IB Economics Induction- Central Themes

Continuing from my last blog on the Foundations of Economics, another purpose of induction lessons is to help students develop a sense of international mindedness that is a feature of good economists, using examples of key current issues from around the world. There are a number of central themes on the IB spec and a few resources here that might make a good start

There was a great edition of Channel 4’s Dispatches last week- Are you Addicted to Your Doctor- with Tazeen Ahmad looking at how UK hospital A&E departments suffer from people turning up with non-urgent conditions and the impact on GP practices of missed appointments. A 30 minute video but a great start on government intervention and resource allocation.

This FT video clip focuses on Russia’s response to sanctions from the US and EU in the face of the crisis in Ukraine. The government’s decision to limit food imports as a form of retaliation has created a serous shortage that the country is struggling to fill.

On the threat to sustainability posed by current patterns of resource allocation, there is a good Guardian article here on disagreement around the value of Scotland’s oil and gas wealth, as well as how past revenue could have been used, highlighting Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

There is also a good BBC video featuring the economic impact of pollution in India and another on a poster in Sheffield that soaks up pollutants…

On arguments around the dichotomy between economic efficiency and the goal of equity, there are some photos here from Al Jazeera on a large group of homeless people who set up camp near a newly constructed stadium in Sao Paolo before the World Cup. Some great stimulus material for class discussion

Continuing with poverty and the distinction between economic growth and economic development, the FT has a good video and article on how Aboriginal Australians in Port Headland have not benefitted from the mining boom in the area, living in poor conditions and with a shortage of social housing. And another clip from Al Jazeera about the scramble for resources in Africa, with resource and infrastructure investment by the major world powers having only a small impact on the local population

Finally, to set out some of the issues in Development Economics, Unit 4, these UN videos on the Millennium Development Goals lend themselves to some class research projects on the differences between developing nations, perhaps using trading economics on economic growth rates and the World Bank website on economic development. I got my students to work in small groups to agree a set of 10 development indicators and asked them to create some WoW Economics ‘top trumps’, finding the data by choosing 5 different countries across 4 continents.