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AQA A2 Economics Unit 3 (ECON3) 20th June 2016 OFFICIAL THREAD

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Original post by SuzzyParla
Idk if this was right... but i added if it was solely down to the government, tax payers.. more of the lower household earners will experience a burden as the revenue comes from taxes.


that's actually a really good point! I wish I'd made that!
Reply 461
Original post by Ilikeyam
I wrote similar things but I mentioned the fact that public goods and merit goods are different things.
if the government do not provide public goods, there would be a missing markets.
I also mentioned that some merit goods or goods that are socially desirable such as Utilities - wont always lead to consumer welfare being increased such as the case with the oligopoly on Gas prices - British Gas
or BT etc
I evaluated by saying one is under the assumption that the free market can provide choice and low prices.
I mentioned the kink demand curve theory.
I mentioned how governments are needed for natural monopolies such as TFL
and that the private sector will not benefit anyone because if you break up a natural monopoly, you lose the economies of scale that benefit consumers in the form of lower prices.
I said there are instances by which the private sector can benefit society. Such as toll booths or private healthcare because the government have a fixed supply, and beyond that fixed supply, there is a missing market for consumers because of waiting lists, nhs etc.

Let me know if you think i was on the right path and my arguments were logical
I concluded also by saying that in most cases merit goods and public goods should be left to governments because of corruption between firms and regulatory agencies that are left to watch them as with the case with some utlility companies.
and that in most cases the public sector can maximise consumer welfare and interference from the private sector, wont always go according to what economic theory suggests - such as perfect competition, contestability etc.


Hi I did the third essay too. What was the question for the 25 marker again as I've forgotten and am worried I wrote the wrong thing thinking it was a different question :/
What did people write for the market forces side of the context 1 25 marker?

Responses would be appreciated
(edited 7 years ago)
What a paper, the minimum wage context and essay one was a gift from god
Original post by Louise123456789
Your one is really good
I wrote this

- merit goods are underprovided and underconsumed
- public goods not provided at all
- subsidising merit goods increased consumption and results in a welfare gain, making up for the deadweight loss
- firms may become dependent and unproductive - I mentioned that it will be out competed due to perfect competition just so that I could put in A2 content
- not a priority for the government
- public goods should be subsidised
- risk of government failure
- government might not know the social optimal level / there is no imperfect info
- overall, leave merit goods to the free market because there is some allocation of resource but subsidise public goods

What mark do you think I got?
What context did you do for section a


Your point about government not knowing the socially optimum level is good, I forgot to add that!

I came to a different conclusion than you since I wrote that both should be provided by the government but merit goods to a lesser extent. I don't agree on subsidising public goods since how can the firm even charge for such a thing? That's the only thing I don't agree with, but the rest of it seems good. As long as you gave reasons for both and you did a chain of reasoning, and explored alternative views then you should get a decent mark! Don't worry about it, just focus on unit 4. And I did context 1.

Original post by Ilikeyam
I wrote similar things but I mentioned the fact that public goods and merit goods are different things.
if the government do not provide public goods, there would be a missing markets.
I also mentioned that some merit goods or goods that are socially desirable such as Utilities - wont always lead to consumer welfare being increased such as the case with the oligopoly on Gas prices - British Gas
or BT etc
I evaluated by saying one is under the assumption that the free market can provide choice and low prices.
I mentioned the kink demand curve theory.
I mentioned how governments are needed for natural monopolies such as TFL
and that the private sector will not benefit anyone because if you break up a natural monopoly, you lose the economies of scale that benefit consumers in the form of lower prices.
I said there are instances by which the private sector can benefit society. Such as toll booths or private healthcare because the government have a fixed supply, and beyond that fixed supply, there is a missing market for consumers because of waiting lists, nhs etc.

Let me know if you think i was on the right path and my arguments were logical
I concluded also by saying that in most cases merit goods and public goods should be left to governments because of corruption between firms and regulatory agencies that are left to watch them as with the case with some utlility companies.
and that in most cases the public sector can maximise consumer welfare and interference from the private sector, wont always go according to what economic theory suggests - such as perfect competition, contestability etc.


The points I made bold are really good and I wish I had made them!! Yours sound so good tbh! well done haha. It brings in more A2 knowledge which mine kind of lacked because I couldn't think of how to mention them.

How did you use the kinked demand curve? What point did you make?

And the bits I made italic are points I also made! So I'm glad about that.

I think you pretty much covered the main points and as long as you evaluated it properly then I am sure you got really good cause your points were really like insightful, especially those in bold.


Original post by gabriellaj
To be honest, things like that are AS level but its also included in the A2 Spec and they test it because its an important part of economics, as long as your evaluation was good you'll reach the top marks. If it wasn't an A2 essay it wouldn't be in an A2 exam!


Thanks! I hope my evaluation was good enough then...
For living wage q I wrote this

- implementation of the living wage
Min wage diagram ( just labelled living wage ).. Explained how it essentially acts the same providing a minimum wage rate above the equilibrium ( prevents exploitation of cheap labour ) and therefore market failure

= good for those with it = can afford basic necessities

Evaluation = unemployment it causes , could worsen income inequality and make more people poor , only good for those who receive it ( not legal like the min wage ).. , only available for 21's was it ? And older ... Other groups still affected , bad for the growing youth unemployment and we need young people to have a chance in the labour market to gain skills / increase MRP and this attract higher wages in the long run

Other policies - progressive taxation --> Lorenz curve shifting inwards indicating more equality in incomes = good for lower income earners

- however can't reap the benefits from trickle down effects /investment = that could theoretically create more jobs + prosperity ( so gov failure )
- may move abroad to countries with lower rates or income tax eg Luxembourg --> less tax revenue available for the gov to redistribute / give in benefits
- may decentivise those workers from working as hard --> productivity goes down bad for the economy and long term jobs e.c.t ( was more of a weaker point )

Means tested benefits = WFTC.. Could lead to the poverty trap

JSA for those unemployed = unemployment trap

Final policy = education + training
- 20,000 apprenticeship scheme announced by Cameron + school leaving age increased
- people have better skills
More Inelastic in demand /supply / higher MRPS's e.c.t

- but time lags , budget deficit , ability to engage in such schemes

Conclusion --> said education \training was the best in the long run

I best get 20 at least I wrote like 5 pages and my hand writing isn't big 😂 and this part was the only good part for me


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come over here where the rea party is at. bury all your econ3 troubles and triumphs and get ready to smash ECON4 because econ3 is done and over with:u::h:
Reply 467
Original post by Superbob123
What did people write for the market forces side of the context 1 25 marker?

Responses would be appreciated


I put that its obvious market forces should be considered as most private firms main objective is profit maximisation. So although it is still intervention, policies such as pollution permits and carbon credits internalise the market for negative externalities and so provide a market based approach to the problem of environmemtal degredation. It doesnt refernence narket forces for the goods directy but i think this is probably what the answer is looking for. It talks about marjet forces in respect to demand and supply of carbon credits between producers rather than the producer and consumer.
What did you put?
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Avjp39
I put that its obvious market forces should be considered as most private firms main objective is profit maximisation. So although it is still intervention, policies such as pollution permits and carbon credits internalise the market for negative externalities and so provide a market based approach to the problem of environmemtal degredation. It doesnt refernence narket forces for the goods directy but i think this is probably what the answer is looking for. It talks about marjet forces in respect to demand and supply of carbon credits between producers rather than the producer and consumer.
What did you put?


would i be penalised for just saying 'profit' as opposed to 'profit maximisation'?
Reply 469
Original post by SuzzyParla
would i be penalised for just saying 'profit' as opposed to 'profit maximisation'?



I dont think so really. Profit still implies they are motivated by market forces as they need to respond to supply and demand to make any kind of profit.
Original post by BirdIsWord
hmm. How did you argue that market forces were relevant? i didnt have much to say for that..


Look at the last question. It is similar somehow https://a53f213a9762e28259484d918b5d32940870f71e.googledrive.com/host/0B1ZiqBksUHNYZW1tbXBfazM2Q3M/January%202011%20MS%20-%20Unit%203%20AQA%20Economics.PDF

Personally I talk about how the market might treat coal as a scarce resource and about signalling, and argue whether it is what they are willing to do or they are just short termist (try to maximise profit in the SR, do not care about effects in the LR) :smile:
Original post by Avjp39
I dont think so really. Profit still implies they are motivated by market forces as they need to respond to supply and demand to make any kind of profit.


was pollution permits/carbon credits the only form of intervention you mentioned?
Original post by prepdream
Look at the last question. It is similar somehow https://a53f213a9762e28259484d918b5d32940870f71e.googledrive.com/host/0B1ZiqBksUHNYZW1tbXBfazM2Q3M/January%202011%20MS%20-%20Unit%203%20AQA%20Economics.PDF

Personally I talk about how the market might treat coal as a scarce resource and about signalling, and argue whether it is what they are willing to do or they are just short termist (try to maximise profit in the SR, do not care about effects in the LR) :smile:


Ah. thanks! ill have a look. hopefully i talked about the right stuff
Reply 473
Original post by BirdIsWord
was pollution permits/carbon credits the only form of intervention you mentioned?


No there were loads of others. Regulation/deregulation, property rights, public ownership, taxation ect. Ect...
Original post by Boro12345
Predicted grade boundaries for an A*? I'm thinking about 68

I definitely got the 5, 10, 15 and hopefully my essays are averaging 18+. Borderline.

I didn't think it was too bad, essay 1 and 2 have come up before and there was plenty to write about.

Evaluated a lot but missed out some points that I could have put in, but hopefully did enough!


how did you evaluate essay 2? on profit maximisation?
Reply 475
Original post by blinin7
For the 10 marker i got a completely different answer. I talked about monopsony employers pushing wages down, globalisation and immigration for low wages, and drew monopsony and increased labour supply diagram. 2 definitions as well. I think we're both right though?

For the 15 marker I also got a different answer, I just looked at perfect competition in the long run and assessed how it was efficient through Allocative + Productive + X efficiency. Had 2 definitions, and a diagram. I would have looked at how it wasnt efficient but i think the question was along the lines of 'how is perfect competition efficient', and talking about inefficiencies would be evaluation which you dont need for 15 marker. But again I think we're both right

For the 25 mark essays i had similair structure, so should be ok?


For the 10 marker i wrote about monopsony aswell, and for essay 1 the 15 marker i wrote about efficiency in the short run and long run and how the long run equilibrium in perfect competition leads to productive and allocative efficiency.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 476
Original post by BirdIsWord
ay what were your answers for context 1? so stressed atm. THis summer wont be fun..


oi calm yeah no need to be a lil *****
for then ten marker on context 1 did you only need to write about 1 problem to get full marks?
Because you get 4 marks for the explaining
Then 6 marks from explaining one point in which I used a diagram?
Thanks
Original post by harrycarry
for then ten marker on context 1 did you only need to write about 1 problem to get full marks?
Because you get 4 marks for the explaining
Then 6 marks from explaining one point in which I used a diagram?
Thanks


i didnt get a diagram.. what was your diagram??
I used a externalities diagram to show how taxation/pollution permits limited supply as well as increasing production costs with a shift to the left of the Supply curve, basically to the MSB from the MSP curve. And then spoke about the level of tax and how it stopped firms from being efficient.

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