EDITORS' LETTER

In the UK, we are fortunate enough to have many privileges: access to education, free healthcare, reliable institutions, among many others. But is this the case across the world? If not, then why not? Development economics aims to explain this. It helps us to establish the relationship between a country's social and political issues and its growth – both economic and social. The best way to measure global development has been a key issue for years. Some economists favour Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or GDP per capita while others prefer the Human Development Index (HDI), which considers standard of living, education and life expectancy rather than just a country's level of production per person.

This issue of Equilibrium focuses on many aspects of development and explores various issues within the exciting and dynamic field! These articles feature many different topics, so we hope there is at least one you enjoy. One of these articles delves into India's technological advances, a hugely important factor in its rapid growth and development. China, frequently the centre of discussions on development, has changed its approach to manufacturing which means some expect it is soon to overtake the USA as the world's largest and most influential economy. Other articles pick up on the vast importance of international trade in economic development and how a country's trading partners may make or break its economic success.

We also are delighted to have a festive article, by Dr StJohn, on the oligopolistic firms in the supermarket industry when it comes to Christmas food shopping and how much they decide to advertise and why, drawing on the idea of competitive oligopolistic market structure, game theory and the Nash Equilibrium.

Hopefully, everyone can find an article they enjoy, find interesting and can take away some new information from. We sincerely hope you all enjoy this issue!

Best wishes, the Equilibrium team

The

Samadi Beligaswatte

Rishi Shah

Ishan Visvanath

Dr StJohn

The Economics of digital music streaming

Aaryan

What exactly is Globalisation? is it imperative for development?

Rishi Shah