Popular Post Summer Glau Posted March 10, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 NOTE: This thread was written based on the syllabus for exams in 2012. A lot of this stuff is still useful for the 2013 syllabus though Ready to own economics? Alright, here we go! We’ll tackle this paper part by part. For paper 1, you will always have a choice of 4 questions. Each question has 2 parts, part A and part B. Each question usually relates to a specific section of the syllabus. For example, there could a question about price ceilings from microeconomics, a question about unemployment from macroeconomics, and so on. And you just have to choose ONE out of the four! So, it makes sense to pick the easiest question! Pick the question that you are most knowledgeable about and could write a lot about. So during your 5 minute reading time, this is what you should be doing. Read all the questions and think about which question you want to do. Usually people will really like one question and instantly know that they found their soul mate question. (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but you get what I mean, right? Think through the different things you could say, the diagrams you could draw, etc. ) In the case that you are stuck between two (or more) questions, then think about part B. Remember that part B is more important since it is worth more marks (15 for part B vs 10 for part A). Which question do you think you would be able to best evaluate? Go for that question. Now that we got the basic structure down, let’s move on to the different parts of the question. Part A Part A of paper 1 always asks you to explain something. It is worth 10 marks. It may ask something like “Explain different factors that cause a change in the nation’s exchange rate.” So what do you do first? OMG HELP ME I’M GONNA FAIL I’M BLANKING OUT!!!! Right, remember to chill out before you start. You’ve prepared for this (or at least I hope you did), so don’t panic! Even if ideas don’t come to your head right away they will once you start writing! So take a deep breath before you start and relax your body. DEFINE any economic terms you see in the question! Show the examiners that you’re not confused by fancy-shmancy economics terms! Show them that you know what they are asking you. Plus you really should define them because you get marks for doing so So define any economic term you see in the question. Always include an example to back up your definition! Even if your definition is not totally correct but your example is good, you can still get full marks for your definition. For example, an exchange rate is one currency expressed in terms of another currency. An example would be that 1 US dollar is equal to 30 yen. Sure, this exchange rate may not be the actual exchange rate, but it shows understanding of what an exchange rate is. It shows that you understand the concept, which is what your examiner is looking for. Next, answer the question! Attack the question! If it asks you to explain a concept, do that! For example, we know that a change in supply or a change in demand could affect the value of an exchange rate compared to another. Some things that could cause a change in supply are…and then you ramble on about the different factors. Then state the effects of an increase in supply of a certain currency... A picture is worth a thousand words. And the best picture you could draw on your exam paper is a diagram to SHOW what you are talking about! If you say that there will be a decrease in the demand for a good/service, show it on a diagram! Make sure that you include all your labels, like axis labels, equilibrium points, etc. Also MAKE YOUR DIAGRAMS BIG. I would say to make them at least half a page big. Then, your examiner will be able to see nice and clearly what you're talking about, and they don't have to strain their eyes to peer into some tiny corner of your page to get the idea of what's going on. Remember, happy examiner = better chance of scoring high. Any label that you were taught to include on a specific diagram, include it! Then you can mention the effects of an increase/decrease in supply/demand, etc as shown on your diagram. Time management is key! Don’t spend too long on this question! Remember part B? Part B is worth 15 marks and part A is only worth 10 marks. Spending too much time on part A means that you’ll have to rush through part B. You should have a better answer for part B because it is worth more marks. Since you have 1 hour to write paper 1, I would spend roughly 25 minutes on this section. Once you’ve passed 25 minutes, stop writing for part A and move on to part B! Part B Ok, so we’ve reached the dreaded part B. It will always start with the word Evaluate. Some of you may be wondering what evaluation is. Evaluation is basically the effects of whatever is happening on different people. It is very important that you know how to evaluate here! Example: Evaluate the effect of a lower exchange rate on a nation’s economy. You might be thinking “What on earth am I supposed to say? That question is sooooo broad!” Yes, it is a broad question! It’s broad so that it can accommodate many different points of view and many possible answers. It’s impossible to talk about ALL the possible effects of a lower exchange rate on a nation’s economy, especially in a time of 35 minutes (given you spend 25 minutes on section 1). So what do you do then? Focus on one effect at a time. For example, you could say that a lower exchange rate will result in inflation due to an increase in demand from foreigners for domestic goods, then write about that and show it on a diagram. Now that you’ve explained to your examiner why inflation would occur, then you can mention all good and bad things that come with inflation as part of your evaluation. Inflation is usually a sign that an economy is growing and that people are buying more. Real estate owners would win because the value of their assets would increase. People who borrow money from a bank would also be positively affected because the value of the money they borrow is worth more than its value when they repay it. However, customers would lose because their purchasing power decreases. Lenders would also lose because they are repaid with money that is worth less now than when it was borrowed from them. In evaluation, you can also talk about businesses, the government, etc. Basically just talk about anyone/anything that could be affected. See how both sides of the effects of inflation are incorporated? That’s what you have to do when you evaluate. Talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. After you talk about one point in depth (inflation) then you can move onto another if you have time. But make sure you’ve covered the important points first. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. IB likes to see people prioritize their points. There really isn’t a right answer as to which point should be the most important in your discussion. As long as you can justify your prioritizing, then it should be fine. Start with phrases like “The most significant effect of this policy is…” to show prioritization. Don’t forget about structure! The IB doesn’t have a set rule on whether you should write in point form or in sentences. However I would say that writing in full sentences looks a lot more professional. You want your examiner to have a good impression of you right? Not the impression that you’re cutting corners… It’s also good, wherever possible, to organize your thoughts into paragraphs so that you can clearly distinguish between different ideas. This being said, this is not an essay. Do not waste time writing an introduction and concluding paragraph. At most you could write a sentence or two, but it’s better to spend your time writing about things that can actually gain you marks. Well that's it for now...if anyone has any more tips to add, feel free to add on =D 23 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wide Eyed Wanderer Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 How about we change the topic to Econs Exam Tackling Thread, and accommodate tips for paper 1, 2 and 3, all in one place? 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summer Glau Posted March 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 I'm actually working on tips for paper 2 SL (same as paper 3 HL) so I will get those up as soon as I finish! I didn't take econ HL though so I know very little about paper 2 HL :/ If anyone has tips for that you're more than welcome to share (same for the other papers). Hmm if you guys want I could put all the papers in one thread... 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wide Eyed Wanderer Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 I have mocks going on right now so I'm a bit pressed for time, but once they're done I'll put up tips for Paper 2. It'll be good to have all the tips in one place. Or maybe we can have a thread for HL and one for SL ( I don't know if the assessment criteria is different for both - Is it? Sorry, no one in my school takes SL econs so..). Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny2505 Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 I'm actually working on tips for paper 2 SL (same as paper 3 HL) so I will get those up as soon as I finish! I didn't take econ HL though so I know very little about paper 2 HL :/ If anyone has tips for that you're more than welcome to share (same for the other papers). Hmm if you guys want I could put all the papers in one thread... You dont have any latest eco HL papers(2011)? my exams are in may so i really need to solve some latest papers. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
halocheese Posted April 29, 2012 Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Mnemonic for determinants of demand/supply.P-Price T-TasteI-Industry I-IncomeT-Technology P-PopulationT-Taxes (Subsidies) P-Price of other products (Substitutes/Compliments)S-ExpectationSSS S-ExpectationSSS Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pedro123dfs Posted November 2, 2014 Report Share Posted November 2, 2014 Hi, i've uploaded my notes and summaries for History and Economics for IB and A-Level examinations here: aibnotes.blogspot.com Among other topics, you'll find "Government macroeconomic policy objectives and indicators of national economic performance" Hope you find them useful Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tezzah Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Hi, quick question but I always get confused over whether to use the LRAS or SRAS diagram when they ask for the macro part in paper 1. Would you only use SRAS hen showing increases in the costs of production? 1 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle turtle Posted May 11, 2015 Report Share Posted May 11, 2015 Good advice, thanks for some reason I thought we had 15 minutes each part lol Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avnish Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 does the mark scheme for the part a questions in paper 1 always mention to include 1 diagram or could there be instances when the mark scheme in the top band marks says to include 2 or more than 1 diagrams? Because my teacher said that once you put a diagram you're good but my friend told me that his teacher marked him down for putting only 1 diagram, and we both had the same question for practise. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw85246 Posted March 25, 2017 Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 Hello, can you give any advice on using real world examples for answering paper 1 questions? It seems pretty difficult to me to use real world examples for macroeconomics. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NarcisPoloRos Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Hey could someone send me a good link to some past papers, I would really appreciate it. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IB`NOT`ez Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 (edited) On 3/26/2017 at 2:16 AM, tw85246 said: Hello, can you give any advice on using real world examples for answering paper 1 questions? It seems pretty difficult to me to use real world examples for macroeconomics. Don't sweat about real life examples, especially for macro. There's really not many examples apart from common ones e.g. inflation in japan/venezuela, unemployment in spain etc. etc. Students generally aren't expected to excel in Paper 1, as can be discerned by the boundaries: 36-38/50 is enough for a 7. That means you only need to score 18-19/25 per question, which isn't easy, but not overtly difficult either – and can definitely be achieved even without examples. Such an element imo is too stressed upon – the amount of effort needed to know all specific examples for each micro and macro subtopic and then being able to apply them is time better spent elsewhere as the usual difference between a good response without an example and a good response with an example is about ~4/25 marks. That means with perfect understanding of the theory, you can achieve 42/50, more than you need for a 7, without even knowing examples. It's better simply to master the theory and your diagrams rather than wasting precious time learning specific real life examples and applying them – it's needed for the highest of mark bands, but even to get a 7 you don't need to do so. Also worth noting that a lot of the Paper 1 questions nowadays have a built-in premise that you can simply extrapolate upon to whatever country you live in e.g. question about monopoly power regarding supermarkets you can simply use a real life supermarket name/brand from your country. Edited May 23, 2017 by IB`NOT`ez Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibi Posted October 9, 2018 Report Share Posted October 9, 2018 Hi, my final exam is in 4 weeks time, but I still don't know how to answer paper 1 properly to get good mark in Economics. Did anyone have sample answer for paper 1 and maybe 2? Also because I am not native speaker, sometimes my English makes my writing less concise. So if there is any tips for non-native to write good answer, please answer me!!! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sope Posted November 17, 2018 Report Share Posted November 17, 2018 On 10/9/2018 at 4:47 AM, bibi said: Hi, my final exam is in 4 weeks time, but I still don't know how to answer paper 1 properly to get good mark in Economics. Did anyone have sample answer for paper 1 and maybe 2? Also because I am not native speaker, sometimes my English makes my writing less concise. So if there is any tips for non-native to write good answer, please answer me!!! I think a good thing to do would be to resort to memorization- there's an excellent Economics guide out there called IB Economics In A Nutshell by Ellie Tragakes. All the notes in there are concise and perfect. I always use that book for my paper 1 and paper 2 and it works out brilliantly. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibsurfer Posted January 13, 2020 Report Share Posted January 13, 2020 What I think is very useful for revision was reading 50 Excellent Economics Essays for Paper 1. It was great for reading through content and also it provided me a reference of what a level 7 looks after I have practiced some questions as the mark scheme is often very brief on details. It's also got a great guide for writing 10 and 15 mark questions. You can get it here. http://www.ds-education.net/store/p5/54_Excellent_Economics_Essays_(PDF).html Don't recite the essays though since the one that comes out will prob be different from the question you are gonna get in the exam. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
examfighter Posted February 14, 2020 Report Share Posted February 14, 2020 I have made several videos about how to get a level 7 in IB Economics. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCx2pJo1RXDDNdRGDGu1MFqAJuS31u15a Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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