First:
Read the introduction section 3.1 – write out one thing you did not know about and one thing you already knew from that section but include economic data to support your point.

Next:
3.2 Differences in income and economic growth
Read this section and distinguish between the following income measures:
Complete Qs 1-3 on page 49

Then:
3.3 Differences in economic development
Write  about how the HDI is calculated and assess its adequacy as a measure of economic development.

That will do for today

Mr F

Here is the story.

Mr F

Read the following article about this:

Story 1

Make notes on the details of the two potential regional FTAs that are discussed at the East Asia Summit (who, where, how significant any agreement might be).
What factors might will slow down the negotiation process?
What are some potential advantages for Australia?

And then there is the Australia-Malaysia FTA

Story 2

Make notes on this bilateral agreement, due to come into place early in 2013.
Which industries are involved?
What is the criticism addressed in this article?

Thanks Harry for raising these, he picked the difficult ones.

Q3. The calculate the CA balance:
(X-M)+net services+net income+net current transfers
=(500-540)-70-115+85
=-140
If CA balance = -140 then CFA balance must be +140. ie answer B

Q7. Price of food has increased 10% or 0.1 and contributes to the CPI with a weighing of 0.3. So, food contributes to the CPI by 0.1×0.3=0.3
Health contributes 0.3×0.1=0.3
Housing contributes 0.25×0.15=0.357
Clothing contributes 0.2×0.2=0.4

Hence clothing would have the greatest contribution, answer D

Q12. k=1/(1-mpc); where mpc=change in consumption / change in income

In Yr 2 and in Yr 3 cons increased 100 and income increased (C+S) 200 hence mpc=100/200=0.5 therefore k=2

Answer D

Q19. The Lorenz curve with the bigger “belly” indicates greater inequality and corresponds with larger Gini Coefficient.
In the diagram, wealth has a bigger belly than income and so has higher Gini coefficient and Inequality

Answer A

Q16. In an economy experiencing a boom, govt would like to slow econ activity to maintain a lower, more sustainable rate of economic growth. A lower dollar would encourage more foreign investment and hence increasing demand for … Hmmm, dunno.

This is an example of a question that probably was intended to be difficult, but less obscure than it finished up. A long discussion at HSC marking centre did not lead to a common agreement about the best answer, or even if one existed. There was agreement that B was not right, but I still have difficulty explaining the answer, let alone understanding this one, either A or D. It also indicates that there is no point spending too long in a single mark question. A very small percentage of students across the state go this one right and the fact that the BOS accepted more than one response as correct also tells us something.

Keep going though
Mr F

The attached word doc may provide some assistance (with some space to build in your own summary material).  Use the word doc to modify or the pdf if you cannot read it properly:
Trends_Stances2012
Trends_Stances2012 PDF

How about the surprise  cash rate cut on Tuesday?  Now down to 3.25%, but the big banks have not moved yet.  Read the RBA’s announcement.  The reasons for the rate cut provides a good overview of the state of the Australian economy at the moment.

Remember to email me any more questions or sample answers that you might have.

Mr F

I have begun the process of collating the various questions from past HSC exams into a document for each HSC topic.  These have been done for 2009, 2010 and 2011 so far.  The short answer questions have been sorted into the specific topic groupings.  The essay questions (four per year) have been combined into a single document since the content often relates to more than one topic at a time, eg Monetary policy impacts on inflation and exchange rates.

Please email me the multiple choice questions that you collated earlier in the year (perhaps during the winter holiday session) and I will inlcude these on this blog post too, arranged by topic and section.

Essays all topics

Short Answer Questions
Topic 1 Globalisation

Topic 2 Australia in Global

Topic 3 Econ Issues

Topic 4 Policies and Mgt

Multiple Choice Questions
Topic 2 

Topic 3 – Inflation

Topic 3 – Unemployment

Good luck
Mr F

It too is a good read, thank you Mr Gittins.

Mr F

Do the maths, how many “boat people” does Australia return to their place of origin? And as a percentage of the total immigration intake?

Irvine makes the point that people smuggling is the result of an over regulated market that causes enormous undersupply. A black market is a natural consequence. There is an unexpected multi-party agreement on one key point too.

Have a read

Mr F

Some may have seen it, others not.
Enjoy
Mr F

Now here is an excellent article about the very long term trends that are evident in some of the key economic issues. You know them well: inflation, unemployment, participation rates, interest rates and economic growth.

The author even points to some of the global and domestic challenges that are likely to emerge in the years ahead. What do you think he means that we have never needed to compete with China and India? Or how about the “economics of climate change” in the final paragraph?

Oh, and enjoy all those lovely graphs too. Which is your favourite?

Then and now: looking back at the economy