Another great Institution to visit in
December in London is Oxford Street. Not only do you have the mayhem of
the mainstream; but you have side stalls, you have those gentlemen with their
cardboard trays selling their bargain aftershaves and perfumes; and then you can
contrast that with a 10 - 20 metre detour down some of the side streets and see
a completely different pace of life: such contrast explicable almost entirely in
terms of economics and commerce?
Depending on where you are based, Paul,
some or all of this can be contrasted with your own High Street and 10 - 20
metre detours off it: in some cases, I imagine 5 metres is sufficient.
What about the prices of the stuff in
Marks and Spencer Oxford Street with the same stuff (probably) in M&S
Anytown: it's the same, isn't it? How come, when the rent/space costs in
London must be phenomenal yet space costs in M&S in Anytown, Cambridge
and Halifax can't be anywhere near that? Average cost pricing v Marginal
Cost pricing stems from this, as do supply and demand, cross subsidisation,
marketing, seasonality (Xmas and Winter) fashion, utility, closeness to market,
tourism ... the list goes on.
You could even try to evaluate the cost
of shrinkage (theft): Oxford Street the best place for this. Get the
students to find out the official cost of shrinkage and then discuss what this
figure includes: is it just the clothes, video tapes, CDs? What about
security guards and systems, administration costs of clearing up the mess,
ordering and reordering costs, insurance costs? Opportunity
costs?
Just a thought.
Duncan Williamson
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 10, 1999 1:05
AM
Subject: Educational visits
I am trying to arrange a visit to institutes in London in
December. I am looking for suggestions/experiences of places to go, I have the
Bank of England noted down for a half day. They seem to provide a good service
for students studying A level economics.
Paul Nolan
