Economics outline

ECONOMICSCURRICULUM FORMS 3 – 5

A division of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Syllabus

Effective September 2010

Based on the following allocation of periods

Form 3 3 – 35 minutes periods per week Form 4 & 5 5 – 35 minutes periods per week

Jacqueline RichardsonBusiness Education OfficerMinistry of Education, Sports, Youth and Gender Affairs

FORM 3

SECTION TOPICCONTENT

1

1 The Nature of Economics

a) Economics as a Social Science - The creation of wealth out to scarce resources- The production and distribution of goods and services- The behaviour, interactions and welfare of those

involved in the process- Economics as a trade off

b) An economy as a mechanism - Organization of resources for production of goods and

services- Satisfaction of society’s needs and wants

c) Main sectors in an economy

d) Concepts of scarcity and choice

e) Opportunity cost and money cost

f) Illustration of Production Possibility Curve

g) Influence on consumers in making economic

decisions

h) Influence on producers in making economic decisions

2Production, Economic

Resources and Resources Allocation

a) Definition of Production

b) Differences between production and productivity

c) Factors of production- Resources both human and non-human, required to

produce goods

d) Types and description of economic resources as factors of production

i) Land- Definition- Characteristics- Types- Importance- Productivity

ii) Labour- Definition- Characteristics- Functions- Division of labour- Specialization of labour- Productivity- Efficiency- Supplyii) Capital- Definition- Characteristics- Types- Accumulation- Importance as a substitute for labour

Prepared by Jacqueline RichardsonBusiness Education Officer

Production, Economic

Resources and Resources Allocation (cont’d)

iii) Entrepreneurial talent- Definition- Importance- Functions

e) Rewards of factors of production- Rent- Wages and salaries- Interest- Profit

f) Fixed, variable, total, average and marginal costs

g) Differences between short run and long run

h) Goods (tangible) and services ( intangible)

i) Resource allocation- What to produce- How much to produce - For whom to produce

j) Types of economic systems- Traditional (subsistence farming, bartering)- Command or planned (socialist)- Free or capitalist (market)- Mixed ( public and private)

k) Characteristics of each economic system in relation to - ownership of the factors of production- Role of government - Role of the private sector- How each economic system allocates resources

l) Merits and demerits of economic system in terms - of its efficiency in allocating scarce resources - in providing goods and services to each sector of the population

FORM 4

SECTION TOPICCONTENT


2Production, Economic

Resources and Resources Allocation

m) Types of business organizations in a free market

n) Features of each type of business organization

o) Technical, marketing, financial and risk-bearing economies

p) concept of diseconomies of scale

q) advantages and disadvantages of division of labour

3 Market and Prices (cont’d)

a) Concept of a market

b) Definition of supply and demand

c) The relationship between price and quantity demanded, and price and quantity supplied

d) The concept of ceteris paribus

e) Diagrammatic representation of demand curve and supply curve

f) Demand and supply conditions – factors determining the environment for price movement

g) Diagrammatic representations and analyses of hw changes to the determinants affect demand and supply curves

h) Market equilibrium – agreement between consumer and supplier on the price and quantity of goods demanded and offered

i) Diagrammatic representation of market equilibrium

j) The impact of changes in market conditions on market equilibrium

k) Illustration of the market equilibrium

l) Price elasticity of demand- Concept of price elasticity of demand and its

determinants- Concept of income and cross elasticity of demand

m) Factors affecting price elasticity of demand

n) Illustration, by graphs and tables, of changes in conditions of demand and supply

a) The financial Sector: the complex mix or network of markets, households, businesses, governments, laws and institutions interacting with one another

b) The roles of the Financial Sector in mobilizing and making loanable funds available from savers to spenders


4 Financial Sector

for consumption and investment purposes

c) Functions of the financial sector

d) Economic activities that are not officially regulated and which take place outside the formal norms of business transactions.

e) Money as any item considered acceptable to be used as payment for goods and services

f) From bartering to modern forms of payments

g) Four main functions of money

h) Four main qualities of money

i) Money supply: the total stock of money in the economy at any moment

j) Roles of the Central Bank and the following financial institutions Commercial BankStock ExchangeShare MarketCredit UnionDevelopment BankInsurance Company Mutual FundBuilding SocietyInvestment Trust CompanyInformal credit institutions (Sou Sou, Box, Partner, etc.)

k) Financial instruments; treasury notes and bonds corporate bonds municipal bonds equity securities

5 Economic Management: Policies and

Goals

a) Role of governmenteg. in taxation and expenditure and transfer policies

b) Definition of the following terms and concepts- national budget- national income- disposal income- national debt- fiscal policy- fiscal deficit- monetary policy- economic growth- economic development- developing economy- developed economy


5

Economic Management: Policies and

Goals

- balance of payment- GDP- GNP- employment- unemployment- inflation- deflation- savings- investmentc) Flows of goods and services and factors of production

between firms and households

d) Illustration of basic flow diagram consisting of households, firms, government and financial institutions

e) GDP: a measure of national outputGNP: a measure of the increase or decrease in the standard of livingCalculation of GDP and GNP

f) Nominal output, real output and potential output

g) Economic growth and economic development

h) Inflation and recession

i) The major causes and consequences of inflation and recession

j) Government’s role in reducing inflation

k) Government’s role in relieving recession

l) Types of unemployment- structural- cyclical- frictional- seasonal- real-wage

m) Causes and measures to reduce each type of unemployment

n) The role of Trade Unions in a free market economy

FORM 5

SECTION TOPIC CONTENT


6 International Trade

a) Definition of the following terms and concepts - Balance of trade- Current account- Capital account- Balance of payments- Balance of payments - Disequilibria- Tariff- Common Eternal Tariff (CET)- Quota (non-tariff barriers)- Exchange rate- Exchange rate regimes- World Trade Organisation (WTO)

b) The concept of comparative advantage and gains from trade. International trade as a “win-win” situation

c) Factors that influence International Trade- On the import side- On the export side

d) Terms of trade

e) Factors that influence the level of an exchange rate

f) Fixed, Floating and managed exchange rate regimes

g) Appreciation and depreciation of a currency

h) Downward and upward adjustment to the value of a currency

i) Balance of payments as a balance sheet indicating all the international transactions with the rest of the world

j) Balance of trade as the difference between the values of exports and imports of visible and invisible

k) Current account, capital account and the official financial account

l) Entries that would appear in the balance of payments account

m) Surplus as excess of receipts over payments: deficit as excess of expenditure over receipts

n) Factors that give rise to surpluses


o) Factors that give rise to a deficit

p) Possible consequences of balance of payment surpluses and deficits

q) Possible remedies for balance of payments surpluses and deficits

7 Caribbean Economies in

a Global Environment

a) Main characteristics of Caribbean economies: market size, resources, nature of dependency

b) Economic problems associated with Caribbean economies

c) Definition of the following terms and concepts

- Debt burden- Structural adjustment- Economic integration- Protectionism- Laissez-faire- Common market- Economic union- Customs union- Globalization- Trade liberalization- Bi-lateral agreement- Multi-lateral agreement- International monetary Fund (IMF)- Caribbean Community (CARICOM)- African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP)- Free Trade Area of America (FTAA)- Association of Caribbean States (ACS)- Caribbean and Canadian Association (CARIBCAN)- Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME)- World Bank- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)- European Union (EU)- Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI)- Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

d) Definition and explanation of preferential tariffs including those offered by the European Union (EU)

e) Benefits and costs of preferential tariff arrangements in light of discussions within the World Trade

Organisation (WTO)

f) Trade liberalization in the context of the termination of all preferential tariff arrangements world wide


Caribbean Economies in

a Global Environment

g) Globalization in the context of open competition on a world scale

h) The free movement of goods, capital, labour and technology

i) Social and economic benefits of producing goods in large quantities

j) Possible social and economic benefits to be derived from the free movement of capital, goods and labour within CARICOM

k) Effects of globalization and trade liberalization on firms, consumers and the sovereignty of territories

l) Concepts and challenges of e-commerce

m) Definition of e-commerce or e-business

n) Benefits of e-commerce or e-business

o) Challenges of e-commerce or e-business

Students should be tested using past paper question under exam conditions.

Students should be given clear guidelines on their SBA Projects as outlined in the Syllabus. The SBA component should begin no later than Term 1 in Form 5.

Term 2 Form 5 should be used for completion of SBA Projects, revision and further practice on Past Papers.


Economics outline

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