AP Intermediate Economics (BIEAP) study plan
AP Intermediate Economics (BIEAP) · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Theory of Consumer Behaviour & Theory of Production and Costs
Derive and interpret the budget line, indifference curves, and the conditions for consumer equilibrium using the equi-marginal utility and indifference-curve approaches.
Compute price, income, and substitution effects and classify goods as normal, inferior, or Giffen from given numerical scenarios.
Construct short-run cost schedules (TFC, TVC, TC, AFC, AVC, ATC, MC) from a production function and identify the relationship between marginal and average curves.
Explain the law of variable proportions and returns to scale, and locate the three stages of production on a total product curve.
Your checkpoint
A one-page formula and graph sheet covering consumer equilibrium and all short-run cost relationships, plus 15 solved numerical problems (5 elasticity/utility, 5 cost-schedule, 5 returns-to-scale) with workings shown.
Forms of Market and Price Determination & Distribution of Income and Factor Pricing
Compare the four market forms on number of sellers, product differentiation, entry barriers, and price-taking versus price-making behaviour.
Determine short-run equilibrium output and profit or loss for a perfectly competitive firm and a monopoly using MR = MC, and show the shutdown condition.
Draw and explain long-run equilibrium under perfect competition and monopolistic competition, including excess capacity.
Compute factor prices under marginal productivity theory and explain wage differentials, rent, and quasi-rent with worked examples.
Your checkpoint
A comparison table of the four market forms plus four full equilibrium diagrams (perfect competition short run and long run, monopoly, monopolistic competition) each annotated with profit-maximising output, price, and profit area.
Money, Banking and Inflation & National Income Accounting
Define the money supply aggregates M1 to M4 and explain the money multiplier and credit creation by commercial banks with a numerical example.
Compute the value of the money multiplier and the change in money supply from given reserve ratios and primary deposits.
Distinguish demand-pull from cost-push inflation and calculate inflation using CPI and WPI series.
Compute national income by the product, income, and expenditure methods for a small dataset and reconcile the three estimates.
Distinguish GDP, GNP, NNP, and personal and disposable income, and separate nominal from real GDP using a deflator.
Your checkpoint
A worked numerical set: one full credit-creation problem, one money-multiplier problem, one inflation-rate calculation from a price index, and one national income aggregate reconciled across all three methods, with any discrepancies explained.
Introduction to Economics and Basic Concepts & Public Finance and Government Budget
Apply scarcity, opportunity cost, and the production possibility frontier to classify economic systems and distinguish positive from normative statements.
Compute opportunity cost from a PPF schedule and explain shifts versus movements along the curve.
Classify budget items as revenue or capital receipts and expenditure, and compute revenue deficit, fiscal deficit, and primary deficit from a budget table.
Evaluate the merits and demerits of deficit financing and distinguish direct from indirect taxes with incidence examples.
Your checkpoint
A closed-book 40-minute test of 25 mixed questions across domains 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, scored and error-logged by domain, plus one solved budget-deficit problem showing all four deficit measures.
International Trade and Balance of Payments & National Income Accounting
Explain comparative advantage and compute gains from trade from a two-country, two-commodity opportunity cost table.
Record transactions in the balance of payments current and capital accounts and determine whether the balance is in surplus or deficit.
Distinguish fixed, floating, and managed exchange-rate regimes and explain depreciation, devaluation, and appreciation with causes and effects.
Define and compute the terms of trade and explain how tariffs and quotas affect domestic price, quantity, and welfare.
Your checkpoint
A completed balance of payments worksheet for a six-transaction case, a gains-from-trade calculation, and a 150-word written answer on how a depreciation affects the trade balance, checked against a self-made marking scheme.
Indian Economy and Development Issues & Introduction to Economics and Basic Concepts
Summarise the main features of the Indian economy and classify it by sectoral composition of output and employment.
Explain the objectives and instruments of Indian economic planning and evaluate the shift from planning to reform.
Compare poverty, unemployment, and human development indicators and identify the measurement approach used for each.
Explain the roles of agriculture, industry, and services in Indian growth and the main government schemes addressing poverty and employment.
Your checkpoint
A two-page fact sheet of current Indian macroeconomic indicators (growth rate, inflation, unemployment, poverty ratio, fiscal deficit, and key scheme names) with a source note for each figure, plus 10 self-written short-answer questions drawn from it.
Theory of Consumer Behaviour & Theory of Production and Costs & Forms of Market and Price Determination & Distribution of Income and Factor Pricing
Redo every numerical problem from weeks 1 and 2 without notes and identify recurring error types.
Produce clean, fully labelled diagrams for indifference-curve equilibrium, cost curves, and all four market structures from memory.
Answer two full-length essay questions on market equilibrium and factor pricing within the time limit.
Explain the link between cost curves and supply curves and derive a firm's short-run supply curve.
Your checkpoint
A timed 90-minute mock paper covering domains 2, 3, 4, and 5 (numericals plus two essays), scored against a marking scheme, with a written list of the top five weak areas and a fix for each.
National Income Accounting & Money, Banking and Inflation & Public Finance and Government Budget & International Trade and Balance of Payments & Indian Economy and Development Issues
Complete two full-length timed mock papers covering all ten domains under exam conditions.
Review every error from both mocks and re-solve each incorrect numerical from first principles.
Memorise the essential formula sheet for national income aggregates, money multiplier, inflation, deficits, and terms of trade.
Practise the current-affairs and Indian-economy section using the week 6 fact sheet, refreshed with any updates.
Draft and rehearse concise model answers for the five most likely essay prompts across domains 6 to 10.
Your checkpoint
Two completed and scored full-length mock papers with an error log showing a measurable improvement in score from mock 1 to mock 2, plus a final one-page revision sheet.
Milestones
Week 2: Can solve a consumer equilibrium problem and a short-run cost schedule without notes, and correctly identify profit-maximising output for a competitive firm and a monopoly in at least 8 of 10 practice items.
Week 4: Scores at least 65% on the closed-book mixed test and correctly computes all four budget deficit measures from a budget table.
Week 6: Can complete a balance of payments worksheet and a gains-from-trade calculation accurately, and recall at least 20 current Indian macroeconomic facts from the fact sheet.
Week 8: Improves the full-length mock score by at least 10 percentage points between mock 1 and mock 2, with no domain scoring below 50% in mock 2.