The Sloman Topical Economic Podcasts are presented by Andy Beharrell and are designed to support students studying economics using one of the textbooks authored by John Sloman and others. The podcasts consider current topical economic issues and Andy relates these to news articles and other sources to make the connection between the study of economics and the world around us.

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Date	Duration	Title
01/01/08	13.02	Plastic bags - an environmental basket case?
		Andy Beharrell discusses the topical issue of plastic bags. Billions of plastic bags are used and discarded each year around the world and these cause considerable environmental damage - a form of market failure. In this podcast we consider the extent of the problem and policies that countries around the world are adopting to try to minimise this market failure. Many countries, including China, have banned single-use plastic bags completely, while others, such as Ireland, have chosen to tax them to try to limit their use.
03/03/08	18.37	Recession - are we sliding inexorably towards it?
		The possibility of recession in the UK, the USA and Europe has attracted a great deal of media attention and in this podcast Andy Beharrell considers whether there is any real evidence of recession. The podcast considers the definition of recession, the causes of recession and the different approaches taken by governments to try to keep their economies out of recession. While the UK and Europe have adopted essentially rules-based policy approaches, the USA has taken a more interventionist and discretionary approach with a significant loosening of both monetary and fiscal policy.