economics

Merit goods Merit goods are goods that would be under-provided in a pure free-market economy. This is because they have external benefits that people would not take into account when they made their decisions about how much to consume. An example is vaccinations. As a result of people being vaccinated we keep disease out of the country, but if it was left just to the market many people might choose to take the risk and not pay for vaccinations. This could have negative effects for society.

Monetary Policy Committee The Monetary Policy Committee is a committee of the Bank of England chaired by the Governor that meets monthly to set the level of interest rates in the economy. They set interest rates according to the targets they have been set for inflation. If they feel inflation is set to rise they may increase interest rates and vice-versa.

Fiscal policy Fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and taxation to try to influence the level of economic activity. An expans...