Five simple tips on how to succeed in the A level Economics Case Studies

Many economics students want to know the secrets of how to do well for economics case studies. This is true whether they are in Junior College, high school, or even in universities. 

This post examines five simple tips on how students can succeed in their A level economics case studies. Understanding these strategies will give you a real edge in effectively responding to case study questions. 

What are some strategies and tactics that can effectively tackle or answer economics case studies?

Many economics teachers and tutors claim to have simple steps to scoring in A level economics case studies, especially since A level (whether it is H1, H2, H3 or A/AS) Economics has a strong emphasis on applications to the real world. 

Sometimes these economics teachers' methods work, and sometimes these methods do not. Some methods are detailed, while others are mere gimmicks. In this vein, case studies become something to be gamed and attacked, rather than a real or true learning experience (a formative assessment). 

What would be more important for students would be a real understanding of how to excel in case studies as an assessment. With that in mind, this post gives students real tips on how to really excel in economics case studies. 

The first tip is – really, really, really know your economics. 

Have you really learnt and mastered your economics material? The reality is that case studies are not comprehension passages that ask you to find some information, but require you to have a strong grounding in theory. Studying hard for economics will really provide you with a strong theoretical background to answer case studies properly. Students who just repeat what is in the extracts or sources do not score as well as students who have integrated and internalised their knowledge. 

The second tip is to answer the question posed, as the question is - and not what you imagine the question to be. 

If the economics question asks for an explanation using examples, it is not the same as explaining economics using pure theory. If the question asks for an answer from a particular source, use that source in your response or answer. If the question asks for a "comparison", it is not the same as an "evaluation". What is the command phrase being used? Pay attention to the key command phrases - what is it that the examiner wants you to do? If you do what the economics examiners want, they will reward you with an excellent economics grade. 

The third tip is to get comfortable with data-handling skills (both statistical and textual knowledge). 

Can you read economic charts and diagrams, examine tables critically, and understand figures? I know at first glance this might appear to be a challenging and herculean task, but with constant practice comes competence. Anyone can get better and better at understanding charts, diagrams, tables, and figures. 

Put some effort into understanding economic data, like GDP, unemployment, economic growth, inflation, and balance of payments figures. Try to take active steps to understand what you are looking at. What is the context? What is the economic story? What is being said factually? What is the underlying economic theory? What economic theory can I use to understand this real world phenomenon? What additional economic knowledge can bring to bear to understand the data? 



The fourth tip is to always use appropriate and relevant diagrams to help elaborate your economic analysis.

A level Economics case studies are not really that different from economics essay questions. They can be thought of as mini-essays, or short economics essays. 

Think of economics case study questions as requests for responses (in essay form), especially for questions which are more than 4 or 5 marks. 

In an economics essay, you should use economics diagrams. Therefore, in a case study context you should also use appropriate and relevant economics diagrams to illustrate your point. This would give you an edge over other economics students. 

The fifth tip is to always watch the mark allocation. 

It amazes me that sometimes economics students write a whole page for a 2 or 4 mark question, yet they write half a page or one whole page for a 8 or 10 mark question. Does this strategy make sense? 

The fewer the marks, the more to the point the answer should be. The fewer the marks, the more direct the response required. In other words, do not write the same level of detail for all your responses. Balance your time, effort, energy, and brainpower by the amount of marks allocated. Economics tutors and teachers often focus students' attention on time management - I say that mark management is also important, if not even more important. 

Write more, explain more, elaborate more, and evaluate more for higher mark questions - it is the same strategy as an economics essay. 

To recap: to succeed in economics case studies, always remember and practise the five tips you have learnt: 

Really know your economics. 

Answer the question. 

Get prepared for data handling. 

Use economic diagrams in your mini-essays.

Watch the mark allocation.

All the best for your economics case studies. 

Thank you for reading, and cheers! 

JC Economics Essays - In this post here on my economics essays blog, we discuss strategic tips on how to address and respond effectively to economics case studies for H1, H2, and H3 'A' Level Economics and also for economics examinations which have case studies as part of the assessment. This post would be useful for examination preparation and economics training. 

All ideas and opinions expressed are the editor's own ideas and opinions. 

Thank you for reading, and cheers. 

Additional Economics Essay Questions (EQs) for Practice

Here are some additional economics essay questions (EQs) for practice, which hopefully will be useful, relevant, and helpful to you in your revision. In this post, you will find a list of economics questions. 

Where are these essay questions from? 

Some of these essay questions were adapted from actual or past year A level essay questions, and some were actually from various countries' revision examination papers, or general questions on the world's economies. 

What can you use these essay questions for? 

These economics essay questions will be useful for the A level Economics examination paper, or for general economics essay practice, and will cover essay questions from various regions of the world such as Singapore, China, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States of America (USA). 

Practising these economics questions will allow you to apply your economics concepts and also engage with your material in an interesting and relevant way, and you can apply your critical thinking as to whether economic theories are validated in the real world, through real life economics examples. You can learn about economic perspectives  through application. 

Hopefully, for the next few posts here on JC Economics Essays, we will address (some, if not all of) these essay questions with a few suggested responses or model answers for you to think through and learn from, so that you can improve upon your essay skills and techniques for economics essay examinations. 

Good luck, and all the best! Thank you. 

***

Explain how benefits to the UK economy can arise from exchanges, arising from specialization to address the central problem of economics. [10]

In a particular year, the United Kingdom (UK) had poor harvests for grain and potatoes, major ingredients of many of foods of UK consumers and inputs for animal feed for much of Britain’s livestock. At the same time, there was a decline in the real incomes of many UK citizens, hitting lowest income earners the hardest. Through economic analysis, discuss the impact these two events are likely to have had on UK consumers and farmers. [25]

Explain why microeconomic markets might fail in the case of non-provision of public goods and where information is imperfect or asymmetric. [10]

Explain the relative importance of key sectors of the circular flow of income in determining the national income in Singapore’s case. [10]

Explain the relative importance of key sectors of the circular flow of income in determining the national income in the United States of America. [10]

There is considerable agreement over the need for governments worldwide to provide public goods for their electorates. There is less agreement, however, over the extent to which markets fail, because of imperfect information. Assess the alternative policies that are adopted by the Singapore government to correct for both these types of market failures. [15]

Explain the main determinants of actual and potential economic growth in Singapore’s context. [10]

Assess alternative real world economic policies Singapore could adopt to maintain a long run, sustained, and non-inflationary rate of economic growth in the future. [15]

Explain, with real world examples, ways in which an economy might move from a point within its production possibility curve (PPC) to a point on it. [10]

Discuss the most effective real world economic policies to move the PPC outwards. [15]

Explain with economic analysis the factors that influence the market demand and supply for a product such as mobile telephones. [12]

Explain why, according to microeconomic analysis, there are economic benefits from large scale organisations. [12]

Explain, with real world examples, why barriers to entry are a key determinant of a firm’s pricing behaviour. [10]

Discuss the extent to which the behaviour of firms depends on the actions of their rivals. [15]

Explain how a monopolist would determine the price that would maximise profits. [10]

Discuss, with relevant real world examples, whether firms actually set prices at profit-maximising levels. [25]

In the UK, railway tickets for train journeys may be obtained cheaply if bought in advance. In 2000, railway companies jointly announced that these tickets would be available only at major stations. Passengers living near smaller stations would have to pay the full cost. Explain what is price discrimination, and discuss whether this is an example of price discrimination. [25]

Discuss what advantages and disadvantages occur when large companies in the same industry “co-operate” with each other. [15]

Explain, with real world examples, why pollution and congestion caused by cars are likely to cause market failure. [10]

Explain, with suggested real world examples, what might happen to the United Kingdom’s national income if a newly-elected government were to reduce personal income and corporate income tax rates. [10]

In the United Kingdom (UK), the growth of retail sales in 1996 was higher than expected. As a result, it was suggested that the Chancellor should consider raising interest rates to prevent inflation. Discuss whether interest rates are likely to be an effective method of controlling inflation. [25]

Discuss, with real world economic examples, whether the growth of China’s economy would be detrimental to Singapore. [25]

Discuss, with real world economic examples, whether the recovery of  the US economy would be undoubtedly positive in its impact for Singapore. [25]

Should increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) be the only objective of a country's economic policy? Discuss the validity of this question. [25]

Explain what went wrong with the US economy during the great global financial crisis. [25]

***

JC Economics Essays - here you will find many varied samples / practice / model GCE A level economics essays, GCSE A, AS level essays, H2 Economics Essays, H3 Economics Essays for students of economics or as background reading for first year university undergraduates 

Assess whether a radical reconsideration of the more traditional approaches to policy evaluation employed by economists is called for. [35]

H3 A level Economics Cambridge N2010 Q2 essay response

A controlled experiment generally compares the results obtained from an experimental sample against a control sample. 

“To determine the effectiveness of specific policy initiatives, we need to know how the target populations are likely to respond. This can only be discovered by conducting controlled experiments.” 

In the light of this statement, assess whether a radical reconsideration of the more traditional approaches to policy evaluation employed by economists is called for. [35]

There has been a rise of interest in experiments in economics. Experiments have been proven to be a useful tool for testing some economic theories but their effectiveness can be occasionally doubtful due to limits or flaws in experimental design. While some would argue that we should reconsider the approaches to policy evaluation in economics and adopt empirical methods such as in behavioural economics and experimental economics, some insist that the traditional approaches are still the best method when it comes to policy evaluation, and some kind of middle ground should be reached. 

First, the reasons why economists are interested in experimental economics and behavioral economics are quite obvious. Throughout the development of economics as a discipline, the use of mathematics and deduction usually plays an important role in constructing economic claims. Economics aims to abstract economic phenomena from the complexity of the world and model the behaviors of the economic agents using mathematical tools. During this process, economists make general assumptions of the population and ignore individual anomalies as they feel that according to the law of the large numbers, the aggregate pattern will not be affected by a few cases of anomalies. This method has allowed economists to produce many useful theories. 

However, the limitations are often also obvious. The need to make general assumptions may mean that the theories developed can be incapable of accounting for reality if the assumptions are wrong. Even though Milton Friedman argues that unrealistic assumptions can still produce good economic theories, it seems counter intuitive to claim that an unrealistic assumption can give us more confidence in producing good economic claims than an accurate one. This view is often taken by behavioural economists and experimental economists who want better and more accurate assumptions in economic modelling. 

In fact, the development of behavioral economics and experimental economics show that economists may want to seriously reconsider the methods of constructing economic claims. There are many cases where the traditional way of developing economic theories resulting in inaccurate explanation and prediction. For example, the standard model posits that when the price of an item falls, the quantity demanded will rise to the same extent that the quantity demanded will fall when the price goes up. However, what is observed is that when the price of an item falls, the quantity demanded increases more than the quantity demanded falls when the price goes up. By analysing the results of field experiments and laboratory experiments regarding this anomaly, behavioral economists, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, explain that this is due to “loss aversion”, which means that people have a stronger tendency to avoid losing than to acquire gains. Losing means paying more than what they used to pay; gaining means paying less than what they used to pay. From this case, we observe that the traditional method can sometimes fail to produce accurate theories, and behavioural economics has moved beyond the rationality assumption in order to construct a better account of this economic phenomenon. As the question states, “we need to know how the target populations are likely to respond”. When it comes to policy evaluation, it is important for the economists to consider the nature of the target audiences. The best way is to select representatives from the target populations and conduct experiments to find out their likely responses to the policy. It seems a better way as compared to the traditional approach which can be wrong or only when the conditions of the theories are satisfied in the real world. 

However, we should also recognize that controlled experiments in the new approaches can be flawed and thus produce inaccurate results. There is a reason why controlled experiments are not usually used in economics. In economic studies, the subject is people who are inconsistent, volatile and ever changing. Since the subject can be exposed to many factors that can easily change their reactions, experimental results can be wrong if the relevant factors are not controlled wisely. For example, in a dictator game where the experimenter researches on the tendency of the agents pursuing fairness in a transaction, the results are different when the experimenter is observing the actions of the volunteers. This example shows that careless experimental designs are likely to distort the experimental results. Even if the experiments are carefully planned and conducted, it may be unwise to generate the result from the volunteers to the target population because there can be self-selection into the experiments and the nature of the target population can be different from the representatives. Besides, it is also showed by research that people are likely to behave differently in experiments and real world decisions. Therefore, flaws in experiments can result in wrong predictions and finally the policy implemented may not produce expected results. 

Finally, we should recognize that both the traditional approach and the new method have their merits, and we should consider the nature of the target population before we consider which way to use in policy evaluation. When a policy is concerning a large population, the traditional way could be better since the theories produced in this way are usually more capable of accounting for behaviors of a large population. It is unwise to use controlled experiments because the population is too large and too risky for generalization of experimental results. However, new findings from behavioral economics and experimental economics can be parameterized into the standard model to better account for reality. For example, loss aversion is incorporated into many theories regarding financial markets to better explain and predict the market trend. Such finding can assist economists to give a more accurate prediction of the likely responses to the policy by the target population. On the other hand, when the target population is small in size, it can be advisable to use controlled experiments to test out the likely responses of the population as they are more likely to be accurate when the conditions of the theories are held in reality. The theory of inequality aversion is a good example to show that theories derived from controlled experiments can yield surprisingly accurate result when the nature of the population can be known. 

In conclusion, the use of controlled experiments can be beneficial in revealing the likely responses of the target population to a policy, but any flaws in experimental design can distort the experimental results. Besides, when a population is large, it can be risky to generalize experimental results to the whole population because the nature of the subjects can be different. On the other hand, the traditional approach also faces the problem of giving wrong judgment when the assumption of ceteris paribus does not hold. Besides, it can fail to give an accurate account of economic behavior when human psychology which can motivate economic actions are constantly ignored in theory construction.  Eventually, what method to choose depends on the size of the target population, the volatility of the economic environment and the availability of information about the target population, but the use of controlled experiments can be introduce beneficial refinement to the traditional approach. 

JC Economics Essays: Once again, as this is the H1/ H2 A level economics examination season, and there is also the upcoming H3 Economics examination, just like in the previous post, I have decided to include a few H3 economics essays. This particular H3 economics essay on economic methodology was contributed by WXN and written under examination conditions of around 1 hour. Special thanks to WXN for his H3 economics contribution to my economics essay site. 

Some areas of improvement for WXN's economics essay could be: More examples could have been given in this essay, and more of the real world context could have been linked to this economics essay. Often times, an essay could benefit from more contextualisation. Also, the division between positive and normative economics could also have been discussed in this essay. Normative economics often lends itself better to economic policy-making and evaluation. Statistics, econometrics, and economic methods such as cliometrics could also have been discussed. The difference between the nature of economics as a social science, and science and mathematics could also have been discussed in this essay. Is economics like a science? Can experimentation play the same role for economics that it has played for the natural and more hard sciences? There are many areas in which this economics essay could have benefited from a wider scope and range.  

However, once again WXN did also do many things right for his economics essay, making all the right moves that make an excellent essay strong. He talked about Milton Friedman, the famous economist, who once wrote a major paper on economic methodology. He also rightly talked about experimental economics and behavioural economics, which are reconsiderations of traditional economic policy-making and evaluation. Perhaps, a distinction between policy-making and economic evaluation could have been made. All in all, given the time constraints and economics examination pressure, this H3 economics essay is quite strong. 

How would you have approached this economics question, and what would you have done differently or better? Please remember to think of ways for further improvement and always question the hidden and implicit assumptions in the question. As this is a H3 economics essay, there will always be room for exploration and discussion, as well as a multitude of perspectives. Demonstrate your reading and your thinking. 

Thank you for reading and cheers!

[Postscript: WXN and his batch of economics students achieved 100% A/B for H2 Economics and 100% Distinction/Merit for H3 Economics in the 2013 economics examinations. They worked hard and performed well, so it is not all my credit. Congratulations!]

Reading economics articles for real world examples

This post is about reading economics articles for real world examples; it recommends some good resources that you may be interested in utilising for your economics education. 

When writing economics essays, the issue of theory versus practice often comes up. 

Many economics students tend to either write essays that are full of economic models, theories, diagrams, and technical arguments, that do not really address the question; or they tend to write essays that are full of real world news, or economic news such as Bitcoin that also do not really answer the question, and do not link the theories to these events. 

Quite naturally, the issue is that to write a really good economics essay for the A levels, or for any economics examination in general, students should have a balance between economic theories and models, as well as real world economics examples or real life events that validate or discredit those models. 

This article is thus specially written for economics students who have a strong grounding in economic theory, but need that special difference in their essays. To provide something extra, that special X factor, students have to include relevant, real world, current economic examples. 

The question that follows is, what economics articles should be read to provide relevant, real world economics examples?

The following are some very good resources to read or to follow:

1. For Singapore & International News: The Straits Times

The broadsheet The Straits Times is a good area to start with, because it reports on news and current affairs, and has forum letters on all sorts of economic issues. The money section on Sundays is often quite well written and would be a good start for learning about investment and finance. For Mondays to Fridays, there is a section in the newspaper on economics news and related events, about mergers and acquisitions, businesses and companies, and macroeconomic news. All these provide good information and background knowledge for a good student of economics. 

2. For good economics writing: The Economist

I tend to like The Economist a lot. (Oh, by the way, if you are reading for General Paper I would strongly recommend Readers' Digest. But I digress.)

The Economist provides a range of economic articles that are directed towards people who may or may not have an economics education, and as such it is very readable. It provides a good overview of many current news events and also provides sound economic analysis, without mathematics or econometric models. One economics tutor friend of mine remarked to me that perhaps students could have a The Economist-centred education, where they would read articles and discuss them as the mainstay of a tutorial. You can access this really good magazine either in hardcopy, but it is also available online. 

3. The use of Info-Comm Technology - On Twitter: https://twitter.com/realworldecons 

@realworldecons helps economics students to think about real world examples of economics, to see economics applied to the real world context to complement their education. It basically has news on economic events, news, current affairs, and articles on finance, investment, and economics in general. 

I would strongly recommend that you follow @realworldecons because it might be really useful to keep updated on news events, economics articles, and a whole range of economics examples that you could use in your essays. When you follow it, you will see what I mean - economics is a really interesting subject because of its connections and relevance to the real world. 

In summary, remember to read economics articles and learn more about real world news, events, and knowledge, so that you can include these in your economics essays.

Thanks for reading and cheers :) 

JC Economics Essays - Always remember that good, well-crafted economics essays should have relevant, real world economics examples

How to Write Economics Essays - A Self Help Guide!

How to Write Economics Essays - A Complete Self Help Guide! 

Introduction to this Quick yet Complete Self Help Guide

In this post, I will discuss a bit on how to write Economics essays in general. 

I simply just had to write this article, because, once again, I was approached by Economics students asking how they could have done better for their Economics examinations. This is a very common issue, and it is a fair and understandable question. 

I think some good, simple, clear advice would be able to help students see the process and think through how they could improve on their writing skills, as well as the examination process. 

Self-help resources: how to write a good macroeconomics paper, and how to write a good economics paragraph

Before I give a general outline of the essay writing programme that I am about to offer, or proffer - on how to write, craft, create, and produce good Economics essays (whether under examination conditions or under optimal term-paper-like conditions depends on your individual and differing situation) - here are some self help resources to allow you learn how to craft an excellent Economics essay. 

This post here on my site would be really useful for writing an essay on macroeconomics:

  

Tips on Writing a Good Macroeconomics Essay Paper. 

This post here on my site would be really useful for crafting a good Economics paragraph: 

How to Write a Good Economics Paragraph. 

I think both posts provide an excellent starting point into writing a good Economics essay if students are able to apply the concepts that they have learnt. 

OK, let's delve into this topic in a few simple steps - here are some simple, concrete steps that anybody can take to write a good Economics essay. 

Simple concrete steps to write a good economics essay:

Here goes:

First, you have to know the allocation of the marks. 

Under the H1/H2 kind of A level Economics examination, the mark allocations could be 10 marks for part (a) and 15 marks for part (b), or just 25 marks for one essay. For Paper 3 for the GCSE it would be 10 marks, and so on. What about GCE, AS level, A level, O level, and H3 levels? Know the allocation of the marks. 

The idea of differing mark allocations for different examinations would also apply for the various versions of the A levels around the world, and so on. 

The higher the marks, the longer the essay must be - along with the quality! 

Second, you will have to plan before you write your Economics essay. 

As the famous saying goes, those who fail to plan, plan to fail. Or something like that. It's quite true. 

When planning, focus on an approach. How would you approach this Economics essay, and why? What are the keywords that you must focus on? What is the command, or instruction, word that tells you what you have to do to score the marks in the essay? Circle the command phrase or word, and highlight or underline the keywords or main words. 

Be sure to know what you are doing. 

Third, you will need to define the key terms and the main terms in your Economics paper. 

Believe it or not, definitions are good starting points and can lead on to assumptions being explicated, and other good Economics materials. You will need to define key terms clearly and accurately. 

Fourth, explanations should flow from the definitions and the starting concepts. 

Beyond defining, you will have to explain economic theories. 

Students can explain Economics ideas and arguments in basically three main ways - mathematically, verbally (written), and through the use of Economics diagrams. For the A levels, at least, mathematics is the least of your concerns in writing the essays, so it basically means that you need to be able to explain well in words, and draw well-labelled diagrams that can show what you want to convey to the examiner or your tutor. 

For university students and undergraduates, on the other hand, mathematics is indeed one of the ways you need to use to explain Economics. 

(Well, actually mathematics definitely applies to postgraduate Economics as well!)

Fifth, you need to provide contextual evidence, which means that you need to know real world case studies, and definitely real world economies. 

This also means that Economics students with good general knowledge have a distinct advantage. 

Better still, if students have good general knowledge on countries and the economy in which they live in, and main ideas about globalisation and international trade. Be sure you at least know some concrete case studies about the economies in which you live. 

Sixth, you try to make arguments that link to the question. 

This is a simple point but many students do not do this. The weak students define. The better students define and explain. The strong students define, explain, and link theories to evidence. 

The best students do all that - and they make strong arguments for both sides of the case. They address economics questions with balanced arguments, for and against. 

Last, but not the least, a good evaluative, judgmental, and nuanced conclusion is needed. 

Have you talked about the extent of the Economics problem or issue, and weighed the pros and cons of an issue, or shown both sides of a story? Why is your main argument justified, whereas the other arguments you brought up held no water, in the final analysis? 

I often told my economics students that a good evaluative paragraph would do three thing - and three things only. 

First, it would signpost; second, it would make an opinion(s) that answered the economics question; and third, it would justify that opinion(s). One day, perhaps when I get round to it, I shall write a whole post on how to properly make an economics evaluation, but that is a task for another time.

To summarise: Signpost by signalling that you are concluding. "In conclusion" or "To conclude my paper" or "In the final analysis" are good examples of a clear signpost that suggests that you are about to conclude your paper. Follow this up by giving a strong opinion on the question (to what extent/ what is the stronger or better argument/ which main argument or stand or side do you support), and then justifying your "extent", "weightage", and "main argument". 

When you have given a strong opinion that justifies your body of arguments and wraps up your paper, you have made an evaluative conclusion. 

Do apply the above bold points that you have learnt, to help yourself craft a good Economics essay. 

Think, reason, and apply your Economics. 

Thanks for reading, and cheers!

JC Economics Essays: Economics Editor's comments on how to write economics essays. 

Update: This essay was updated and further formatted in 2015. Thank you for reading, and cheers. 

JC Economics Essays: Latest Notice

Dear readers/students,

This is the author and editor of the site, once again. I have a couple of announcements to make.

Quickly though, an introduction to what this site is about: In my earlier notice, I introduced this blog so that new readers would know what I am doing here and what they are doing here. In this blog, JC Economics Essays, I put up Economics essays (without the corresponding Economics diagrams, I'm afraid to say) so that students can see what good Economics essays look like, read various approaches and methods to write better Economics papers, and generally learn some Economics along the way.

I have three announcements to make -

FIRST, as per my earlier announcement (see previous notice) my friend will not be putting up his Economics website after all because of some technical issues and other related problems with establishing a website. I am quite sorry about that!

More importantly is the second announcement, which is a good thing: SECOND, I will be doubling the content on this website - yes, I will be doubling the content on JC Economics Essays! This is generally quite good and happy news for my students and for other Economics students around the world doing examinations; happy to oblige!

Some of the content will be amended from earlier posts here, where I will show a different approach to the same question or an upgraded version of the answers. Some of the new Economics essays will be about international events, other countries in the world other than Singapore, such as the UK and China. Yes, I have heard your feedback, and besides, there are indeed many countries to write about indeed!

All of these new Economics materials will take the new approach based on the essays that I have recently posted.

First, there will be the question (of course). Then a note on what you are about to read, or something to take note of, if necessary. The excellently-written essay itself. Finally, there will be "JC Economics Essays - Tutor's Commentary:".

Question, Note, Essay, Commentary. Or, Question, Essay, Commentary. 

All these should help students prepare adequately, if read properly and carefully, and with an open and yet critical mind.

THIRD: In addition, I have also set up JC Students Economics Materials (Contributions) which is a companion website to this one, and which will also offer Economics materials, but this time purely from contributions from students, either former or current.

The difference is a bit subtle: here, there are many contributors but some are professional, and some are from me. I also give my comments. In the other site, I just showcase some of my students' works based on contributions. In any case, the outcome is quite similar: learn Economics, read good Economics papers and essays... and revise, prepare, and study for the examinations! However, having said that, remember to read with an open and critical mind.

I hope all these help you, and you learn a lot of Economics.

That's it from me now, and thanks for reading, and cheers!

The editor

JC Economics Essays - Here you can read H1, H2, H3 Economics essays, exam questions, Economics papers, Economics essays, and Economics materials for essay writing, JC Economics, and O level, A level Economics and even undergraduate materials, and much more. Thanks for reading and stay right here with me. 

Notice! :)

Dear students, readers, and passers by :)

This is the author and editor of the site. In this site, I've put up Economics essays - some of which I have written myself, and some of which I have edited from various contributors, mainly A level economics students. Some were former Economics students and some are actual students still in JC. The best way to learn Economics for A levels and to prepare for the examinations is to read actual essays and see how they are done; or to try your own essays and then compare them with the ones presented here.

However, I have not been posting for some time, and currently there are no diagrams on my Economics site (because I am not high tech enough to put them up on jpeg or some kind of picture file format, and also because it's quite hard to use Blogger.com to do all sorts of interesting things).

Here is a notice: I will be posting more and more Economics essays on this site, and maybe a companion Economics website, soon! :) I hope that works out!

New announcement: my friend is going to set up a commercial Economics website which will come up soon, in late July 2012 or early August 2012, so do stay tuned for this new and exciting development! It will provide Economics materials, essays, case study materials, and other additional learning materials which will be handy for Economics students. Do stay tuned for that new and exciting development!

New announcement no. 2: I have launched new Economics material! Special thanks to my students and other people who have contributed to this project. Thanks and cheers :)

I hope that helps and this is a good notice for people who come here to this blog hoping to learn some Economics or to read good Economics essays. So stay tuned for more, and hopefully this works out well. Be sure not to plagiarise - be sure to make good use of the materials here for self study and revision!

Thanks for reading, and cheers,

The editor

JC Economics Essays - What this blog is about: sample or model essays, good essays, and some really interesting, useful, and good Economics materials and advice for Cambridge or GCE or GCSE or UCLES "A" levels: either H1, H2, or even H3 Economics.

PS Thanks to all the good nice people who gave me good, interesting, useful comments and advice! :)

How To Write A Good Economics Paragraph

How To Write A Good Economics Paragraph... A Basic Introduction!

(Edited and improved from the 2010 version)

In this introductory and basic post on Economics, I reiterate and show how to write a good economics essay paragraph - one that gets good marks rather than bad marks in an economics essay test or examination. 

Often, students ask, and rightly so: "How do we write a good Economics essay?" 

However, before you can answer that, you might need to know how to write a good Economics paragraph first, because paragraphs are the building blocks to create a well-crafted, well-written essay. 

Let's begin with a simple exercise. Ready? 

Have a look at the following sample Economics paragraphs, and think to yourself whether the paragraph is well written or not. 

"A" grade by Adam

Insert tariff diagram - small country case (international trade)

Tariffs, taxes imposed on imported goods and services, hurt the local, domestic economy. The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed. For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars, perhaps just like the Proton Saga cars in Malaysia if Malaysia were to impose a tariff. Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government gain from the loss in consumer surplus. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto (or allocative) efficient.

"B" grade by Ben

Insert tariff diagram - small country case (international trade)

Tariffs, taxes on imports, are bad. The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed. For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars. Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government win. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto efficient.

"C" grade by Cadence

NO ECONOMICS DIAGRAM 

Tariffs are bad because they hurt the local economy. Not only is there deadweight loss, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good (which are cars) is consumed. Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto efficient.

"D" grade for Denise

NO ECONOMICS DIAGRAM

Tariffs hurt the economy. A tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more produced cars. People locally lose out because he pays more and consume less of cars overall, but homebody producers and my government win. The deedweight loss is not efficient as losses fro consumer surplus do not goes to the garvenment, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect gained. Like disappeared. Thus, tariffs hurt foreign economys because deadweight loss, which is Not good.

So, what have we learnt about writing a good Economics paragraph?

WHAT ARE THE GOOD POINTS?

STATE Tariffs, taxes imposed on imported goods and services, hurt the local economy.

EXPLAIN The above diagram shows that, for a small country, putting a tariff on an imported good increases the price of the good, making quantity demanded fall by B2 and quantity supplied by local sellers to rise by A1, thus causing deadweight loss A and B. Not only is there deadweight loss of A and B, there is also an increase in the overall price and less quantity of that good is consumed.

EXAMPLE For example, a tariff on cars will make the price of imported cars rise and thus consumers will buy more locally produced cars, just like the Proton Saga in Malaysia.

EXPLAIN Consumers lose out because they pay more and consume less numbers of cars overall, but local producers and the government win. The deadweight loss is not efficient as the losses from consumer surplus do not accrue to the government, the producers or the consumers, but are in effect lost.

CONCLUDE Thus, tariffs hurt the local economy via deadweight loss, which is not Pareto (allocative) efficient.

I would strongly recommend crafting good essay paragraphs by stating clearly what the argument is, first and foremost. After stating your argument, explain what it means by defining the terms, explaining what the process is, and explaining why you think that argument makes sense. Perhaps even draw a diagram to explain the situation, and explain the diagram itself as well to show your economics knowledge. Giving an example, you will now want to explain the example to show how it links to the theoretical content, and then you conclude by wrapping up your paragraph. If each paragraph is written consistently like this, your paper will be more detailed, well-explained, and full of rich real world examples that highlight your points. 

Good luck and all the best writing your economics essay paragraph!

The editor. 

JC ECONOMICS ESSAYS - For H1, H2, H3, "O" levels, "A" and "AS" levels, GCE, GCSE, AS, and introductory undergraduate Economics.