Theme 2 – The UK Economy – Performance and Policies
When taught: September-April Year 12 (taught concurrently with Theme 1)
Specification link: Pearson Edexcel | Economics A Specification 2015
What are we learning?
Quantitative methods
- Review quantitative skills
- Index numbers
- Real vs nominal
Measures of macroeconomic performance (1)
- Economic growth – introduction, definition, values
- Inflation – introduction, definition, values
- Employment and unemployment – introduction, definition, values
- Balance of Payments – introduction, definition, values
Aggregate demand and supply
- Aggregate demand
- Characteristics and components
- Aggregate Supply
- Short run AS
- Long run AS – classical and Keynesian views
National Income
- Circular Flow of Income
- Injections and Withdrawals
- The multiplier
Measures of Macroeconomic performance (2) – using diagrammatic analysis
- Economic growth
- Actual vs potential
- Inflation
- Causes
- Wage price spiral
- Deflation and disinflation
- Employment and unemployment
- Types
- Consequences
- Balance of Payments
Economic growth
- Causes of growth
- Output gaps
- Trade cycle
- Impact of economic growth
Macroeconomic objectives and policies
- Possible macroeconomic objectives
- Conflicts between objectives
- Including Phillips Curve
- Demand side policies
- Fiscal
- Monetary
- Supply side policies
- Conflicts between policies
Where does this fit into our past and future learning?
Theme 2 content is more familiar to students from their exposure to news stories both foreign and domestic. A thorough exploration of macroeconomic objectives and policies sets students up perfectly, not just for Theme 4 learning, but more broadly for their futures as UK citizens. Students develop an ability to accurately understand what can be perceived as complex economic situations and appreciate the reasons behind policy decisions and the impacts on different groups in society.
How will we be assessed?
Assessments will consist of questions from past exam papers. There will be a combination of multiple choice, short-answer and extended answer, context-based questions.
What makes a strong piece of work in this topic? What are teachers hoping to see?
- Good knowledge and understanding of key ideas and concepts
- Effective use of subject specific terminology
- Appropriate use of provided contexts to exemplify answers
- Accurate calculations and/or fully labelled, accurate diagrams which are then used within written responses
- Fully developed analysis using chains of reasoning to add complexity and detail within written responses
What additional resources can I access outside of lessons?
