NSSCAS Economics (8246) study plan

Construct production possibility frontier diagrams and use them to explain opportunity cost, scarcity and the difference between productive potential and actual output

Classify factors of production and evaluate how the reward to each factor is determined in a market economy

Derive individual and market demand and supply schedules from tabulated data and plot the resulting curves accurately

Explain the conditions for equilibrium and disequilibrium using shortage and surplus analysis with numerical examples

Distinguish movements along a curve from shifts of a curve for at least six named determinants of demand and supply

Calculate price elasticity of demand, income elasticity of demand, cross elasticity of demand and price elasticity of supply using the standard formulas, and interpret the sign and magnitude of each result

Apply the total revenue test to infer elasticity and explain why firms use it for pricing decisions

Draw and interpret the incidence of indirect taxes and subsidies on consumers and producers under differing elasticities

Evaluate the effects of maximum and minimum prices on market outcomes using diagrams and real labour and housing examples

Analyse how elasticity determines tax burden distribution and policy effectiveness in a written paragraph

Distinguish private, external and social costs and benefits and derive social optimum positions on diagrams

Draw and explain welfare loss for negative production externalities, positive consumption externalities and merit and demerit goods

Classify market failure causes including public goods, asymmetric information, monopoly power and factor immobility

Compare government interventions such as taxation, subsidies, tradable permits, regulation and provision, and assess government failure in each case

Evaluate the effectiveness of one intervention using at least three criteria such as efficiency, equity and enforceability

Compute total, average, marginal, fixed and variable costs from data and sketch short-run cost curves with their relationships explained

Explain the law of diminishing returns and its link to the shape of marginal and average cost curves

Compare perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly on assumptions, conduct and performance

Derive profit-maximising output using marginal cost equals marginal revenue and identify shut-down and break-even points

Contrast profit, revenue and sales maximisation and satisficing objectives and predict output effects of each

Define and calculate national income using the output, income and expenditure methods and reconcile the three measures

Distinguish nominal from real GDP and explain the use of a price index to deflate nominal values

Compute the inflation rate, unemployment rate and an index number series from supplied data

Evaluate GDP per capita as a measure of living standards by identifying at least four limitations including distribution, informal activity and environmental costs

Explain the causes and consequences of inflation, unemployment and current account imbalance within macroeconomic objectives

Explain the functions and characteristics of money and describe the structure of a commercial banking system

Construct the credit creation process with a numerical multiplier example and identify its limits

Distinguish demand-pull from cost-push inflation and analyse each using aggregate demand and aggregate supply diagrams

Evaluate the use of interest rates, quantitative easing, reserve requirements and forward guidance as monetary tools

Assess the trade-off between inflation control and unemployment using a Phillips curve style framework

Distinguish progressive, proportional and regressive taxes and evaluate the UK-relevant direct and indirect tax structure

Explain the automatic stabilisers and the discretionary fiscal stance and calculate a budget deficit or surplus from data

Analyse crowding out, Ricardian equivalence style objections and time lags as limits on fiscal policy

Compare demand-side and supply-side policies on transmission mechanism, time horizon and effect on productive potential

Evaluate supply-side measures such as education, infrastructure, deregulation and labour market reform for their impact on growth and inequality

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

Analyse how tariffs, quotas and subsidies affect prices, quantities, welfare and the terms of trade using diagrams

Explain the components of the current and financial accounts and classify transactions correctly

Analyse floating and fixed exchange rate determination and the effects of appreciation and depreciation on macroeconomic objectives

Evaluate the costs and benefits of globalisation and of protectionism using at least three criteria