AUDREY AGAPOV

Introduction to Investment Investing isn't as complex as it sounds․ At its most basic‚ it means making your money work for you by putting it somewhere it will grow over time․ The difference between saving and investing is simply that when you invest‚ your money is working for you while you wait (OECD, 2022; Bank of England, 2023)․ Saving is generally safer and more stable because your money is typically going into a bank account and is usually (but not always) earning low or

Interest & Credit Credit is one of those financial instruments that shape not just what people buy but when they buy it and for how long they pay it off‚ all the way down to whether they can buy it on credit․ Credit is simply borrowing money․ Your credit is your ability to borrow now and pay back later, generally with additional interest as well (CFPB, 2023; Bank of England, 2022). That 'extra' is called interest‚ and it's what makes debt powerful or dangerous․ Interest is si

Understanding Tax For the purposes of this lesson‚ I am using the term "child" in the broadest sense as for the age of 10 to 16 years when income and taxes can be first introduced meaningfully․ Taxes are money that people and businesses pay to the government. This money is collected from things like wages, buying goods, or owning property. Taxes are important because they help pay for public services that everyone uses. 4 There is evidence that many young people in the United

Structuring an Allowance For the purpose of this lesson, a “child” refers to individuals aged approximately 6 to 14 years, as this is the stage at which parental allowances are most commonly used to introduce financial responsibility. Research in the UK suggests that 71% of parents give their children allowance and 85% of them believe that money skills are important. However, In the UK alone, it is estimated that approximately 1 million UK households do not save for their chi

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why different cultures view failure as either a setback or a learning opportunity How attitudes towards failure influence entrepreneurship, innovation, and career mobility Why shame, risk tolerance, and cultural values shape economic behaviour How organisations and institutions can encourage innovation by changing their approach to failure The acceptance of failure is an integral part of economic and social life (Sen, 1999)․ In some so

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why rules are more effective in some economies than others How culture shapes trust in laws, institutions, and government Why informal social norms can be as influential as formal legal systems How culture and institutions together influence corruption, investment, and economic development In economies and those with a legitimate state‚ there is an internalization of compliance‚ as tax compliance‚ labour laws and contract compliance be

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why trust is shaped by culture rather than being universal How trust influences entrepreneurship, investment, and business relationships Why different societies rely on contracts, institutions, or personal relationships to build trust How cultural differences in trust affect international business and economic development Trust has a pervasive role in the economy‚ but is often assumed rather than modeled (Arrow, 1972; Williamson, 1985)

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why consumption is driven by status, identity, and culture as much as rational choice How brands and luxury goods act as social signals across different societies Why cultural values shape what consumers buy and what those purchases communicate How status competition influences inequality, consumer debt, and business strategy Consumption has been viewed as being driven by rational choice theory principles‚ stressing the role of utility

Read this blog post to learn more about: The relationship between choice, fear, and risk aversion Real-world examples of fear vs risk in corporate economics The psychology of Prospect Theory Commonly, human decision-making is considered to stem from rational and logical reasoning as individuals evaluate the types of risks they may encounter. This allows us to question if ‘fear’ causes decisions to become irrational, or if it portrays a survival mechanism which has been shown

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why people fear future regret more than past mistakes How anticipated regret quietly pushes us toward “safer” decisions The role of counterfactual thinking in amplifying feelings of regret Why traditional economic models fail to explain real human choices How understanding regret can help you make more confident decisions Humans are faced with decisions on an everyday basis‚ from ordinary decisions (what to purchase) to life-altering d

Read this blog post to learn more about: How cultural norms shape whether psychological strain is externalised collectively (Japan) or internalised individually (United States), and the implications for long-term sustainability. Japan’s collectivist and the United States’ individualist work cultures, focusing on how each sustains productivity and distributes psychological cost. Measurable outcomes such as burnout, stress, suicide rates, working hours, and productivity to eval

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why markets cannot be separated from ethics and human wellbeing How different moral philosophies shape business decisions and corporate responsibility Why profit-maximising strategies can create ethical dilemmas for businesses and society How ethical thinking can lead to more sustainable, trustworthy, and responsible organisations Economic and technical matters such as pricing strategies‚ downsizing‚ outsourcing‚ and globalization of p

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why tolerance of uncertainty is shaped by culture rather than personality alone How cultural attitudes towards risk influence entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic decision-making Why the same business strategy or public policy can succeed in one country but fail in another How cultural differences affect risk perception, decision framing, and responses to uncertainty Uncertainty is an essential aspect of economic and social decis

Read this blog post to learn more about: How the ‘scarcity’ effect reduces cognitive bandwidth Why financial strain may focus on short-term survival rather than long-term How fiscal policies like Austerity subconsciously reinforce behavioural constraints Usually, human decision-making is assumed to have come from rational and logical reasoning, where most individuals weigh costs and benefits to encourage the perceived best outcomes (Zhu, M. and Ratner, R.K. (2021)). Yet, this

Read this blog post to learn more about: Why burnout should be seen not as an individual failure, but as a systemic outcome How workplace incentives encourage unhealthy environments How Game Theory motivates competitive overwork in corporate environments Why Signalling Theory normalises burnout as a marker of commitment Are We Incentivized to Burn Out? Research shows that burnout has intensified overtime. In 2019, data from the Health and Safety executive has portrayed that a