England · AQASyllabus
Economics syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England 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.
3.1 How markets work
Module overview →- What happens when markets do not work well?The benefits of competition, monopoly and market power, the causes of market failure including externalities, merit and demerit goods and public goods, and how government intervenes to correct it.11 min answer →
- How do firms measure their costs, revenue and profit?The objectives of firms, fixed, variable and total costs, average cost, total and average revenue, and how profit is calculated and why it matters for producers.10 min answer →
- What determines how much of a good consumers want to buy?The law of demand, why the demand curve slopes downwards, the difference between a movement along and a shift of demand, and the factors that shift demand.9 min answer →
- Why do average costs often fall as a firm grows larger?Economies of scale and why they lower average cost, the difference between internal and external economies, diseconomies of scale, and the costs and benefits of business growth.10 min answer →
- What resources do firms combine to make goods and services?The four factors of production (land, labour, capital and enterprise), the rewards to each factor, and how the quantity and quality of factors affect what an economy can produce.9 min answer →
- How is the market price of a good actually set?Market equilibrium, how the interaction of demand and supply sets the equilibrium price and quantity, how surpluses and shortages are cleared, and how shifts in demand or supply change the equilibrium.10 min answer →
- How much does quantity respond when price changes?Price elasticity of demand and supply, how each is calculated, the meaning of elastic and inelastic, the factors that affect elasticity, and the link between elasticity and revenue.10 min answer →
- Why do workers, firms and countries specialise in what they produce?Production and productivity, the division of labour and specialisation, the advantages and disadvantages of specialising, and the role of exchange in a specialised economy.9 min answer →
- How do markets and prices decide what gets produced?How markets allocate resources through the price mechanism, the rationing, signalling and incentive functions of price, and the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy.10 min answer →
- What determines how much of a good firms are willing to sell?The law of supply, why the supply curve slopes upwards, the difference between a movement along and a shift of supply, and the factors that shift supply.9 min answer →
- Why must every society make choices about how to use its resources?The economic problem of scarcity, the difference between needs and wants, opportunity cost, and why choices have to be made by consumers, producers and government.9 min answer →
- What decides how much workers are paid?The demand for and supply of labour, how the equilibrium wage is set, why wages differ between jobs, and the meaning of derived demand in the labour market.10 min answer →
- How do markets and money help an economy work?What a market is, the different types of market, the functions of money, the characteristics of money, and how money and markets allow specialisation and exchange to take place.9 min answer →
3.2 How the economy works
Module overview →- Why are incomes unequal, and what can the government do about it?The distribution of income and the causes of inequality, how the government redistributes income, and the difference between progressive, proportional and regressive taxes.10 min answer →
- What makes an economy grow, and is growth always good?What economic growth is, the causes of growth, the stages of the economic cycle, and the benefits and costs of economic growth.9 min answer →
- What is the government trying to achieve for the economy?The four main macroeconomic objectives, what gross domestic product (GDP) measures, how living standards are judged, and the possible conflicts between objectives.9 min answer →
- Why are some people out of work even when the economy is doing well?What unemployment is and how it is measured, the main types and causes of unemployment, the costs of unemployment, and the meaning of full employment.9 min answer →
- How does the government manage the whole economy?Fiscal policy through government spending and taxation, monetary policy through interest rates and the money supply, the role of the Bank of England, and how these policies are used to meet macroeconomic objectives.11 min answer →
- How has the world economy become so interconnected?What globalisation is, its causes, the role of multinational companies, and the benefits and drawbacks of globalisation for countries, firms and workers.9 min answer →
- Where does the government get its money, and what does it spend it on?The main sources of government income, the main types of government spending, the difference between a budget deficit and surplus, and the meaning of the national debt.10 min answer →
- Why do prices rise, and why does it matter?What inflation is and how it is measured by the CPI, the causes of inflation, the effects of inflation, and the meaning of deflation.10 min answer →
- Why do countries trade with each other?The reasons for international trade, the meaning of imports and exports, the balance of payments, the role of exchange rates, and the benefits and drawbacks of trade.10 min answer →
- How can the government raise what the economy can produce in the long run?What supply-side policies are, the main examples such as education and training, tax and benefit reform and infrastructure, how they aim to raise productive capacity, and their strengths and limits.10 min answer →
- What do banks and financial markets do for the economy?The role of money in the wider economy, the functions of commercial banks and the central bank, the importance of financial markets, and how the financial sector supports households and firms.9 min answer →