In Singapore, one of the hardest subjects for students taking their A-Levels is doing their economics exams.
Economics is a very tricky subject to master because you need to be familiar with the terminologies, their definitions and interpret the data given in the scenario. It is also a tricky subject to write for, especially if your exams require you to expound on certain economics terms and its impacts on real issues through an essay.
Fortunately, you can enroll in one of Singapore’s A-Level tuition schools or sign up with a tutor offering Economics tuition to hone your economics essay writing. These A-Level tuition schools or tutors can also prepare you with the subject to help you ace it.
If you want to complement your tutor’s teaching for your A-Levels, here are some great tips you can apply when you are practicing writing your economics essays:
Understand the question
It is a common mistake for students to read the questions fast and immediately begin answering without understanding the question completely. Once we finish the answer and read the question again, we may end up redoing our answers because we missed a particular detail from the question. Sometimes, we may even forget the question while in the middle of answering the question. As a result, we may lose track of our answer and add unnecessary points that can lose you points in the process.
When doing an economics essay, read the question slowly and try your best to revise the question into a simple version before you answer it.
For example:
Actual Question: Examine the macroeconomic implications brought by the fall of house prices in the UK, combined with the change of its Monetary Policy.
With this question, we can simplify it into these questions:
• Discuss how the falling house prices impacted the country’s economy
• Discuss how the change in country’s monetary policy changed its economy
• Discuss how the above two changes interact
Considering the original question, we can now see that there are three parts to the question.
Write in simple sentences
In order to make sure your thoughts remain clear throughout your exams, it is best to answer questions in short sentences. The key to ensuring your answers are easy to understand is by not combining a lot of ideas in one sentence.
If you write your answers in short sentences, it may sound a bit simple. However, what matters in this exam is the fact you explained the concept correctly.
Simple sentences also help you to focus on one idea at a time.
For example:
Q: What is the effect of high-interest rates?
The cost of borrowing money increases when it has a higher interest rate. As a result, borrowers with mortgages only have a small amount of disposable income. Borrowers, especially credit card users, would also have a reason to use their credit cards less. This reduces the consumption of users. The fall in consumption rates will cause a decrease in Aggregate Demand and reduce economic growth. A reduction in Aggregate Demand would also affect inflation rate.
Answer the question
It is common to hear stories about people who prepared well for the test, but they still got a low mark for their tests. However, if you look into their answers, you may notice that the answer given does not actually answer the question.
As you answer the question, try rereading your answer and ask yourself it each paragraph answers the question. To give you a guide, you can write one-sentence summaries for each paragraph which will answer the question.
Remember, it will be difficult to redo your essay answers in the middle of the test.
Example:
Explore the impacts of applying the Euro to UK’s monetary and financial policy?
When you see this question, you may stop reading on the “applying the Euro” part and just write the usual cost and benefit of the Euro. Unfortunately, this does not answer the question since it is asking for the impact of the Euro on Britain’s financial and monetary policy.
Evaluation
In economics, there is no right and wrong answer because the data can tip to any outcome. As a result, you must be able to think about the other points of view of the data and see all the outcomes that may be taken from it.
Here below are some of the factors you need to know for evaluation:
Macro-evaluation
• Status of the economy – Is the economy running smoothly or is it undergoing a recession?
• Time delays – It can take about 24 months before
• Other variables present – High imports could be an indicator of high consumer spending.
• Impacts of factors – Low exports to the US only amounts to a small percentage of the UK’s Aggregate Demand. However, if recession falls in Europe, it can spell trouble for the UK because 50% of its exports are sent to EU member countries.
• Impacts of macroeconomic objectives – interest rates can influence inflation rates; but, it can also be influenced by other factors like unemployment and economic growth.
• Impact of supply and demand – An expansionary policy can reduce demand-deficient unemployment rates. However, it cannot solve demand-side unemployment.
Micro-evaluation
• Impact is determined by the elasticity of the demand- Using the example of oil prices, if the demand is price inelastic, the demand only reduces a little bit because of tax. However, if the prices are elastic, the tax will cause a higher fall in the demand.
• Time lag – At first, the demand for petrol is likely to remain price inelastic. However, the demand may decrease as consumers find alternatives.
• Status of the market structure – If the world market continues to be competitive, prices may remain low. However, if one country dominates, high oil prices are a given.
• List of business objectives – If an oil company aims to maximize profits, their prices are going to increase. However, if it wants to maximize their market share, prices may be lower even if it means low profit.
• Behavioral economics – How can the behavior of individuals or groups regarding an issue influence them and their economic choices?
Final remarks
When you are taking your economics exams for your A-Levels, you need to be aware that you need to be precise and accurate with your answers.
If you think you can’t handle the preparations on your own, don’t hesitate to get an Economics tuition program to help you out. Remember, it will be difficult to change your answers in the middle of the test. Not only will you lose time, you may also put your scores at risk and in economics, risk can bring disastrous results.
We wish you luck with your economics essay!
Hungry for more golden tips? Here are the articles:
How To Start Your Intensive Revision For A-Levels General Paper?
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