Northern Ireland · CCEASyllabus
Economics syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the Northern Ireland Economicssyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
A2 1: Business Economics
Module overview →- Why and how do firms grow, and what objectives do they pursue beyond profit?The objectives of firms, organic growth, mergers and takeovers, integration, the survival of small firms, and the reasons firms demerge.10 min answer →
- How do a firm's costs, revenues and profits behave in the short run and the long run?Short-run and long-run costs, the law of diminishing returns, economies and diseconomies of scale, revenue concepts, and profit maximisation.11 min answer →
- How do firms behave in the real-world structures between the two extremes, and how do they compete without price?Monopolistic competition and oligopoly, interdependence and collusion, game theory, non-price competition, and price discrimination.11 min answer →
- How do firms behave at the two extremes of market structure, and which is more efficient?The assumptions and outcomes of perfect competition and monopoly, the short-run and long-run equilibrium of each, and a comparison of their efficiency.11 min answer →
- How are wages determined in a labour market, and why do they differ between groups?The demand for and supply of labour, wage determination in competitive labour markets, the effects of trade unions and monopsony, and labour market failure.11 min answer →
A2 2: Managing the Economy in a Global World
Module overview →- What does the balance of payments record, and how are exchange rates determined and managed?The structure of the balance of payments, the causes and consequences of a current account imbalance, exchange rate systems, and exchange rate determination and effects.11 min answer →
- How is development measured, what holds poorer countries back, and what strategies help them grow?The difference between growth and development, measures of development, the barriers to development, and strategies to promote development.11 min answer →
- What is globalisation, and how do trading blocs and economic integration shape the world economy?The causes and effects of globalisation, the role of transnational corporations, the stages of economic integration, and the costs and benefits of trading blocs such as the EU single market.11 min answer →
- Why do countries trade, and when might protecting domestic industry be justified?The basis for international trade, absolute and comparative advantage, the gains from trade, the methods and effects of protectionism, and the terms of trade.11 min answer →
- How does a government manage its economy within an interconnected world, and what constrains its policy?The use of macroeconomic policy in an open economy, the role of international institutions, and the conflicts and constraints policymakers face in a global world.11 min answer →
AS 1: The Market System
Module overview →- How do demand and supply interact to set the price and quantity in a market?The determinants of demand and supply, movements along and shifts of the curves, market equilibrium and disequilibrium, and consumer and producer surplus.10 min answer →
- How responsive are demand and supply to changes in price and income, and why does that matter?Price, income and cross elasticity of demand and price elasticity of supply, their calculation, determinants, and applications to revenue, taxation and producers.11 min answer →
- How can governments correct market failure, and why might intervention make things worse?Methods of government intervention - indirect taxes, subsidies, regulation, price controls, tradable permits and state provision - their effects, and the causes of government failure.11 min answer →
- When and why does the free market fail to allocate resources efficiently?The types of market failure - externalities, public goods, merit and demerit goods, information failure, and the abuse of monopoly power - and the resulting welfare loss.11 min answer →
- Why does scarcity force every economy to choose, and how do different systems decide what to produce?The fundamental economic problem of scarcity, opportunity cost, the factors of production, the production possibility frontier, and the market, command and mixed economic systems.10 min answer →
- How do prices allocate scarce resources, and how does consumer utility explain demand?The functions of the price mechanism, the inter-relationships between markets, and the theory of consumer utility including marginal utility and the paradox of value.10 min answer →
AS 2: Managing the Economy
Module overview →- What determines the total level of demand and supply in an economy, and how is equilibrium output set?The components of aggregate demand, the short-run and long-run aggregate supply curves, macroeconomic equilibrium, and the multiplier effect.11 min answer →
- How does the government use fiscal, monetary and supply-side policy to manage the economy, and how do the objectives conflict?The macroeconomic objectives, fiscal policy, monetary policy and supply-side policy, their effects on the economy, and the conflicts between objectives.11 min answer →
- How is inflation measured, what causes it, and why is price stability a policy objective?The measurement of inflation using price indices, the causes of inflation (demand-pull and cost-push), deflation, and the consequences of changing prices.10 min answer →
- How do we measure the size and growth of an economy, and what drives the economic cycle?The circular flow of income, the measurement of national income (GDP and GNI), real versus nominal values, economic growth, and the phases of the economic cycle.10 min answer →
- How is unemployment measured, what causes it, and why does it matter?The measurement of unemployment, the types and causes of unemployment, and the economic and social consequences of unemployment.10 min answer →