Cambridge IAL Economics study plan

Draw and label supply and demand diagrams from memory for five scenarios, marking equilibrium price and quantity and showing the direction of shift

Explain, in writing, the difference between a movement along and a shift of a curve, using three original examples

Calculate and interpret price elasticity of demand, income elasticity and cross elasticity from given numerical data

Distinguish merit, demerit and public goods and match each to one government intervention tool

Evaluate price controls by analysing the welfare effects of a maximum price and a minimum price on consumer and producer surplus

Compare indirect taxes, subsidies, buffer stocks and tradable permits as interventions, judging which is most effective in a stated market

Define market failure and classify externalities as positive or negative, production or consumption, with a diagram for each

Explain why asymmetric information and market power cause allocative inefficiency

Compute total, average and marginal cost and revenue from a data table and identify profit-maximising output

Distinguish the short-run and long-run equilibria of perfect competition and monopoly on diagrams

Compare allocative and productive efficiency outcomes across perfect competition, monopoly and monopolistic competition

Apply game theory to explain interdependence and collusion in an oligopoly

Assess whether large firms always harm consumers, citing economies of scale and dynamic efficiency

Derive the aggregate demand curve from its components and explain three reasons for its downward slope

Distinguish short-run from long-run aggregate supply and show equilibrium shifts on a single diagram

Explain the multiplier process and calculate a simple multiplier from a marginal propensity to consume

Compare fiscal and monetary policy transmission mechanisms in a recession and in an inflationary boom

Define the claimant count and the Labour Force Survey measure of unemployment and state two limitations of each

Classify unemployment as frictional, structural, cyclical and seasonal with one original example each

Calculate the unemployment rate and the inflation rate from given index data, and distinguish nominal from real values

Explain how the CPI is constructed and identify two sources of bias in measured inflation

Analyse the costs of inflation to savers, borrowers, firms and the economy, separating anticipated from unanticipated inflation

Distinguish demand-pull from cost-push inflation using AD/AS diagrams and name a policy response for each

Explain the quantity theory of money and the role of expectations in sustaining inflation

Evaluate the inflation-unemployment trade-off and the short-run and long-run Phillips curve

Assess supply-side policies by their effect on the long-run aggregate supply curve and their time lags

Judge whether monetary or fiscal policy is more effective in controlling inflation in an open economy

Explain comparative and absolute advantage and calculate opportunity cost from a production table

Evaluate the arguments for and against protectionism, including tariffs, quotas and subsidies, on a diagram

Analyse the effects of a tariff on price, imports, consumer surplus and government revenue

Explain how a current account deficit is financed and interpret the components of the balance of payments

Distinguish fixed, floating and managed exchange rate systems and analyse the causes of currency appreciation and depreciation

Synthesise all six domains by writing timed 25-mark essay plans for three unseen questions

Diagnose weak areas from a self-marked mock and rank them by mark loss

Practise data-response technique: extracting trends, calculating changes and linking evidence to evaluation

Consolidate evaluation phrases for 'assess', 'discuss' and 'evaluate' command words