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This paper investigates the adjustment of the prices of four key petroleum products in the UK following changes in the price of crude oil. We find significant evidence that the pre-tax prices of diesel, kerosene and gas oil adjust more rapidly in an upward than a downward direction but that the pre-tax price of unleaded petrol adjusts symmetrically. However, these patterns are obscured at the pump once one accounts for fuel duty and value added tax, raising the possibility that firms can use the tax system to conceal rent seeking behaviour.

We develop a technique to evaluate macroeconomic connectedness in any multi-country macroeconomic model with an approximate VAR representation. We apply our technique to a large Global VAR covering 25 countries and derive vivid representations of the connectedness of the system. We show that the US, the Eurozone and the crude oil market exert a dominant influence in the global economy and that the Chinese and Brazilian economies are also globally significant. Recursive analysis over the period of the global financial crisis shows that shocks to global equity markets are rapidly and forcefully transmitted to real trade flows and real GDP.JEL classification: C32, C53, E17