IB Economics SL study plan

Define scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost, then compute opportunity cost from a production possibility curve (PPC) table for at least five scenarios.

Draw and label PPCs showing constant, increasing, and zero opportunity cost, and explain in writing what shifts the curve outward versus what moves a point along it.

Distinguish positive from normative statements and classify 15 mixed statements correctly.

Derive an individual demand curve from a demand schedule and state the law of demand with two determinants of demand that shift the curve.

Build a one-page glossary of Domain 1 and Domain 2 core terms (ceteris paribus, free good, capital, equilibrium) in your own words.

Draw supply curves and explain three non-price determinants of supply, showing the shift direction for each on a diagram.

Solve for equilibrium price and quantity algebraically from linear demand and supply equations, and identify the effect of a simultaneous shift in both curves.

Calculate and interpret price elasticity of demand (PED) using the formula, and classify goods as elastic, inelastic, or unit elastic from computed values.

Explain the relationship between PED and total revenue, and predict revenue changes for three price-change scenarios.

Compute income elasticity (YED) and cross elasticity (XED) and use the signs to classify goods as normal, inferior, substitutes, or complements.

Distinguish consumer surplus from producer surplus on a supply-and-demand diagram and calculate both from given prices and quantities.

Explain allocative efficiency as the point where marginal social benefit equals marginal social cost, and identify deadweight loss areas on a diagram.

Define market failure and categorize its causes (externalities, public goods, common access resources, asymmetric information, market power) with one IB-style example each.

Draw negative and positive externality diagrams for production and consumption, labelling MPC, MSC, MPB, MSB, and the welfare loss triangle.

Explain why public goods are non-rivalrous and non-excludable and why free-rider behaviour causes underprovision.

Evaluate a price ceiling and a price floor using diagrams, identifying shortages, surpluses, and welfare effects in two real markets.

Analyse the effect of an indirect tax and a subsidy on equilibrium price, quantity, consumer and producer incidence, and government revenue.

Explain how tradable permits and carbon taxes differ in their effect on polluters, and state one strength and one limitation of each.

Evaluate government responses to common access resources, including regulation and property rights, using one case example.

Write a 15-mark-style evaluation paragraph on whether taxation is the best way to correct a negative externality.

Define the four macroeconomic objectives and identify the indicators used to measure each.

Compute the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and real GDP growth rate from given data series.

Explain the difference between nominal and real GDP and between GDP and GNI, and calculate real GDP using a price index.

Draw a downward-sloping aggregate demand (AD) curve and explain the wealth, interest rate, and net export effects behind its slope.

Draw short-run and long-run aggregate supply (SRAS/LRAS) curves and show demand-pull versus cost-push inflation on an AD-AS diagram.

Distinguish demand-deficient from supply-side causes of unemployment and match each to the correct policy response.

Explain expansionary and contractionary fiscal policy and identify the tools and transmission mechanism for each.

Explain how monetary policy tools (interest rates, reserve requirements, open market operations) affect AD, and analyse the effect of a rate change on borrowing, investment, and consumption.

Distinguish supply-side policies from demand-side policies and classify five examples correctly.

Evaluate the trade-offs between inflation and unemployment using the short-run Phillips curve.

Evaluate the effectiveness of fiscal versus monetary policy in a recession, citing crowding out and time lags.

Explain comparative and absolute advantage and calculate opportunity cost ratios to determine the gains from trade.

Draw and interpret a tariff diagram, labelling consumer and producer surplus changes, government revenue, and deadweight loss.

Distinguish free trade from protectionism and evaluate two arguments for and two against protection.

Explain how a floating exchange rate is determined by demand and supply of a currency, and show appreciation and depreciation on a diagram.

Identify the components of the balance of payments and classify five transactions as current or financial account items.

Distinguish the main forms of economic integration (free trade area, customs union, common market, monetary union) with one example of each.

Distinguish economic growth from economic development and list three indicators used to measure development.

Explain the limitations of GDP per capita as a development measure and describe one alternative index.

Analyse two barriers to development and match each to a policy response.

Evaluate the role of globalization and foreign direct investment in development, stating one benefit and one cost.

Complete a timed 45-minute mixed mock covering all seven domains and mark it against the assessment criteria.

Review all flagged weak areas and rewrite your three weakest explanations from memory.