Introduction to economics: notes and practice questions
Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost; the nine key concepts; the three economic systems; and the two models a student will reuse all year, being the production possibilities curve and the circular flow of income. Then how economists produce knowledge: positive against normative, ceteris paribus, and a walk through Smith, the classicals, Marx, Keynes, the monetarists and behavioural economics. The hard part is that none of it is examinable at AO3, so students under-invest in it and then cannot tell a Keynesian AS curve from a monetarist LRAS curve six months later. It is rarely examined directly. Its content is examined through 3.1 and 3.2, where the AO ceiling is higher.
Subtopics
- Practice questionsWhat is economics?
This topic introduces economics as a social science, exploring how societies address scarcity and make choices. Key concepts include scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence, and intervention.
- Practice questionsHow do economists approach the world?
This topic explores the methodologies economists use to study the world and the historical evolution of economic thought. Positive economics describes and explains economic phenomena using logic, hypotheses, models, theories, and empirical evidence, often relying on the ceteris paribus assumption.
