Revision/Discussion Thread Edexcel Economics Unit 2 Friday 25th of May 2012

I'm pretty sure it was 'Examine the macroeconomic policies which could reduce unemployment'.

I found it ok but I think I messed up on the graph (did a shift in AS...) and I didn't explain one of my points on depreciation well enough. That being said, loads of people thought it asked about 'macroeconomic objectives' and lost all 30 marks

I got same evaluation as you for the small decrease. I also included the 65% of AD but am not sure if thats an evaluation, so I did another, saying that there are other factors such as investment and if investment has increased, AD will increase. But I have seen 65% of AD taken as an evaluation point before so you might get 4 marks for the evaluation point.

Btw, did you say anything about fall in price level and fall in real output?? Cuz if you didn't, you will automatically lose 4 marks cuz thats what they are asking.

Not sure how the rest went, overall it felt good, but one of the 8 mark questions I only really made one point, at least that's what I'm worried about).

I think i did but not sure if i mentioned it for both of my points did i have to?


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A lot of Q2 was repetitive.

Don't think I did very well on the 30 mark question, I couldn't expand my points on the benefits of growth (reduced unemployment, improved government finance, attract investment, improved standards of living) evaluated with inflation (depends on the spare capacity in the economy, drew an AS AD curve showing the how growth in different parts of the LRAS curve would have higher inflation than others), talked about inequality worsening, as low income households tend to have "fixed" incomes, whereas higher income households' tend to adjust for inflation. Also spoke briefly about sustainability, but didn't expand it very well.

To be honest all of that seems fine :/ and I'm sure you expanded on it more than you think!

Was it the one on the negative output gap?



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A lot of Q2 was repetitive.

Don't think I did very well on the 30 mark question, I couldn't expand my points on the benefits of growth (reduced unemployment, improved government finance, attract investment, improved standards of living) evaluated with inflation (depends on the spare capacity in the economy, drew an AS AD curve showing the how growth in different parts of the LRAS curve would have higher inflation than others), talked about inequality worsening, as low income households tend to have "fixed" incomes, whereas higher income households' tend to adjust for inflation. Also spoke briefly about sustainability, but didn't expand it very well.

Not sure how the rest went, overall it felt good, but one of the 8 mark questions I only really made one point, at least that's what I'm worried about).

Also worried that I made too many small points in the 30 mark, and not 3 big ones, also didn't really apply it to the UK economy, even though that was in the question.

For question 2 with the 30 marker, I went blank after a few points and then just wrote about economic growth being good for the UK as there may be a stable government, so less political volatility and more long-term policies. Would this be worth any marks? cos it did say why it's good for the UK in general

Nah, it was on the current account deficit, can't remember the exact question.

It was about trade in goods deficit.
I said lack of substitute produced by uk firms and low interest rate!


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Oh yeah, in that question I spoke said how you would have expected goods to be more competitive due to the weakening of the pound, but if global demand is low (which it is, due to the global recession), export levels may not be affected much, despite the relative fall in prices. Spoke about imports not responding to the pound either, because of the PeD of demand (unnecessary, but oh well); that demand for imports may not fall due due to other, non-price, factors such as quality of the good or after-purchase services. Said something else, but can't remember exactly.

What was the other 8 mark question? Maybe that's the one I was worried about.

It was about trade in goods deficit.
I said lack of substitute produced by uk firms and low interest rate!


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The other 8 mark one was output gap.

Oh good to know I wasn't the only one And yeah I did one on fiscal (tax breaks) one on SSP (training programmes) and one on depreciation (didn't specify how it occurs though )

I talked about how there might have been inaccurate data collection since they always mention it on mark schemes. And I think just about how the claimant count is too dependent on people actually seeking the JSA and social stigma etc. Data always gets you marks though

I put they could reduce tax to offer an incentive for people to work, because they don't have to pay as much, and I put subsidise firms to hire more people. Then I put reduce NMW because firms can hire more people because the wages costs are lower.

I think I've actually done pretty well for the essay, just the other questions I think I've flopped on. Hopefully unit 1 will get me to the A

my dads a prof at lse, it's so hard to get into its really lovely and academic though, and I live right next door haha

We get 4 marks for diagrams right? I was wondering if that includes labelling the equilibriums, because i forgot to do so and in the revision guide exemplar answers it doesn't labell them.


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lucky you! I really want to get in. fingers crossed. Any tips?

personal statement. trust me it's their priority way above the grades! Honestly!