Writing the IB Economics Exam

Time Management HL

Time Management SL

Define TermsS

howoff you precise definition of any relevant term and add a sentence that starts with “In other words. . .

“Economic growth refers to an increase in a country's total output of goods and services. It is measured by changes in real GDP (i.e. the increase in GDP after inflation has been removed). In other words it describes an improvement the level of the goods and services produced over a period of time.”

Give ExamplesI

nclude explanatory or relevant real-world examples.

Explanatory Example: We can see that a country is experiencing economic growth if its GDP rose from 3% to 4% as this means that the total amount of goods and services has increased by 1% in one year.

Real World Example: The Chinese economy grew by 8.2% in 2009 according to Asian Development Bank.

Clear Writing

The Introduction

Rehash the question and provide a context

Define the key terms in the question

Outline your main ideas

Explain what your essay will do

Foreshadow how you plan to evaluate

Do not write in the first 1st. person (I will .. ) or essay is a formal in nature.

Diagrams

Always an opportunity to include a well labeled and appropriate diagram

A diagram is useless unless you explain it in your answer

Figure 1

Shift in Demand

Data Response Questions

Use information that is included in the text

Com

mand Term

s

How to evaluateRemember CRAMPSS

Causes and/or Consequences

Reliability and Validity of Data

Alternative Explanations

Macroeconomic goals

Pros and Cons/Advantages and Disadvantages

Short and Long Term

Stakeholders

How to evaluateRemember CRAMPSS

C

auses and/or Consequences

Identify and explaining which is the most important and why.

R

eliability and Validity of Data

Identify any possible issues with the reliability and validity of the data.

A

lternative Explanations

Would all economist agree with a particular theory? How have they challenged this

theory and how valid are their arguments? Identify what happens in reality as opposed to

the model.

How to evaluateRemember CRAMPSS

M

acroeconomic goals

To what extent will a particular policy achieve the macroeconomic

goals of high employment, low inflation, high economic growth and

balance of payments equilibrium.

P

ros and Cons/Advantages and Disadvantages

Identify both sides and reach a judgment about which which side

outweighs the other

How to evaluateRemember CRAMPSS

Short and Long Term

Identified the short and long term causes or consequencesS

takeholders

Identify how individual stakeholders in an economy will be effected e.g. domestic consumers, the labor force, exporting producers, social welfare recipients etc.