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AQA Economics AS May 2015

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Hey can someone help me with June 2014 Context 1 25 Marker

'using the data and your economic knowledge evaluate the economic case for and against governments intervening to prevent agricultural products from being used to produce biofuels'

Please can someone give me a good plan to this answer - I am struglling.
Also can you explain the whole leaving it to market forces idea in detail.

Cheers :smile:
Original post by krippleman1
Hey can someone help me with June 2014 Context 1 25 Marker

'using the data and your economic knowledge evaluate the economic case for and against governments intervening to prevent agricultural products from being used to produce biofuels'

Please can someone give me a good plan to this answer - I am struglling.
Also can you explain the whole leaving it to market forces idea in detail.

Cheers :smile:


I did this paper the other day and did alright, so hopefully how I wrote it may help you.

Firstly I explained what the market failure is, so in this case, the market failure is due to more crops being used for biofuels leading to less supply of food from wheat etc, meaning the government may have to intervene.
After that write some paragraphs for and against gov intervention

My points for intervention:
1.Causes famine and poverty - use the extract - 'In extract C it has been estimated that 30 million people are being pulled into poverty due to the increased demand of biofuels'
You can then say that prices of sugar are rising shown by the first extract due to less supply of crops for food usage, impacts especially in less economically developed countries as they may depend on these food sources more.
Also mention elasticity of agricultural goods because that affects supply of it.
2. You could then talk about negative externalities of production of biofuels with a diagram etc and briefly mention how they could help fix it - don't analyse the policy in huge detail as this is not a policy based question.

Now against intervention:

Due to timing I only wrote one reason against intervention:

Market is fixing itself: Use the extracts for this.
In extract C it states that in Africa and Latin America farmers can use the high demand for biofuels to sell their crops for the following use and by selling these crops they can get themselves out of poverty and as a result there may be less famine.
Also looking at the first extract, prices of sugar is decreasing dramatically so people will be able to afford the crops. Therefore the government may not need to intervene

Another reason you could have said was about the government failing, as they may not fix the market and in fact make it worse, also as it is a world issue affecting many countries, it may be hard to know which government should intervene and they may have conflicting views etc

Then in your conclusion give a judgement on what they should do etc and evaluate.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions about the question, feel free to ask :smile:
Reply 102
Avatar for Krollo
Krollo
OP
17
Original post by krippleman1
Hey can someone help me with June 2014 Context 1 25 Marker

'using the data and your economic knowledge evaluate the economic case for and against governments intervening to prevent agricultural products from being used to produce biofuels'

Please can someone give me a good plan to this answer - I am struglling.
Also can you explain the whole leaving it to market forces idea in detail.

Cheers :smile:


I just finished this paper, it seems to have gone well... would it be helpful if I put my essay up on here?

On another note - question 23 on Unit 1 2014 June MCQs - this is the one type of question I really don't get. Could someone explain it please :tongue:
Original post by Krollo
I just finished this paper, it seems to have gone well... would it be helpful if I put my essay up on here?

On another note - question 23 on Unit 1 2014 June MCQs - this is the one type of question I really don't get. Could someone explain it please :tongue:


Hey yes please upload your essay :biggrin:
Original post by Krollo
I just finished this paper, it seems to have gone well... would it be helpful if I put my essay up on here?

On another note - question 23 on Unit 1 2014 June MCQs - this is the one type of question I really don't get. Could someone explain it please :tongue:


I don't get that one either, it came up on a previous paper so I remembered the answer. Maybe the answer is suggesting that the firm is at an output lower than the answer suggests, so if they increased their output from very low, to less low they would get diseconomies of scale? :confused:
Reply 105
Avatar for Jupers
Jupers
5
For 23 ABC all suggest a firm will experience economies of scale which obviously encourages growth. Diseconomies at low levels of output will discourage a firm from growing its output.

I'm assuming we'll get one on housing, I've read that affordable housing is a merit good but what are its positive externalities? Is it increased geographical mobility of labour?
Hey can someone help me with June 2014 Context 1 25 Marker


'using the data and your economic knowledge evaluate the economic case for and against governments intervening to prevent agricultural products from being used to produce biofuels'


Please can someone give me a good plan to this answer - I am struglling.
Also can you explain the whole leaving it to market forces idea in detail.


Cheers
How can you score 20 and over on the 25 marker, I've been averaging around 17-18 marks
What are the pros and cons of leaving a situation to the free market?
Original post by ridirahman
What are the pros and cons of leaving a situation to the free market?


It depends on the question really
Original post by Wawasan
It depends on the question really


If the question was similar to that of June 14 Context 1 as above
Original post by Wawasan
It depends on the question really


How about assess the case for and against gov. intervention in the market of a demerit good eg. alcohol/ cigarettes
I would about whether the free market works in the context of the question and why - that involves your own opinion but also the relative strength of government intervention
Original post by ridirahman
How about assess the case for and against gov. intervention in the market of a demerit good eg. alcohol/ cigarettes


Cigarettes is a great example for leaving it to the free market. You could mention that the no. of people quitting smoking is rising each year and those starting to smoke falling even faster. Mostly because education has closed the information failure.

Other arguments are no scope for govt failure. No opportunity cost of govt spending. Doesn't distort market operations. Doesn't intervene with welfare gains.
Original post by econam
Cigarettes is a great example for leaving it to the free market. You could mention that the no. of people quitting smoking is rising each year and those starting to smoke falling even faster. Mostly because education has closed the information failure.

Other arguments are no scope for govt failure. No opportunity cost of govt spending. Doesn't distort market operations. Doesn't intervene with welfare gains.


Thanks
Original post by Krollo
I just finished this paper, it seems to have gone well... would it be helpful if I put my essay up on here?

On another note - question 23 on Unit 1 2014 June MCQs - this is the one type of question I really don't get. Could someone explain it please :tongue:


Tbh you can do that question through process of elimination as it can't be any of the first 3 answers. But if firms are productively inefficient at low levels of output, they are not going to be able to compete with other firms who are producing at lower costs, so they never really get the chance to grow.
Original post by ozzie2
I did this paper the other day and did alright, so hopefully how I wrote it may help you.

Firstly I explained what the market failure is, so in this case, the market failure is due to more crops being used for biofuels leading to less supply of food from wheat etc, meaning the government may have to intervene.
After that write some paragraphs for and against gov intervention

My points for intervention:
1.Causes famine and poverty - use the extract - 'In extract C it has been estimated that 30 million people are being pulled into poverty due to the increased demand of biofuels'
You can then say that prices of sugar are rising shown by the first extract due to less supply of crops for food usage, impacts especially in less economically developed countries as they may depend on these food sources more.
Also mention elasticity of agricultural goods because that affects supply of it.
2. You could then talk about negative externalities of production of biofuels with a diagram etc and briefly mention how they could help fix it - don't analyse the policy in huge detail as this is not a policy based question.

Now against intervention:

Due to timing I only wrote one reason against intervention:

Market is fixing itself: Use the extracts for this.
In extract C it states that in Africa and Latin America farmers can use the high demand for biofuels to sell their crops for the following use and by selling these crops they can get themselves out of poverty and as a result there may be less famine.
Also looking at the first extract, prices of sugar is decreasing dramatically so people will be able to afford the crops. Therefore the government may not need to intervene

Another reason you could have said was about the government failing, as they may not fix the market and in fact make it worse, also as it is a world issue affecting many countries, it may be hard to know which government should intervene and they may have conflicting views etc

Then in your conclusion give a judgement on what they should do etc and evaluate.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions about the question, feel free to ask :smile:


I thought that was a pretty awful question, way too much non-economics stuff to discuss, which doesn't really get you many marks :frown:
Finally got my head round elasticities with a little mnemonic to help me.

XED:
Party Season Near Christmas (PSNC)
Positive Substitutes Negative Complementary

YED:
Profitable Nations Need Industry (PNNI)
Positive NormalGood Negative Inferior
Original post by lewissteele
Finally got my head round elasticities with a little mnemonic to help me.

XED:
Party Season Near Christmas (PSNC)
Positive Substitutes Negative Complementary

YED:
Profitable Nations Need Industry (PNNI)
Positive NormalGood Negative Inferior

Thankss, really helpful :smile:
Original post by BBeyond
I thought that was a pretty awful question, way too much non-economics stuff to discuss, which doesn't really get you many marks :frown:


Yeah I hate talking about poverty because I feel like it's a generic point, the only thing you can talk about is like externalities and such.
Also did a buffer stock scheme q which was a pain because you had to talk about one policy and evaluate it, which I guess was easy evaluation but still an annoying question.

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