HSC Economics Question Thread

[Deng]

Hey i was wondering to what extent we need to know our case studies. The syllabus is very vague in the sense that it doesnt outline specific areas rather just the influences of globalisation on the country and the strats used for EG and ED.

In 2015, they had a question on Environemntal Sustainabiliy which is specific ( not sure where im going with this tbh ) but yeah was wondering if anyone had a clear idea 'what is enough' or is that something you can't determine

[birdwing341]

Hey i was wondering to what extent we need to know our case studies. The syllabus is very vague in the sense that it doesnt outline specific areas rather just the influences of globalisation on the country and the strats used for EG and ED.

In 2015, they had a question on Environemntal Sustainabiliy which is specific ( not sure where im going with this tbh ) but yeah was wondering if anyone had a clear idea 'what is enough' or is that something you can't determine

Hi!

From what I'm studying, I think it's important to have some specific knowledge regarding the case study, and it is particularly important to recognise the policies of the country. For me, I have separated notes into something along these lines;
- Trade
- Investment
- Growth
- Development (and Income Equality)
- Environment
Then I usually have one or two policies used by the government to address the issue and a sentence-long evaluation (based on the goal of the policy). 'What is enough' depends on whether you think the case study will come as an essay or short answers. If you believe it will come as an essay, then there need to be statistics, trends and diagrams that can be used within the essay, however if you aren't going to select the case study as an essay, then all you probably need are statistics and an evaluation of the policy.

In regards to other possible questions, there's only so much you can memorise and only so much you can write down in 3 hours. So I would focus on gaining a deeper understanding on the areas that are more than possible as essay questions and have a decent knowledge on everything else (equivalent of short answers). If worst comes to worst, you can always chuck the info into a paragraph and make it a content bash

[brontem]

Just a question to ask all you economics students but is the HSC course funner than the prelim course because to be honest, I dreaded the prelim course to bits as I thought it was very theory dense and quite boring

That's a very subjective question!  The hsc is course is way more like things to do with the gov./context/current events/ based, so if you like that, you should like it  there's not a lot of learning new skills involved, its basically applying all the skills from prelim in different scenarios.
In terms of it being boring... there were a few things that I didn't like - that being said the things I didn't like, others loved (and vice versa)
(Liking the entirety of a course is a very fairytale idea - definitely parts of every subject I didn't like, but you just have to deal with it)

[isaacdelatorre]

Hey guys,

I was looking through the ABS analysis of the 2016 March and June QTR BOP, and I was confused by BOGS deficit being larger than NPY deficit as was the 2016 March qtr (-$7996m and -$7160 respectively). Since historically BOGS has always been less than NPY (even in surplus at times), can anyone shed some light as to why this has occurred and what the implications are on the rest of the Australian economy.

Thank you

[asd987]

Hi, i wanted to ask a question about the structure of the economics HSC exam. So is there a specific layout for the exam? e.g. topic 1 will be MC, then topic 2 will be short answer, then topic 3 will be essay question etc. In other humanities subjects like SOR and Legal, there is a strict layout for the hsc exam, is this the same case for economics?

[isaacdelatorre]

Hi, i wanted to ask a question about the structure of the economics HSC exam. So is there a specific layout for the exam? e.g. topic 1 will be MC, then topic 2 will be short answer, then topic 3 will be essay question etc. In other humanities subjects like SOR and Legal, there is a strict layout for the hsc exam, is this the same case for economics?

Hey there,

Like most exams, the economics HSC exam has a set layout and it is a very good idea to get an understanding of the layout so you can plan your approach

1. Multiple Choice - 20 marks
2. Short Answer - 40 marks
3. Extended Response (usually a stimulus is given) - 20 marks
4. Extended Response - 20 marks

Unlike subjects like legal studies where the extended responses are dedicated to the options topics; any of the 4 topics can be tested in the extended responses

Hope this helps

[birdwing341]

Hi, i wanted to ask a question about the structure of the economics HSC exam. So is there a specific layout for the exam? e.g. topic 1 will be MC, then topic 2 will be short answer, then topic 3 will be essay question etc. In other humanities subjects like SOR and Legal, there is a strict layout for the hsc exam, is this the same case for economics?

Yup! Section 1: Multis (20 marks), Section 2: Short Answers (40 marks), Section 3: Stimulus Essay (20 marks), Section 4: Normal Essay (20 marks)

[asd987]

Okay thanyou, but what i was supposed to ask was will each section (multiple choice, short answer and essay questions) be a combination of all 4 topics or just one or two topics for each section. e.g. in legal studies, section 1 - 15 multiple choice are dedicated to crime, 5 are dedicated to human rights, then section 2 will will be a few short answers on human rights, then essay on crime, then section 3 will be essays on options. Do we know the topics that will come in the MC, short answer and essays or will it just be a combination of all 4 in each section?

[birdwing341]

Okay thanyou, but what i was supposed to ask was will each section (multiple choice, short answer and essay questions) be a combination of all 4 topics or just one or two topics for each section. e.g. in legal studies, section 1 - 15 multiple choice are dedicated to crime, 5 are dedicated to human rights, then section 2 will will be a few short answers on human rights, then essay on crime, then section 3 will be essays on options. Do we know the topics that will come in the MC, short answer and essays or will it just be a combination of all 4 in each section?

Oh sorry hahaha!! Nope they can ask you anything! Although sometimes people can guess the questions

[isaacdelatorre]

Okay thanyou, but what i was supposed to ask was will each section (multiple choice, short answer and essay questions) be a combination of all 4 topics or just one or two topics for each section. e.g. in legal studies, section 1 - 15 multiple choice are dedicated to crime, 5 are dedicated to human rights, then section 2 will will be a few short answers on human rights, then essay on crime, then section 3 will be essays on options. Do we know the topics that will come in the MC, short answer and essays or will it just be a combination of all 4 in each section?

Hey, sorry I must've misread your question. Unlike how legal is split up into the different topics; all economics topics are examinable across every section. However it doesn't always have to be equally spread (5MC for each topic) instead some topics can be examined more than others. So make sure you know all parts of the syllabus

[nancy_cc]

Hey guys,

I was looking through the ABS analysis of the 2016 March and June QTR BOP, and I was confused by BOGS deficit being larger than NPY deficit as was the 2016 March qtr (-$7996m and -$7160 respectively). Since historically BOGS has always been less than NPY (even in surplus at times), can anyone shed some light as to why this has occurred and what the implications are on the rest of the Australian economy.

Thank you

Hey, I'm not sure if this helps but since global interest rates are at their lowest (with some being close to or at 0%) this could have eased pressure on the NPY deficit since repayments on borrowed funds decline. Also during the march-june period terms of trade had been on a downward trend since the end of 2015 which worsens a BOGS deficit. Also from march-april the value of the AUD was appreciating and paired with a historically low cash rates domestic consumers had great incentive to spend which could lead to more imports purchased than exports sold again worsening the BOGS.

Just trying to thing of factors which affect the BOGS and NPY hope something makes sense! Not quite sure about the implications on the rest of the economy though sorry!

[RuiAce]

Essay marking service may be coming soon. Stay tuned

[birdwing341]

Essay marking service may be coming soon. Stay tuned

Keeeeeeeeeeeeeen

[Deng]

Hey guys, can someone explain to me the relationship of low wage growth and deflation? and the factors causing low wage growth?

Would low wage growth mean consumers have a lower APC/MPC which reduces their confidence in purcahasing goods and services, which puts pressure on firms to reduce their prices to stimulate demand ?

Thanks

[brontem]

Hey guys, can someone explain to me the relationship of low wage growth and deflation? and the factors causing low wage growth?

Would low wage growth mean consumers have a lower APC/MPC which reduces their confidence in purcahasing goods and services, which puts pressure on firms to reduce their prices to stimulate demand ?

Thanks

If wages growth is low: there is less cost for businesses to pay for labour, and there will be less of an impact on production costs; wages are a large (the largest?) cost of production. Input costs are low --> Price increases aren't passed on to consumers (because there is no price increase)
Likewise, if there is low inflation, there is no need for wages to increase (no need to accommodate for increase in prices since there is no increase)

As far as I know, low wage growth isn't the reason for prices to change, if thats what you mean? Low wage growth is the result of low growth/inflation/demand (as far as I know..) kind of like the opposite of the wage-price spiral

As for what causes low wage growth is usually low inflation, low demand for labour & low labour productivity.. basically there is no increase in wages because there's no need for it