BEC JCE Social Studies 15 cheat sheet

Scarcity is the gap between unlimited wants and limited resources; it forces every society to make choices, and the cost of a choice is its opportunity cost, the value of the best alternative given up.

The four factors of production are land (natural resources), labor (human effort), capital (tools, machinery, buildings used to produce), and entrepreneurship (risk-taking organization); income returns are rent, wages, interest, and profit respectively.

A production possibilities frontier shows maximum output combinations of two goods; points on the curve are efficient, inside are inefficient, outside are currently unattainable, and the curve bows outward because of increasing opportunity cost.

Market equilibrium occurs where quantity demanded equals quantity supplied; a price above equilibrium creates a surplus, a price below creates a shortage, and a price ceiling set below equilibrium causes persistent shortage.

GDP measures the market value of final goods and services produced within a country's borders in a period; intermediate goods are excluded to avoid double counting, and GDP does not count unpaid household work or informal activity.

Inflation is a sustained rise in the general price level, eroding purchasing power; demand-pull inflation comes from excess spending, cost-push from rising input costs, and central banks typically respond by raising interest rates.

A government budget deficit occurs when spending exceeds revenue in a year; the national debt is the accumulated total of past deficits minus surpluses, and deficits can be financed by borrowing through bond sales.

Supply and demand shift rules: a change in price moves quantity along the curve, while changes in income, tastes, technology, input costs, or number of buyers/sellers shift the whole curve.

Comparative advantage explains gains from trade: a party should specialize in the good with the lower opportunity cost, even if another party holds an absolute advantage in both goods.

Separation of powers divides authority among legislative (makes laws), executive (enforces laws), and judicial (interprets laws) branches; checks and balances let each branch limit the others, such as judicial review or a veto override.

Federalism divides power between a national government and regional governments; enumerated powers are listed for the national level, reserved powers belong to states or regions, and concurrent powers are shared.

A constitution sets the supreme law and typically includes a bill of rights limiting government power; amendments usually require supermajority approval, making change deliberate rather than easy.

Key democratic principles include popular sovereignty, rule of law, majority rule with minority rights, due process, and protection of civil liberties such as speech, assembly, and fair trial.

Voting systems differ: plurality (first past the post) elects the highest vote-getter, proportional representation allocates seats by vote share, and ranked-choice voting eliminates low finishers and transfers preferences.

Public goods are non-excludable and non-rival (such as national defense), causing free-rider problems; common resources are non-excludable but rival (such as fish stocks), risking overuse known as the tragedy of the commons.

Externalities are spillover costs or benefits not reflected in market prices; negative externalities (pollution) lead to overproduction and are corrected by taxes or regulation, positive ones (education) by subsidies.

Progressive taxes take a larger share from higher incomes, regressive taxes take a larger share from lower incomes (such as sales taxes), and proportional taxes take the same percentage from all.

Latitude measures distance north or south of the equator (0 degrees) to the poles (90 degrees); longitude measures east or west of the prime meridian (0 degrees) to the antimeridian at 180 degrees.

Climate zones follow latitude: tropical near the equator, temperate in mid-latitudes, polar near the poles; altitude, ocean currents, and proximity to water modify local climate.

Population density equals population divided by land area; push factors (war, poverty, drought) drive people away, pull factors (jobs, safety, services) attract them, and migration shapes urbanization.

The demographic transition model moves from high birth and death rates to low ones as societies industrialize; stage 2 features rapid growth as death rates fall before birth rates do.

Trade specialization follows comparative advantage; tariffs are taxes on imports, quotas cap import quantities, and free-trade agreements reduce barriers, raising total output while creating adjustment costs.

Exchange rates convert one currency into another; currency depreciation makes exports cheaper and imports dearer, while appreciation does the reverse, affecting trade balances.

Globalization increases flows of goods, capital, people, and information across borders; benefits include lower prices and technology transfer, costs include job displacement and vulnerability to external shocks.

Reading timelines and maps requires attention to scale, legend, orientation, and periodization; cause-and-effect chains in history often involve multiple factors, so correlation in time does not prove causation.