A2 Economics - F585 June 2013

how exactly would you answer this? im struggling

20 marker (1).doc I've done a rough plan on the ' Discuss the effectiveness of economic growth on promoting sustainable economic development' just a rough plan probably not full mark answer but yeah

Analyse what is meant by fiscal convergence (4)

i have a few points but feel like there is more, please add if you can. so far i have:

-the integration of government spending and taxation decision between countries of withing trading blocs or any type of unions- similar to monetary convergence.

Anyone know what the polices are to promote inclusive growth/social cohesion/social capital?

Yeah, this is along the lines of what I would write to but I think the last question will require us to talk about the goals in extract 5, like achieving a coherent society with solving the income inequality and ecological balance with using polices to correct the pollution etc.

I thought it was the synchronisation of economies in terms of financial credit available from the government, like in the Maastricht Criteria it's the low government debt (less than 60% GDP) and low government deficit (less than 3% GDP)?

I really think the 20 marker is going to be on sustainable development indicators as it fits so well with the last extract

How would you answer a question on sustainability indicators?

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How wold the question be worded if it was on indicators?
Thanks

I really have no idea haha, i'm really not good on wording questions but someone did post a document earlier in the thread of the analysis you could do on sustainable development indicators

Would you like me to post it again?

yes pleaseee

Here you go

Sustainable Development Indicators Pros and Cons
Sustainable Estonia 21:
Pros:
• Very detailed – can pinpoint exactly where development is needed with 78 indicators.
• Links in with EU’s Sustainable Development Strategy – things such as the viable cultural space and social inclusion are linked, so national target setting is integrated into regional target setting. Teaching Estonian ancestry and heritage would bring the society closer together and could make them more happy as a labour force under a common identity.
• Climate change and clean energy – shows non-economic development indicators that helps the environment by becoming more sustainable due to using greener forms of energy.

Cons:
• Too detailed – maybe there are too many areas to develop, meaning that development might not be sustainable in the long run.
• Teaching Estonian culture – might be seen as a bad thing because Estonia vows for a ‘viable cultural space’. In teaching Estonians about their past traditions and culture, it might lead immigrants who aren’t of Estonian origin (like the large number of Russian immigrants) to feel isolated and ignored, leading to conflict and tension and therefore opposing a ‘viable cultural space’.
• Targets without policy – targets are good as long as government policy meets the target. If the government policy does not meet the target then the development is not good.

Human Development Index (HDI):
Pros:
• Focuses on sustainable development rather than economic growth.
• Shows how differing country policies affect HDI – countries with the same GDP per capita could have varying HDI levels.
• Takes into account the standard of living – different countries will have their HDI measurement affected due to varying GDP levels, so the indicator is adjusted to take this into account.

Cons:
• Only focuses on three aspects of development and therefore doesn’t give a full picture of development in that country.
• No economic or social justification to the weighing of the components – different weightings of the components will lead to different HDI measurements and how HDI changes over time.
• Opportunity cost – in order to promote sustainable development in one area, there will be an opportunity cost of the resources in another indicator. E.g. Estonian development in schools for better education could mean that there is less spending on Estonian hospitals, meaning that the general health of the population is not improved.
• Doesn’t indicate the quality of the non-economic factors – better quality of healthcare and schooling will obviously lead to better development in the long term, but HDI doesn’t account for this and only tells of how much development there is.

Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare (ISEW):
Pros:
• Takes into account the extent of externalities and subtracts it to make sure a purer figure is reached.
• Adds measurements that include the quality of life
• Reduces anything that results in a poorer standard of living

Cons:
• Choice of component – selects specific things which might not change the indicator a lot, or might leave out other useful indicators.
• Weighting given – the weighting of one indicator/component might be more than another indicator/component and therefore different weightings produce different outcomes.
• Monetary values placed on components – difficult to put a monetary value on an externality because the true cost of the externality is not always known.