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Eduqas A-Level Economics A520QS
Scarcity, Choice and the Economic Problem
Topic overviewScarcity, choice and the basic economic problemThe factors of production and their rewardsOpportunity cost for individuals, firms and governmentEconomic goods, free goods and the three fundamental questionsThe production possibility frontier and its shapeMovements along and shifts in the frontierEfficiency, unemployed resources and the frontierSpecialisation, the division of labour and exchangeProductivity and how it is raised
Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium
Topic overviewProduct markets and the objectives of economic agentsMarginal utility and the derivation of demandThe demand curve and why it slopes downwardThe conditions of demand and shifts in the demand curveSupply and why the supply curve slopes upwardThe conditions of supply and shifts in the supply curveEquilibrium price and output in a competitive marketShifts in demand and supply and the new equilibriumConsumer surplus, producer surplus and market welfare
Elasticities of Demand and Supply
Topic overviewPrice elasticity of demand and its calculationWhat determines price elasticity of demandPrice elasticity of demand and total revenueElasticity along a straight-line demand curveIncome elasticity of demand, normal and inferior goodsCross price elasticity of demand, substitutes and complementsPrice elasticity of supply and its determinantsElasticity and the incidence of taxes and subsidiesElasticity in decision-making by firms and government
The Labour Market
Topic overviewThe demand for labour and what shifts itThe supply of labour and what shifts itWage determination in a competitive labour marketThe elasticity of demand and supply of labourWage differentials and their causesLabour market flexibility and trade union powerWelfare payments, income tax and labour market performanceThe national minimum wageMigration and the labour market
Costs, Revenues, Profits and the Growth of Firms
Topic overviewPrices, profit and the allocation of resourcesThe short run, the long run and diminishing returnsTotal, average and marginal productFixed and variable costs in the short runAverage and marginal cost curves and their shapesTotal, average and marginal revenueEconomies and diseconomies of scale and the long run average cost curveProfit maximisation and the MC = MR ruleNormal profit, abnormal profit and economic profitInternal and external growth and types of integrationProductive, allocative, dynamic and Pareto efficiency
Market Structures
Topic overviewMarket structure, contestability and barriers to entryBusiness objectives and satisficingPerfect competition and its assumptionsShort run and long run equilibrium in perfect competitionThe efficiency of perfect competitionMonopolistic competition and its assumptionsShort run and long run equilibrium in monopolistic competitionThe efficiency of monopolistic competitionMonopoly and its assumptionsMonopoly compared with perfect competitionThe costs and benefits of monopolyOligopoly, interdependence and concentration ratiosPrice and non-price competition, collusion and price leadershipGame theory and the Nash equilibrium
Competition Policy and Privatisation
Topic overviewWhy governments are concerned about monopoly powerMerger control and market investigationsCartels, restrictive practices and abuse of dominanceCompetition authorities and how they workRegulating natural monopolies and the utilitiesContestable markets and barriers to entryThe limits of competition as a policy goalPrivatisation and the forms it takesEvaluating privatisation and the case for renationalisation
Market Failure and Government Intervention
Topic overviewMarket failure and economic efficiencyExternalities, welfare loss and the socially efficient outputPublic goods, free riding and property rightsMerit goods, demerit goods and information failureMonopoly power, factor immobility and volatile pricesTaxation, subsidies and tradable pollution permitsRegulation, state provision and information provisionMaximum and minimum prices in agriculture, housing and labourGovernment failure and distortions in marketsIncome inequality as a market failure
The Circular Flow and Aggregate Demand
Topic overviewThe circular flow of incomeInjections, withdrawals and equilibrium national incomeThe multiplierThe acceleratorAggregate demand and its componentsConsumption and savingInvestment and its determinantsGovernment spending and net tradeThe AD function: why it slopes down and what shifts it
Aggregate Supply and the Phillips Curve
Topic overviewAggregate supply and the AD/AS frameworkThe short run aggregate supply curveShifts in short run aggregate supplyThe Neo-Classical long run aggregate supply curveThe Keynesian long run aggregate supply curveShifts in long run aggregate supplyMacroeconomic equilibrium and adjustment to the long runThe short run Phillips curveExpectations, the long run Phillips curve and the NAIRUShifts in the long run Phillips curve
Economic Growth
Topic overviewMacroeconomic policy objectives and the conflicts between themMeasuring economic growthActual growth and potential growthIllustrating growth on the PPF and in AD/AS analysisOutput gapsThe business cycle and recessionThe causes of economic growthPolicy instruments used to create growthThe benefits and costs of economic growth
Unemployment
Topic overviewThe labour force, economic activity and inactivityMeasuring unemploymentProblems in measuring unemployment accuratelyThe economic and social costs of unemploymentCyclical unemployment and demand side causesFrictional, structural and seasonal unemploymentReal wage unemployment and incentives to workThe natural rate of unemploymentDemand side solutions to unemploymentSupply side solutions to unemploymentChoosing between demand side and supply side approaches
Inflation and Deflation
Topic overviewInflation, deflation and disinflation definedPrice indices, the basket and weightingCalculating index numbers and the inflation rateThe main measures of inflation comparedDemand-pull inflationCost-push inflationThe quantity theory of money and inflation expectationsThe costs of inflationPolicies to control inflationDeflation and the deflationary spiral
The Balance of Payments
Topic overviewThe balance of payments accountsThe current account and its four componentsThe capital and financial accountsWhy the balance of payments sums to zeroCauses of current account imbalancesThe terms of trade and the current accountThe consequences of a deficit or a surplusPolicies to correct a current account deficit
Control of the National Debt
Topic overviewDeficits, surpluses and the national debtMeasurement of the deficit and the debtStructural and cyclical deficitsDiscretionary policy and automatic stabilisersThe cost of servicing debt and credit ratingsRefinancing, confidence and market disciplineCrowding out and the effect of debt on growthAusterity in a downturn and whether debt is always bad
Fiscal Policy
Topic overviewThe budget and the fiscal stanceGovernment spending and where it goesTaxation and the sources of government revenueDirect and indirect taxesFiscal policy, aggregate demand and AD/AS analysisThe Keynesian case for demand side fiscal policyCriticisms of demand side fiscal policyThe Laffer curve and tax ratesSupply side fiscal policy
Monetary Policy and Financial Stability
Topic overviewThe Bank of England and monetary stabilityThe inflation target and the Bank of England remitThe Monetary Policy Committee and how Bank Rate is setThe transmission mechanism of monetary policyInterest rates, aggregate demand and inflationInterest rates and the exchange rateEvaluating interest rates as a policy toolQuantitative easing and how it worksThe risks of quantitative easing and its unwindingDirect intervention in bank lendingThe financial sector and the real economyAsset bubbles and the financial crisis of 2007-08Systemic risk, moral hazard and the lender of last resortRegulating the financial systemUK economic turning points since 1990
Exchange Rates and Supply Side Policies
Topic overviewExchange rate determination in a free marketFactors that cause a currency to appreciate or depreciateThe exchange rate index and effects on households and firmsExchange rates, aggregate demand and the macroeconomic objectivesManaged floats, fixed rates and central bank interventionThe terms of trade and the Marshall-Lerner conditionSupply side policies and long-run aggregate supplyMarket-based and interventionist supply side policiesEvaluating supply side policies
International Trade and Protectionism
Topic overviewWhy countries tradeAbsolute and comparative advantageCalculating comparative advantageThe gains from trade and the terms of tradeLimits and criticisms of comparative advantageThe case for free tradeThe case against free tradeTariffs and their effectsQuotas, subsidies and other methods of protectionThe arguments for and against protectionism
Globalisation and the UK in the World Economy
Topic overviewWhat globalisation is and what drives itThe benefits of globalisationThe costs of globalisationThe United Kingdom in the world economyThe World Trade OrganisationEconomic problems of developed, developing and emerging economiesThe European Union and the single marketThe advantages and disadvantages of membershipEnlargement of the European UnionEconomic and monetary union and the euroOptimal currency areas and the European Central Bank
Economic Development
Topic overviewWhat economic development meansNational income as a measure of developmentPurchasing power parity and comparing countriesThe Human Development IndexOther indicators of developmentEconomic structure and developmentObstacles: health, education and populationObstacles: capital, infrastructure and institutionsObstacles: trade, resources and external conditionsSolutions: liberalisation and foreign investmentSolutions: aid and debt reliefSolutions: industrialisation strategies
Unemployment
- 11 subtopics
- 33 things to know
- All three components
What Unemployment covers
Unemployment is examined in Macroeconomics — assessed across all three components. It covers the labour force, economic activity and inactivity, measuring unemployment, problems in measuring unemployment accurately, the economic and social costs of unemployment, cyclical unemployment and demand side causes, frictional, structural and seasonal unemployment, real wage unemployment and incentives to work, the natural rate of unemployment, demand side solutions to unemployment, supply side solutions to unemployment and choosing between demand side and supply side approaches.
Where it is assessed
All three components
Macroeconomics, assessed across Components 1, 2 and 3.
Check the Eduqas specification ↗The 11 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The labour force, economic activity and inactivityLabour force, working age population and participation rate.Open →
- Measuring unemploymentClaimant count and employment rate.Open →
- Problems in measuring unemployment accuratelyHidden unemployment and seasonal adjustment of unemployment data.Open →
- The economic and social costs of unemploymentMain cost of unemployment to the economy as a whole, three costs of unemployment to households and social costs of unemployment.Open →
- Cyclical unemployment and demand side causesUnemployment caused by a deficiency of aggregate demand, its relationship to the output gap, and why it recovers with demand while other kinds do not.Open →
- Frictional, structural and seasonal unemploymentFrictional unemployment, structural unemployment and seasonal unemployment.Open →
- Real wage unemployment and incentives to workReal wage unemployment, classical unemployment and unemployment trap.Open →
- The natural rate of unemploymentThe rate consistent with stable inflation, what determines it, and why it is a structural figure that demand management cannot lower.Open →
- Demand side solutions to unemploymentRisk of using demand side policy at full employment and automatic stabilisers and how do they help.Open →
- Supply side solutions to unemploymentTraining, benefit reform, housing and labour market flexibility — what each targets, how long each takes, and the objections to each.Open →
- Choosing between demand side and supply side approachesMain constraint on using expansionary policy to cut unemployment, deadweight loss in an employment subsidy and substitution in the context of employment subsidies.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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How does the output gap relate to cyclical unemployment?
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Define the labour force.
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Name the two major approaches used to measure unemployment in the United Kingdom.
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Why is unemployment difficult to measure accurately?
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What is the main cost of unemployment to the economy as a whole?
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Define frictional unemployment.
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Define real wage unemployment.
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Define the natural rate of unemployment.
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When are demand side solutions to unemployment appropriate?
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What do supply side solutions to unemployment aim to do?
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How are approaches to reducing unemployment broadly characterised?
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Who counts as economically active?
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How does the Labour Force Survey define an unemployed person?
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What is hidden unemployment?
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How does unemployment affect the government's finances?
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Define structural unemployment.
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How is real wage unemployment shown on a labour market diagram?
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Why is the natural rate of unemployment not zero?
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How can fiscal policy be used to reduce unemployment?
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How does training policy reduce unemployment?
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Why does the appropriate solution depend on the nature of unemployment?
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Who counts as economically inactive?
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Which international body's definition does the Labour Force Survey follow?
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Who are discouraged workers?
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State three costs of unemployment to households.
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Define cyclical unemployment.
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Define seasonal unemployment.
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What can hold real wages above the market clearing level?
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Which types of unemployment are included in the natural rate?
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How can monetary policy be used to reduce unemployment?
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How can education policy reduce structural unemployment?
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How can a government identify whether unemployment is cyclical?
Take Unemployment further
The same content, four other ways.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Define the labour force.
Model answer
The labour force is the total number of people who are either in work or actively seeking work. Economically inactive people are excluded from the figure.
- 2
Who counts as economically active?
Model answer
Economically active individuals are those in employment plus those unemployed and actively seeking work. The two groups together make up the labour force.
- 3
Who counts as economically inactive?
Model answer
Economically inactive individuals are of working age but neither in work nor seeking work. Students, carers, the long term sick and the early retired are the main groups.
- 4
Define the working age population.
Model answer
The working age population is everyone aged between the school leaving age and the state pension age. Only part of that group is economically active.
- 5
What is the participation rate?
Model answer
The participation rate is the labour force expressed as a percentage of the working age population. A higher rate means more of the population is available for work.
- 6
A country has a working age population of 40 million and a labour force of 32 million. Calculate the participation rate.
Model answer
A labour force of 32 million divided by a working age population of 40 million equals 0.8. The participation rate is 80%.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Unemployment revision questions
- What does Unemployment cover in Eduqas A-Level Economics?
- 11 subtopics: the labour force, economic activity and inactivity, measuring unemployment, problems in measuring unemployment accurately, the economic and social costs of unemployment, cyclical unemployment and demand side causes, frictional, structural and seasonal unemployment, real wage unemployment and incentives to work, the natural rate of unemployment, demand side solutions to unemployment, supply side solutions to unemployment and choosing between demand side and supply side approaches. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Unemployment organised?
- By the Eduqas A520QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Unemployment, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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