Epq economics related

I think doing a To what extent question is a good idea. If I were you I would shorten the question a little bit. Part of doing an EPQ involves completing the assessment booklet alongside it where you talk about your journey in the subject. So you can say your initial question was long and then explain why you decided to narrow the focus in order to get some easy marks.

You should consider making the question even more clearly focused, for example asking to what extent was the recession in the UK inevitable in 2008.

Students often ask very broad questions and it makes the content of their projects too wide to be able to give a good answer to the question. A narrow focus gives you a clearer structure.

Also, something to consider is if you are doing Economics A-Level then you cannot do a project that covers the content on your syllabus. So if recessions or economic cycles is something you have learned about then you can't do it.

Reply 2

OP

Thank you!! I do study economics so that’s a very good point. Do you have any ideas that could be economics related?

Reply 3

nedflanders123

Original post by Teniako

Thank you!! I do study economics so that’s a very good point. Do you have any ideas that could be economics related?

I think if you are going to University and want to study Economics then look at a course online and find a topic that you do at Uni that you don't do at A-level. Although looking at some courses there isn't anything that jumps out as something that would make a good topic for an Economics EPQ.

Much of the subject involves doing some kind of statistical analysis and you don't have the tools to do that before getting to University. Potentially looking at the economic profile of a developing part of the world might be a good idea. You might ask what are the main barriers to economic growth in Subsaharan Africa for example. Then you could think about how that region differs from the developing world. For example, is there a lack of natural resources/education preventing development? You don't need cold hard data to do that as a topic.

Let me know what your plan for University is and I can give you further advice.

Reply 4

LostGeeza!

Original post by Teniako

Thank you!! I do study economics so that’s a very good point. Do you have any ideas that could be economics related?

If you are interested in economic theory then you can check out lectures by Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell on Youtube - they were made to be easy to understand so I found them very helpful. I discovered them during the pandemic before starting sixth form and it led me to do a lot of research on economic schools of thought in relation to politics. If you wanted to look on the other side of the spectrum check out Richard Wolff - he's a Marxist economist who also has interesting ideas. Yanis Varifouakis is also a very accessible economist who does talks on what capitalism has evolved into.

In relation to your OP, u can look at Joseph Schumpeter and F.A Hayek as both looked at recessions - the latter focused on the supply of money and its relation to recessions. These 2 economists are harder to access but had a significant impact on economic theory.

Honestly if you just snoop around, you'll find something that excites you. My EPQ question was ' To what extent is government policy in the economies of the UK and US responsible for the rise of rentier capitalism? ' - I only came to it after months of watching lectures and reading articles so take your time because you want to pick an area that is NOT boring and interests you enough to put the work in.

Other topics that might be of interest :
- Neocolonialism
- Structural Adjustment Programmes and the IMF
- Monetary systems and how they have changed ( Richard Werner did a mad interview on RT which might be interesting )
- Deng Xiaoping and the transformation of China
- Some interesting things u might like include The Princes of Yen, Trump's biggest mistake ( its a youtube video on geopolitics but a good watch)

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

econhelp525

19

As previously said, most of research papers in Economics at the university level often involves advanced econometric regression analysis and tests. This is obviously not expected of you in your EPQ.

But if you want to go the extra mile, maybe familiarize yourself with Excel? Creating Pivot tables, graphs, and simple tests? It would be an amazing thing to be able to talk about in a personal statement or such because it shows an appreciation of Economics as a quantitative discipline.

Reply 6

OP

Hiya I love the idea of looking at developing countries economies thank you!! I am looking at doing a combined course with economics or doing business management. I’m currently really enjoying economics alevel but I am aware at university it does become extremely maths heavy and I don’t really want to do that. So I’m thinking a combined course might lower the amount of maths I will have to do

Reply 7

nedflanders123

Original post by Teniako

Hiya I love the idea of looking at developing countries economies thank you!! I am looking at doing a combined course with economics or doing business management. I’m currently really enjoying economics alevel but I am aware at university it does become extremely maths heavy and I don’t really want to do that. So I’m thinking a combined course might lower the amount of maths I will have to do

I think a lot of people want to do Economics at Uni because they think they will get a good job out of it, I'm a third-year at the University of Leeds and everyone I know who has done Economics found it to be a bit boring.

Reply 8

OP

Ohh okay have you heard anything about business management and if people are enjoying it

Reply 9

econhelp525

19

Original post by Teniako

Ohh okay have you heard anything about business management and if people are enjoying it

I go to York, and a lot of people enjoy the degree here. Business management is seen as one of those degrees you do when you don't really know what you want to do after university or at university. It's a broad degree, but tbh there's better things you could be doing

Reply 10

OP