a portion of their expected working hours.

The Economics of Time Theft: Productivity, Surveillance, and Remote Work

Is it cost-effective for companies with lots of remote workers to actively monitor them through "bossware" that tracks their online activities? Research shows that some monitoring can boost productivity, but too much can cause workers to rebel.

A black and white photo of a person clicking a trackpad on their MacBook computer. One arm is raised in front of the other using the trackpad, suggesting movement.

Business economics

The Cost of Customer Acquisition in the Digital Economy

The Cost of Customer Acquisition in the Digital Economy Acquiring new customers was never free, but in the digital economy it has become obscenely expensive. The main culprit is the digital economy itself, or the ease with which it allows businesses to open and run. At the same time, the

Stock Charts with green, pink, yellow, and green lines against a black background during a live trading session

Competitive markets

Where Does Price Discovery Start in Index Markets

As with everything in life, determining a set price for any asset being exchanged is important to both buyers and sellers, and index markets are no exception. Here, involved parties go through a process called price discovery, which is extremely nuanced. Because price discovery is influenced by a number of

An aerial shot of a person holding a tax form. Under the forms there are notebooks, calculators, a laptop, and a cup of coffee.

Deadweight Loss from Payroll Non-Compliance

Payroll Errors as a Hidden Efficiency Cost of Wage Misclassification While payroll errors are seldom framed by economists as a welfare problem, deadweight loss due to payroll errors is both quantifiable and significant. Employer classification errors, underpayment of National Insurance Contributions, and improper PAYE administration create distortions that are not

An image of a portrait of a woman wearing a light blue jacket and purple sweater as she looks off into the distance. Her face is not visible because the photo is made up of colored dots.

Information Failure

Externalities from Digital Consumer Profiling

Learn how digital consumer profiling creates market failures through externalities, information asymmetry, and data monetisation

Marketer designing targeted display adverts for a furniture product on a laptop

Behavioural economics

Information Asymmetry Between Consumers and Digital Advertisers

When George Akerlof wrote the essay, "The Market for Lemons," he would never have envisioned that digital commerce in the twenty-first century would be characterised by massive proportions of asymmetric information between corporations and online advertisers. With regard to the relationship between advertisers and consumers, one party is

A forex trading graphs displaying fluctuations in currency exchange rates over time

What is Forex Trading and How Does it Work

The Global Forex Marketplace The global foreign exchange market is responsible for over $7.5 trillion in currency transactions every day - a total that is many times larger than every stock exchange in the world combined. This trading occurs 24 hours a day, five days per week, from Sydney

Blue AI symbol against a blurred digital background

Innovation & Technology

AI video generation is lowering barriers to entry in the gig economy

Freelancer earnings for using AI-generated video and video editing skills on Upwork increased by 329% year-on-year in 2025, according to Upwork's annual In-Demand Skills 2026 report, despite the generative AI marketplace squeezing freelance incomes in other categories. AI video generation is lowering the barriers to entry that have

3D social media icons featuring Facebook YouTube Instagram TikTok Twitter and LinkedIn

Business economics

Instagram is a two-sided market, and its users were never the customers

Instagram users pay nothing to post, and that is the design working as intended. Meta earned over $196 billion in advertising revenue during 2025, almost all of its revenue for the year. Instagram is a two-sided market: an intermediary that connects two distinct groups and profits by helping them find

Close up shot of US one dollar bills displaying corner number one

The Triffin dilemma: why the dollar's reserve status locks America into deficits

The Triffin dilemma provides an understanding of how the US dollar's continued status as a global reserve currency necessitates that the United States continue to run trade deficits. According to IMF figures, the US dollar accounted for 57.13% of total global official foreign exchange reserves in Q1

A teal blue, antique cash register sits on top of a desk with its levers pulled to various numbers on the register itself

Innovation & Technology

Depreciation and Replacement Cycles for Cash Handling Equipment

Modern financial systems rely heavily on currency verification technology due to its ability to detect counterfeit banknotes. Automated banknote scanners and AI-driven authentication technologies allow financial firms to identify counterfeit currency, reduce transaction risk and ensure customers' trust in financial institutions. However, not all businesses have adopted these innovations

Factors of production

Economies of scope: why personalised hoodies no longer cost a premium to make

Economies of scope are dragging the price of custom hoodies down, and the reason is simple; they're printed on demand rather than made in advance. The global custom t-shirt printing market was worth USD5.16 billion in 2024, and the hoodie is being carried along by the same

API automation is extending the division of labour to routine office work

API automation is extending the division of labour to routine office work

Automation typically does not replace an entire job, but instead automates certain repetitious aspects of that job. According to McKinsey & Co, the available technology could enable the automation of at least 30% of activities being performed in approximately 60% of jobs. API Workflow Automation is one tool being used

An Amazon package, which can often be returned for no cost if the customer is dissatisfied.

The Shadow Cost of Free Returns: E-Commerce and the Reverse Logistics Crisis

Consumers love free returns, which are increasingly common in the online retail industry. But what are the hidden costs to society behind allowing consumers to return products and get all of their money back?

Cryptocurrency owners can engage in decentralized finance (DeFi) by lending out their crypto through automated lending pools.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and the Future of Banking

Rather than applying for a loan through a bank, you can automatically borrow cryptocurrency online by putting up an equal or greater amount of collateral. This is decentralized finance (DeFi), and is a growing part of the finance industry.