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. 

Tips on Writing a Good Macroeconomics Essay Paper

Hi my dear readers,

Tips on Writing a Good Macroeconomics Essay Paper (for A levels) 

I'll be sharing useful tips and tricks on how to write a good macroeconomics essay paper today. 

There are actually many good articles and guidebooks on how to write a good economics essay during a timed examination. I myself have a few here on JC Economics Essays. 

However, one article I read recently was quite unique - on "how to write a good Macroeconomics essay for A levels". 

Now that was quite special, and gave me a lot of material to think about! It was a nice emphasis on an important, but specific, particular aspect of economics. 

It said that basically there are a few important things to take note of: 

First, know the allocation of marks. 

Second, know the basic macroeconomic demand-side and supply-side policies very well. 

Third, explain your Economics clearly. 

Fourth, make sure you use case studies (which basically means use evidence and examples). 

Fifth, make sure there is a good evaluative conclusion to the Economics essay. 

Last, but certainly not least, be sure to have good time management. 

These are all good points. 

In fact, knowing the allocation of marks, explaining Economics clearly, having an evaluative conclusion, and allocating your time wisely are in fact also good tips on writing any Economics essay during an examination. 

Let's look at these useful and relevant ideas in detail, for your benefit. 

Know the allocation of marks for the particular Economics examination. 

H1, H2, H3 for A levels? Paper 3 for the A levels? GCSE? AS level? IB Economics? 10 or 15 marks? 25 marks? 35 marks? The principle is simple once you know the rubrics of the examination: the higher the marks, the more Economics material you will have to provide. What is the allocation of the marks for the particular examination you are taking? 

Understand macroeconomic policies extremely well. 

To be frank, most Economics essays on macroeconomics are extremely predictable. 

Economics examiners and tutors can only basically test students on fiscal policy, monetary policy, exchange rate policy and supply side policies (prices and incomes, etc) and how these affect the general price level, real output, and a particular country’s macroeconomic objectives – whether the country in question is the United States, United Kingdom, or Singapore for that matter. 

It goes without saying that if you are sitting for the A level examination in Singapore, then be prepared for questions about Singapore (and a few other countries as well). 

If you are sitting for the Economics examination in the UK, then be prepared for questions about the United Kingdom; sitting for the exam in India, Russia, and so on, then the questions set will be about India, Russia, and so on. It really is that simple! 

For demand management policies, anything that increases consumption (C), investment (I), government spending (G) & net export (X-M) will surely increase AD (Aggregate Demand). 

Meanwhile, for the supply side policies, anything that increases the quality or quantity of the factors of production will definitely affect AS (Aggregate Supply). 

A quick revision: the factors of production are - land, labour, capital, and enterprise /entrepreneurship/ risk-taking entrepreneurs. Some other economists also suggest that anything affecting levels of productivity, the level of employments of capital or labour, and competition will also increase AS. 

The economics explanation must be clear. 

Economics students must practice or develop their writing skills, to make clear explanations, to a very high degree. Economics students must be able to explain a logical, clear, theoretical-based transmission mechanism (process of an event) clearly. Here is a good example, about monetary policy using loanable funds theory: 

"When money supply is reduced, according to loanable funds theory, interest rates will increase, and thus firms may be tempted to cut investment spending and households may be tempted to cut consumption. This is because the costs of financing a project or business expansion have increased, and the costs of borrowing for consumption have increased. When investment and consumption both fall, AD will also decrease, and the AD curve will shift to the left, curing demand-pull inflation."

I often use a different formulation (which can be found in my e-book called Success in Macroeconomics), but the idea is still the same - have clear economics explanations. 

Read Economics case studies; provide contextual evidence. 

Sometimes, students do not realise that they can actually impress Economics tutors or examiners to get some extra marks by showing a decent level of maturity in their writing and also by projecting themselves as a well-read, knowledgeable candidate. 

Students can always give examples of real life events. 

For instance, in the UK for the A level examinations students could write about incidents during the era of Margaret Thatcher (say, the coal mine strikes) when they write about supply side policies, or what happened during the era of Nigel Lawson, or write about Gordon Brown's economic ideas and policies. 

Sometimes Economics students tend to give only real world examples without a theoretical framework. That is not good. However, sometimes the reverse problem is true. Some students tend to be very theoretical without actually relating any real-life examples or incidents to support the Economic theories and models. 

A good evaluative conclusion is needed for the best essays. 

According to many Economics teachers, there are few standard techniques that usually work for evaluation, and can be applied in various combinations. 

First, Economics students can always write about time lags (delays) in policies, such as the J-curve effect, recognition lags, and implementation lags - and government failure in general. 

Second, students can also always compare between macroeconomic policies. For instance, students could discuss all the policies, then justify which is more suitable for economic growth, and what is the reason for this argument? Always justify your economic argument. 

Third, students can also comment on what will happen to the general price level and the real output level in an economy near or at full employment after demand-management policies happen - demand-pull inflation will result. 

Fourth, students can also do a basic CBA (cost benefit analysis). For instance, for fiscal policy, an increase in government spending may not raise AD that much due to the crowding out effect; supply side liberalisation might have massive problems, for instance during the privatisation and deregulation for British Rail and British Energy there were massive failures, whilst the dismantling of the national minimum wage could potentially create greater income inequality in the UK, and so on. 

Time management/ time allocation is crucial. 

Time management is crucial, not just for Economics at A levels, but also for any other examination you might be taking, beyond just economics examinations. 

Time allocation works on the same principle as mark allocation - if you are getting more marks for the essay, you have to allocate more time to it. 

Be sure to spend some time planning, and then spend most of  your time writing. You will have to do some thinking before you start crafting your essay. 

These are really good and useful ideas which can help you write a really strong macroeconomics paper. 

Hopefully those tips help in crafting an excellent Economics essay; all the best for your examinations, thanks for reading and cheers! 

JC Economics Essays - tips on writing a good macroeconomics essay paper