A Level Economics WJEC
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71 topics in 16 modules
☑️ Scarcity and Choice 7 topics
- Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
- Production possibility frontiers (PPFs)
- Specialisation, division of labour and exchange
- Factors influencing demand and supply in product market
- The determination of equilibrium price and output in a freely competitive market
- Consumer and producer surplus
- Price, income and cross price elasticities of demand, price elasticity of supply
☑️ Demand and Supply in Labour Markets 6 topics
- Wage determination
- Labour Market Issues
- How resources are allocated in a free market economy
- Understanding Market Failure
- Why and how governments intervene in markets
- The effects of government intervention
☑️ Macroeconomic Theory 6 topics
- The circular flow of income model
- The units of aggregate demand (AD)
- The AD function
- The aggregate supply (AS) function
- AD/AS analysis
- Government policy objectives
☑️ Policy Instruments: Fiscal Policy 3 topics
- Framework
- Demand side fiscal policy
- Supply side fiscal policy
☑️ Policy Instruments: Exchange rates and exchange rate policy 2 topics
- Exchange rates in a free marke
- Exchange rate policy
☑️ Policy Instruments: Supply side policies 1 topic
- Free trade and protectionism
☑️ Costs, revenues and profits 11 topics
- Background to market structures
- Business objectives
- Competition policy
- Costs, revenues and profits
- Efficiency
- Monopolistic competition
- Monopoly
- Oligopoly
- Perfect competition
- Privatisation
- The growth of firms
☑️ Macroeconomic Policy 4 topics
- Short run aggregate supply (SRAS)
- Long run aggregate supply (LRAS)
- The short run Phillips curve
- The long run Phillips curve
☑️ Macroeconomic Policy: Economic Growth 3 topics
- Actual vs potential economic growth
- Causes of growth
- Benefits and costs of growth
☑️ Macroeconomic Policy: Unemployment 4 topics
- Measurement and Types
- Costs
- Causes
- Solutions
☑️ Macroeconomic Policy: Inflation and Deflation 5 topics
- Measurement and calculation
- Causes
- Costs
- Solutions
- Deflation
☑️ Macroeconomic Policy: The Balance of Payments 4 topics
- Measurement
- Current account imbalances: causes
- Current account imbalances: impacts
- Solutions to current account deficits
☑️ Policy Instruments: Control of the National Debt 4 topics
- Measurement
- Causes
- Implications
- Solutions
☑️ Policy Instruments: Monetary Policy 3 topics
- Framework
- The operation of monetary policy and monetary stability
- Financial Stability
☑️ International Trade 5 topics
- Advantages and disadvantages of free trade
- Protectionism
- Globalisation
- Trade and the UK
- European Union
☑️ Economic Development 3 topics
- Measurement
- Obstacles
- Solutions
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A Level Economics WJEC Revision Content
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A Level Economics WJEC - Scarcity and Choice - Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost Content Preview
Scarcity and Choice
Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
Understanding Scarcity
- Scarcity pertains to the fundamental problem of economics: the basic economic problem of having unlimited human wants, but limited resources.
- It is the situation where finite resources are inadequate to fulfil all human needs and wants.
- This concept applies to all sectors of an economy and could be a result of factors such as physical shortages, production issues, or environmental factors.
Concept of Choice
- Choice involves making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.
- In the context of scarcity, making choices is necessary as resources are limited.
- The concept of choice applies when deciding how to allocate these scant resources among various possible uses.
- It is important in economics because it distributes scarce resources to satisfy the highest number of wants and needs.
Understanding Opportunity Cost
- The opportunity cost is the cost of the next best alternative foregone when a choice is made.
- Not only monetary or physical goods constitute the opportunity cost but any valuable factor which is forfeited.
- It is a fundamental concept that underlies all decisions in economics.
- Opportunity cost is not always measured in terms of money. It can be measured in terms of anything which holds value, including time, leisure, or anything else that provides utility.
Relationship between Scarcity, Choice and Opportunity Cost
- Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost are interrelated key concepts in economics.
- Scarcity requires choices to be made, and these choices come with associated opportunity costs.
- For example, a government may choose to allocate more funds into healthcare (choice) due to a scarcity of well-equipped hospitals. However, this comes with the opportunity cost which could be investing those funds in improving education.
- Understanding this relationship is paramount to understanding the basic principles behind economic decisions and policies.
Question: How does the concept of opportunity cost relate to decision-making in a situation of scarcity?
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