Category: IB Economics

Anything related to the Economics Diploma Programme.

IB Business, IB Economics

Brazil’s Labour Laws Reformed.

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IB Business & IB Economics. For the first time since 1945, as from today, November the 11th, 2017, new labour laws come into force in Brazil. The new laws have been welcomed by the business community, who feel that the laws bring Brazil’s labour market into the 21st century, but many, including  the Trade Unions and the poor, have protested against the changes. In economic language these types of changes are often referred to as ‘ making the labour market more flexible’. In economics it is an example of a ‘ market based supply side policy’ the aim of which … Continue reading Brazil’s Labour Laws Reformed.

IB Economics

There Is No Such Thing as A ‘Free Market’.

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I.B. Economics. Anyone studying economics, no matter how briefly, will soon come across the phrase, the ‘ free market’. We also talk about ‘ free marketeers’, who are economists who believe that the less the government ‘ interferes’  in markets the better. They tend to argue that when the government steps into markets and introduces, for example, a minimum wage or a price ceiling, then this results in a restriction on the ‘freedom of choice’ of the players in the market, and also causes a loss of efficiency in the market. One of the main themes of the IB Economics  … Continue reading There Is No Such Thing as A ‘Free Market’.

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Eight – Coursework Assessment Criteria

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IB Economics. These are the assessment rubrics for the economics coursework. If you have any doubts, refer to the syllabus. Coursework Assessment Criteria. Criteria Description Marks A Diagrams See Step Four 3 B Terminology Have you used the language and terminology of the subject throughout your commentary? Have you defined 3 or 4 specialist economics terms? 2 C Application See Step Four & Step Five 2 D Analysis See Step Five 3 E Evaluation See Step Five 4 F Rubric Requirements* Does each commentary does not exceed 750 words? Is each article is based on a different section of the … Continue reading Step Eight – Coursework Assessment Criteria

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Seven – Commentary FAQ’s

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IB Economics. Are footnotes included in the word count? Yes. Are diagram labels, axes labels and diagram titles included in the word count?. No. But diagram descriptions / explanations are. Can I put line graphs, bar charts or pie charts in my commentary? No, not unless there is one already in the article. If there is one, just talk about it in the commentary, don’t reproduce it. Must you include a bibliography at the end? No. Only include footnotes at the bottom of each page which reference your sources. Bibliographies at the end are not needed. Can I use an … Continue reading Step Seven – Commentary FAQ’s

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Six – Final Checks

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IB Economics. Prior to submitting your commentary, use this check list to make sure that you have done everything that you need to do to maximize your marks:- Check List Subject. Yes? No? Have I included a cover sheet?     Have I included the article?     Have I highlighted the relevant paragraphs (about five) in the article, if it is rather long?     Does the cover sheet have all the information required e.g. the word count, the date of the article, the source of the article, the Key Concept related to the commentary etc.?     Does … Continue reading Step Six – Final Checks

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Five – Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation

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IB Economics. If you want top grades in your coursework, you need to be able to prove skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Commentaries that just describe or restate the information in the article, tend to get low marks. These skills are difficult to do and take time and practice to acquire. What is analysis? When you analyze something, you look at it in a lot of detail, you break it down into it’s component parts and try and make links or connections between the different parts. What is synthesis? A summary of the available information that you have – … Continue reading Step Five – Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics1 Comment

Step Four – Including Diagrams.

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IB Economics. Diagrams are essential to economics. When you draw a diagram to explain or illustrate an economics situation, you are demonstrating your ‘ application’ skills – applying the theory we learn in class to explain or illustrate an economic situation. If you want top marks for your coursework, your diagram have to be excellent. The following are a list of rules to follow:- 1)  Diagrams should be large –  around one-third of a page in size. 2)     Always label the axes appropriately – eg  “Price of Cars” , not just “Price”  and “Quantity of Oil (Barrels per Year) ” … Continue reading Step Four – Including Diagrams.

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Three – Writing Up Your Commentary

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IB Economics. The maximum word count for each commentary is 800 words. It is vitally important to write as close as possible up to this limit i.e. 799 words! In order to maximize your marks, you will have to do a lot of things – write an introduction and conclusion, draw one or two diagrams, explain and describe each one, define some economic terms and concepts that you are using, directly refer to the article etc. All of this takes up a lot of your word count! For this reason, make sure you use as much of your word count … Continue reading Step Three – Writing Up Your Commentary

Economics Internal Assessment, IB Economics

Step Two – Using Good Article Sources

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IB Economics. Your article sources must be news media sources, containing the latest news about an economics issue. Remember: you cannot use the same source for more than one commentary. Each source should be different for each commentary. I tell my students to use these sources, amongst others:- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/    https://edition.cnn.com/business   https://www.bbc.com/news/business   http://www.independent.co.uk    http://www.guardian.co.uk   http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/index.html   https://www.reuters.com/       Notice something. The Economist magazine and the Financial Times are not on the above list. It is not recommended that you choose articles from these publications because they already analyse and evaluate the economic situation that they … Continue reading Step Two – Using Good Article Sources