International Baccalaureate · IB Diploma
Economics · HL
Papers, samples and curriculum documents for this course.
Handouts, exercise sheets and slides
Shared topic documents retain their source course and topic titles. Use your chosen board’s specification for coverage, tier and exam requirements.
Handouts · A-Level Economics (11)
- 1. Basic economic ideas and resource allocation
- 2. The price system and the microeconomy
- 3. Government microeconomic intervention
- 4. The macroeconomy
- 5. Government macroeconomic intervention
- 6. International economic issues
- 7. The price system and the microeconomy (A Level)
- 8. Government microeconomic intervention (A Level)
- 9. The macroeconomy (A Level)
- 10. Government macroeconomic intervention (A Level)
- 11. International economic issues (A Level)
Exercise sheets · A-Level Economics (53)
- 1.1 Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
- 1.2 Economic methodology
- 1.3 Factors of production
- 1.4 Resource allocation in different economic systems
- 1.5 Production possibility curves
- 1.6 Classification of goods and services
- 2.1 Demand and supply curves
- 2.2 Price elasticity, income elasticity and cross elasticity of demand
- 2.3 Price elasticity of supply
- 2.4 The interaction of demand and supply
- 2.5 Consumer and producer surplus
- 3.1 Reasons for government intervention in markets
- 3.2 Methods and effects of government intervention in markets
- 3.3 Addressing income and wealth inequality
- 4.1 National income statistics
- 4.2 Introduction to the circular flow of income
- 4.3 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply analysis
- 4.4 Economic growth
- 4.5 Unemployment
- 4.6 Price stability
- 5.1 Government macroeconomic policy objectives
- 5.2 Fiscal policy
- 5.3 Monetary policy
- 5.4 Supply-side policy
- 6.1 The reasons for international trade
- 6.2 Protectionism
- 6.3 Current account of the balance of payments
- 6.4 Exchange rates
- 6.5 Policies to correct imbalances in the current account of the balance of payments
- 7.1 Utility
- 7.2 Indifference curves and budget lines
- 7.3 Efficiency and market failure
- 7.4 Private costs and benefits, externalities and social costs and benefits
- 7.5 Types of cost, revenue and profit, short-run and long-run production
- 7.6 Different market structures
- 7.7 Growth and survival of firms
- 7.8 Differing objectives and policies of firms
- 8.1 Government policies to achieve efficient resource allocation and correct market failure
- 8.2 Equity and redistribution of income and wealth
- 8.3 Labour market forces and government intervention
- 9.1 The circular flow of income
- 9.2 Economic growth and sustainability
- 9.3 Employment/unemployment
- 9.4 Money and banking
- 10.1 Government macroeconomic policy objectives
- 10.2 Links between macroeconomic problems and their interrelatedness
- 10.3 Effectiveness of policy options to meet all macroeconomic objectives
- 11.1 Policies to correct disequilibrium in the balance of payments
- 11.2 Exchange rates
- 11.3 Economic development
- 11.4 Characteristics of countries at different levels of development
- 11.5 Relationship between countries at different levels of development
- 11.6 Globalisation
Presentation slides · A-Level Economics (11)
- 1. Basic economic ideas and resource allocation
- 2. The price system and the microeconomy
- 3. Government microeconomic intervention
- 4. The macroeconomy
- 5. Government macroeconomic intervention
- 6. International economic issues
- 7. The price system and the microeconomy (A Level)
- 8. Government microeconomic intervention (A Level)
- 9. The macroeconomy (A Level)
- 10. Government macroeconomic intervention (A Level)
- 11. International economic issues (A Level)
Course units and learning goals
These lessons teach selected course objectives. Check the remaining coverage gaps; the material is not a complete preparation programme.
1 · Economic inquiry and choices
- Explain scarcity and opportunity cost using a model
- Distinguish positive from normative claims and evaluate assumptions
- normative
- Containing a judgement about what ought to be.
- opportunity cost
- The benefit of the next-best alternative forgone.
2.1–2.7 · Demand, supply and policy
- Explain market equilibrium and elasticities
- Analyse intervention and behavioural limits with labelled diagrams
- tax incidence
- How the economic burden of a tax is shared.
- price elasticity
- Responsiveness of quantity to a price change.
2.8–2.9; 2.12 · Market failure and equity
- Analyse externalities, public goods and common-access resources
- Distinguish efficiency from fairness in policy evaluation
- common-access resource
- A resource that is rival and non-excludable.
- equity
- Fairness in the distribution of outcomes or opportunities.
2.10–2.11 · Information and market power
- Analyse asymmetric information and market power
- Use costs, revenue and welfare to evaluate intervention
- adverse selection
- Hidden information before a transaction distorts selection.
- moral hazard
- Protection changes incentives for risk-taking or care.
3 · Macroeconomic activity, objectives and policy
- Use national-income measures and AD/AS
- Evaluate monetary, fiscal and supply-side policies for growth, stability and inequality
- aggregate demand
- Total planned spending on final goods and services.
- real GDP
- Output measured after removing price changes.
4 · Global economy and development
- Analyse trade, protection, integration, exchange rates and payments
- Evaluate development indicators, barriers and strategies
- comparative advantage
- Production at a lower opportunity cost.
- sustainable development
- Development that considers future needs and environmental limits.
Preparing for this qualification
- SL: Paper 1 75 min 30%, Paper 2 105 min 40%, commentary portfolio 30%. HL: Paper 1 75 min 20%, Paper 2 105 min 30%, policy Paper 3 105 min 30%, portfolio 20%.
- Three supervised news commentaries cover microeconomics, macroeconomics and the global economy through distinct key concepts. School checks source recency and commentary requirements against the full guide.
Teaching coverage still needed
- Full guide needed to verify every SL/HL sub-objective and quantitative exclusion; more diagram-led lessons, development cases and complete paper sets required.
- Reviewed runtime bank remains unavailable; no practice registry promotion.
Specifications and sample documents
- Economics — Subject brief · 2022 ↗
First assessment: 2022
Course materials
Course preparation
Documents are available. Board-specific notes, assessments and interactive past-paper practice are not yet available for every course.
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