Economics syllabus, dot point by dot point

Explain scarcity as the basic economic problem and analyse how choice and opportunity cost follow from it.

Why must every society make choices about how to use its resources?

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How can a model show the trade-offs an economy faces with limited resources?

Construct and interpret a production possibility frontier to illustrate scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, efficiency and growth.

Compare market, planned and mixed economic systems and how each answers the three basic economic questions.

How do different economic systems decide what, how and for whom to produce?

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Topic 2: Microeconomics

Define and calculate price elasticity of demand and supply and explain the factors affecting them.

How responsive are buyers and sellers to price changes?

Compare market structures from perfect competition to monopoly and explain their effects on price, output and efficiency.

How does competition shape firm behaviour?

Explain the main types of market failure and evaluate government policies used to correct them.

When and why do markets fail to allocate resources well?

Use demand and supply to explain how market equilibrium is determined and how it changes.

How do the decisions of buyers and sellers set prices in a market?

Topic 3: Macroeconomics

Define and measure economic growth, unemployment and inflation and explain their causes and effects.

How do we measure the health of an economy?

Explain aggregate demand and aggregate supply and how their interaction determines output and the price level.

What determines the total output and price level of an economy?

Explain fiscal policy and how changes in government spending and taxation affect economic activity.

How does government budgeting steer the economy?

Explain monetary policy and how the Reserve Bank uses interest rates to influence economic activity.

How does the Reserve Bank influence the economy?

Topic 4: Globalisation

Explain how exchange rates are determined and how transactions are recorded in the balance of payments.

How are currency values and trade flows recorded?

Explain the gains from international trade using the theory of comparative advantage.

Why do countries trade with one another?

Evaluate the economic, social and environmental effects of globalisation on Australia and developing economies.

Who gains and who loses from a more connected world?