Scotland · SQAQ&A

EconomicsQ&A by dot point

A short Q&A bank for every Scotland Economics syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.

Assignment and Skills

Economic skills and decision making: interpreting and processing economic data, applying theory to evidence, making reasoned economic judgements, and answering the question paper's command words.
2Q&A pairs
The Higher Economics assignment: an independent research report on a current economic topic, applying economic theory to evidence, reaching a conclusion, and how it is assessed.
2Q&A pairs

Economics of the Market

Market failure and intervention: the causes of market failure (externalities, public goods, merit and demerit goods, monopoly power, information failure) and the ways government intervenes to correct it.
2Q&A pairs
Market structures: the characteristics of perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly, and their effects on price, output, choice and efficiency.
2Q&A pairs
Markets and price determination: market equilibrium where demand meets supply, the effect of shifts in demand and supply on price and quantity, and the price mechanism as a way of allocating resources.
2Q&A pairs
Elasticity: price elasticity of demand and its calculation and determinants, the link to total revenue, and price elasticity of supply, income elasticity and cross elasticity.
2Q&A pairs
Production and costs: production and productivity, fixed and variable costs, total, average and marginal cost, revenue and profit, and economies and diseconomies of scale.
2Q&A pairs
The basic economic problem of scarcity and choice, opportunity cost, the factors of production, and the use of production possibility diagrams to model trade-offs.
2Q&A pairs
The theory of demand: the law of demand, the demand curve, the difference between a movement along and a shift of the curve, and the non-price determinants of demand.
2Q&A pairs
The theory of supply: the law of supply, the supply curve, the difference between a movement along and a shift of the curve, and the non-price determinants of supply.
2Q&A pairs

Global Economic Activity

The balance of payments: the structure of the current account, the meaning of a current account surplus and deficit, the causes of a deficit, and policies to correct one.
2Q&A pairs
Exchange rates: how a floating exchange rate is determined by the demand for and supply of a currency, the causes of appreciation and depreciation, and their effects on exports, imports and the economy.
2Q&A pairs
The impact of the global economy: developing and emerging economies and the barriers they face, the effects of globalisation on different countries, and the role of global institutions (the WTO, IMF and World Bank).
2Q&A pairs
Multinationals and globalisation: the nature and growth of multinational companies, the reasons they locate abroad, and the costs and benefits of multinationals to host countries.
2Q&A pairs
Understanding global trade: the reasons countries trade and the gains from specialisation and comparative advantage, free trade versus protectionism, and the methods and effects of protection.
2Q&A pairs

UK Economic Activity

The main macroeconomic aims of the UK government - economic growth, low inflation, low unemployment and a stable balance of payments - how each is measured, and the conflicts between them.
2Q&A pairs
Government finance: the sources of government revenue (direct and indirect taxation), the main areas of public spending, and the meaning of a budget surplus, deficit and the national debt.
2Q&A pairs
Government policies: fiscal policy, monetary policy and supply-side policy, how each works to influence the macroeconomic aims, and their limitations.
2Q&A pairs
National income and the circular flow of income: the circular flow model with injections and leakages, the meaning of national income (GDP), and the multiplier effect.
2Q&A pairs
The place of Scotland in the UK economy: the structure of the Scottish economy, the division of economic powers between the Scottish and UK governments, and Scotland's key industries and trade.
2Q&A pairs