Changes to AQA Economics Spec and other Animals

For those colleagues unable or unwilling to fork out in excess of £200 for a day of teacher support at the much-loved AQA board here are some brief summary points from a recent meeting:

Specification changes

Unit 1 (AS Micro)
Free goods v economic goods added
Externalities in both production and consumption are on the specification
Students need to use a diagram for merit and de-merit goods with a diagram showing a divergence between marginal private benefit and marginal social benefit
When discussing monopoly, high profits may be taken as an indication of a mis-allocation of resources (allocative inefficiency)

Unit 2 (AS Macro)
Clarification that the Keynesian aggregate supply curve is an AS curve rather than a LRAS curve

Unit 3 (A2 Micro)
More EU context is now given namely:
Single market and policies addressing income inequalities in the EU
Property rights and aspects of market failure has been added e.g. in discussion of environmental policies

Unit 4 (A2 Macro)
Code for Fiscal Stability has been removed!
Quantitative easing added into the teaching of handling of monetary policy by the Bank of England although we are told that technical details are not needed

Evaluation questions - command words
In the new A2 exams students can expect more variation in the command words and phrases used when setting evaluation questions
For example:
1/ Evaluate the view
2/ Assess the costs and benefits
3/ Assess the impact on ....
4/ Evaluate the significance for ....

Macroeconomic awareness
The examiners are now looking for more awareness of macroeconomic performance and its components. Our regularly updated presentations are ideal for this - this section of our blog maintains a regular set of updates on what is happening in the UK economy. This section focuses on the Global Economy.

EU and Global Context Questions
Some pointers here perhaps to future questions on Unit 3 and Unit 4

Unit 3
1/ Rising productivity across the EU in an industry also significant for the UK
2/ Changing market structure of an industry that has experienced significant changes either in the EU or globally
3/ Impact of changing environmental regulations and policies on an industry
4/ State ownership - the move back towards nationalisation
5/ Effects of technological change and the implications for UK businesses and labour

Unit 4
1/ Consequences for the UK of a double-dip recession in Euro Zone or the United States
2/ Economic impact of natural disasters
3/ Fast-changing role of the Chinese economy and its implications for the UK
4/ Impact on the UK economy of economic instability in the Euro Zone
5/ Impact on the UK economy of further enlargement of the EU single market
6/ Economic consequences of changes in FDI flows

The Tutor2u European Economy in Focus will be published early in the New Year and we will also be producing a study companion on the Global Economy early in the Spring of 2011. Details will be posted on the Economics Blog.