SQA Higher Economics UK Economic Activity overview quiz quiz

The percentage change in real GDP

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI)

The unemployment rate

The current account of the balance of payments

0%, so that prices never rise at all

2%, a low and stable rate of price increases

5%, allowing prices to rise fairly quickly

10%, to keep the economy growing rapidly

Growth always reduces the amount that households spend

Growth has no effect on prices in any circumstances

Higher demand near full capacity bids prices up, raising inflation

Growth automatically lowers the price of all goods and services

Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services

Excise duty on petrol and diesel

Excise duty on alcohol and tobacco

Income tax on a person's earnings

A deficit is one year's gap between spending and revenue; the national debt is the total accumulated borrowing

A deficit is the total accumulated borrowing; the national debt is one year's gap

They mean exactly the same thing and are measured identically

A deficit applies only to households; the national debt applies only to firms

Regressive, because it falls hardest on the poor

Progressive, because higher earners pay a larger share

Proportional, because everyone pays the same share

Indirect, because it is charged on spending

Interest rates and the money supply set by the Bank of England

Education, training and infrastructure to raise capacity

Government spending and taxation to influence the economy

Exchange rate changes to affect imports and exports

The Bank of England, through its Monetary Policy Committee

The Scottish Parliament at Holyrood

Individual commercial high-street banks acting together

The World Trade Organisation in Geneva

It makes borrowing cheaper, so households spend much more

It has no effect on borrowing, saving or spending decisions

It increases the money supply and raises aggregate demand

It makes borrowing dearer and saving more rewarding, so spending and demand fall

Investing in education and training to raise workers' productivity

Cutting interest rates to encourage more borrowing

Raising government spending to boost aggregate demand

Increasing income tax to reduce a budget deficit

Saving by households out of their income

Taxation paid to the government

Investment spending by firms

Spending by households on imported goods

National income rises until a new higher equilibrium

National income falls until a new lower equilibrium

National income stays exactly the same forever

National income becomes impossible to measure

An initial injection raising national income by a larger final amount

A tax rise reducing national income by exactly the same amount

The price of a good rising in proportion to its demand

The number of firms in a perfectly competitive market

Setting Scottish income tax rates and bands

Spending on NHS Scotland and Scottish schools

Economic development and skills policy in Scotland

Monetary policy and control of the currency

Renewable energy, suited to Scotland's windy, wet, upland geography

Large-scale desert solar farming across central Scotland

Tropical fruit growing as a major national export

Diamond mining as the country's biggest employer