Pre-U Economics CAIE

This subject is broken down into 41 topics in 4 modules:

  1. Microeconomics 13 topics
  2. Macroeconomics 13 topics
  3. Themes in Economics 11 topics
  4. Applications of Advanced Economics 4 topics
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This page was last modified on 28 September 2024.

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Economics

Microeconomics

Introduction to Economics

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Introduction to Economics

Understanding Economics

  • Economics is the study of scarce resources and how decisions are made to allocate these resources efficiently.
  • Analyses both individual actions (Microeconomics) and broader economic activity (Macroeconomics).
  • Involved in defining, gathering, and organising economic evidences.

Fundamental Concepts of Economics

  • Scarcity: The fundamental economic problem of having seemingly unlimited human wants in a world with limited resources.
  • Opportunity Cost: The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action.
  • Demand and Supply: Demand refers to how much of a product or service is wanted by buyers while supply represents how much the market can offer.

Key Economic Decisions

  • What to produce: Economies need to decide what goods and services to produce based on consumer demands and resource availability.
  • How to produce: Determining the most effective way to produce goods and services given the country's resources.
  • For whom to produce: Decide who will receive and consume the goods and services produced.

Market Structures

  • Perfect Competition: A market structure with many firms, homogeneous products and free entry and exit.
  • Monopoly: A market structure where there is only one producer/seller for a product.
  • Oligopoly: A market structure in which a small number of firms has the large majority of market share.
  • Monopolistic Competition: A market structure with many firms selling products that are substitutes but not identical.

Determinants of Demand and Supply

  • Demand is influenced by factors such as prices, income levels, consumer preferences, and expectations.
  • Supply is determined by factors including prices, production costs, technology, and expectations of future price movements.

Concepts of Elasticity

  • Price Elasticity of Demand (PED): Measures the responsiveness of the quantity demanded to a change in price.
  • Price Elasticity of Supply (PES): Shows the relationship between changes in price and quantity supplied.
  • Income Elasticity of Demand (YED): Measures response of demand when there's a change in the consumer’s income.
  • Cross Elasticity of Demand (XED): Reflects how the quantity demanded of a good can be affected by change in the price of another good.

The Role of Government and Market Failure

  • Governments can influence economies through policies, regulations, and taxation.
  • Market failure refers to a situation where the free market fails to allocate resources in an optimum and efficient manner.

Interrelationships and Equilibrium

  • Demand and supply interact to determine the market prices and quantities of goods and services.
  • Equilibrium is achieved when supply equals demand, leading to a stable market situation.

Understanding and Interpreting Graphs

  • Graphs play a vital role in economics to display data or illustrate concepts.
  • Familiarise with various types of graphs including demand and supply curves, cost curves, and indifference curves.
  • Develop the ability to read, interpret, and construct economic graphs.

Remember, successful economics study requires not just understanding the key concepts, but also applying and analysing them in a variety of contexts.

Course material for Economics, module Microeconomics, topic Introduction to Economics

Economics

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomic policy objectives and conflicts

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Macroeconomic policy objectives and conflicts

Macroeconomic Policy Objectives

  • Economic Growth: One of the main goals of macroeconomic policy. It relates to an increase in the total output of an economy over time as measured by the GDP.

  • Price Stability: Important to maintain a steady and low inflation rate. This ensures that the purchasing power of money remains consistent.

  • Full Employment: Refers to the theoretical concept where all available labour resources are being used efficiently. Each worker wants a job, and each employer needs their workers to efficiently produce their goods or services.

  • Balance of Payments Stability: This objective entails managing the money coming into and out of the economy. It aims to avoid large deficits or surpluses in the current account.

  • Income Equity: This aims to achieve a fair distribution of income across the citizens of a nation, reducing wealth gaps and promoting social justice.

Conflicts Between Objectives

  • Economic Growth vs. Price Stability: Rapid economic growth can lead to inflation, contradicting the price stability objective.

  • Economic Growth vs. Balance of Payments: High growth rates can lead to an increase in imports, thus increasing the trade deficit.

  • Full Employment vs. Price Stability: Full employment may increase wages and push up prices, again conflicting with the goal of price stability.

  • Economic Growth vs. Income Equity : Economic growth can result in increased income disparities if the benefits of growth are not evenly distributed.

  • Full Employment vs. Balance of Payments Stability: Aiming for full employment can intensify domestic demand for goods and services, which may, in turn, cause an increase in imports and lead to a balance of payments deficit.

Conflicts Resolution

  • Policy Implementation: Effective use of fiscal, monetary, and supply-side policies can help manage these conflicts.

  • Consideration of Time Frames: Policymakers can alleviate conflicts by considering the time frame. For example, pursuing economic growth in the short run while addressing inflation in the long run.

  • Structural Reforms: These may, for instance, aim to improve labour market flexibility to reduce the potential conflict between full employment and price stability.

  • International Cooperation: This can aid in balancing the payments as there is coordination among countries regarding tariffs, trade regulations, and sustain economic growth.

Course material for Economics, module Macroeconomics, topic Macroeconomic policy objectives and conflicts

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