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Economics Course Outline 2017
The document outlines the economics curriculum for Forms 3 to 5, detailing the topics covered each term, including aspects of microeconomics and macroeconomics, market structures, international trade, and the financial sector. It emphasizes the importance of understanding economic concepts such as production, resource allocation, market forces, and government roles in economic management. Additionally, it includes guidelines for student assessments and SBA projects throughout the academic year.
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Economics Course Outline 2017
- 1. 1 ECONOMICS CURRICULUMFORMS3 – 5 Adivision of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Syllabus Effective September 2017 Based on the followingallocationof periods Form 3 3 – 35 minutes periods per week Form 4 & 5 5 – 35 minutes periods per week Jacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer
- 2. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer FORM 3 SECTIONTOPIC CONTENT 1 Term 1 The Nature of Economics a) Economics as a Social Science - The allocation of scarce resources and the creation of wealth - The production, distribution and consumption of goods and services - The behaviour, interactions and welfare of those involved in the process b) Branches of Economics - Microeconomics - Macroeconomics c) An economy as a mechanism - Organization of resources for production of goods and services - Satisfaction of society’s needs and wants d) Main agents in an economy - Households - Firms - Government e) Concepts of scarcity, choice and opportunity cost, efficiency and inefficiency f) Distinguish between free goods and economics goods g) Illustration of Production Possibility Curve h) Scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, shifts , efficiency and inefficiency i) Shifts of Production Possibility Curve (causes and illustration) a) Definition of Production b) Differences between production and productivity c) Factors of production:. - Resources both human and non-human, required to
- 3. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer 2 Term 2/3 Production, Economic Resources andResources Allocation Production, Economic Resourcesand Resources Allocation (cont’d) produce goods d) Types and description of economic resources as factors of production j) Land - Definition - Characteristics - Types - Importance - Productivity ii) Labour - Definition - Characteristics - Functions - Division of labour - Specialization of labour - Advantages and disadvantages of division of labour and specialisation - Productivity - Efficiency - Supply ii) Capital - Definition - Characteristics - Types - Accumulation - Importance as a substitute for labour iii) Entrepreneurial talent - Definition - Importance - Functions e) Rewards of factors of production - Rent - Wages and salaries - Interest - Profit f) Main sectors in an economy - Primary
- 4. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer - Secondary -Tertiary g) Fixed, variable, total, average and marginal costs - Calculation of cost h) Cost Curves i) Differences between short run and long run j) Goods (tangible) and services ( intangible) k) Resource allocation - What to produce - How much to produce - For whom to produce l) Types of economic systems - Traditional (subsistence farming, bartering) - Command or planned (socialist) - Free or capitalist (market) - Mixed ( public and private) m) 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
- 5. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer FORM 4 SECTIONTOPIC CONTENT 2 Term 1 Production, Economic Resources and Resources Allocation m) Types of business organizations in a free market - How firms in general operate under different market structures as profit maximizes n) Concept of economies scale - Control, communication and industrial problems - Technical, marketing, financial, managerial and risk- bearing economies - Diminishing returns of scale - Concepts of diseconomies of scale - Social and economic benefits of producing goods in large quantities. 3 Term 1 Market and Prices (cont’d) a) Concept of a market - A situation where buyers and sellers communicate for the purpose of exchanging goods and services - The elements of a market: buyer, seller, goods and services and place b) Market forces - The forces of demand and supply - Conditions, non-price factors, determinants of demand and supply c) The relationship between price and quantity demanded, and price and quantity supplied - The first two laws of demand and supply respectively - The schedules and diagrammatic representations of demand curve and supply curves
- 6. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer d) Theconcept of ceteris paribus and its use in illustrating the effect of price on demand and supply e) Demand and supply conditions – factors determining the environment for price movement f) Diagrammatic representations and analyses of how changes to the determinants affect demand and supply curves g) Market equilibrium Agreement between consumer and supplier on the price and quantity of goods demanded and offered - Equilibrium point- the point where the demand and supply curves intersect - Equilibrium price- price where quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied - Equilibrium quantities- consumer and supplier quantities are equal. No surplus, no shortage (The 3rd Law) h) Schedules and diagrammatic representation of market equilibrium - The effects of prices set below and above the equilibrium price respectively i) The impact of changes in market conditions on market equilibrium j) Illustration of the market equilibrium and disequilibrium k) Price elasticity of demand - Concept of price elasticity of demand and its determinants - Concept of income and cross elasticity of demand and their determinants - Measurements of each l) Factors affecting price elasticity of demand m) Illustration, by graphs and tables, of changes in conditions of demand and supply n) Illustrations to explain the non- price determinants of demand and supply
- 7. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer o) Calculationsusing the simple formulae and interpretation for price, income, and cross price elasticises p) Price elasticity of supply q) Illustration, by graphs and tables, of changes in conditions of demand and supply r) Calculations and interpretation of price elasticity of supply - Factors affecting price income and cross-price elasticises of demand 4 Term 2 Market Structure and Market Failure a) Definition of Market Structure - Behaviour and performance of firms in a variety of situations: number of buyers and sellers, types of goods, freedom of entry and exit, control on price b) Types of Market Structure - Perfect Competition - Monopoly - Oligopoly - Monopolistic Competition c) Characteristic of Market Structure - Number of buyers and sellers - Types of goods - Freedom of entry and exit - Control over price - Barriers to entry and exit in the long run - Short run and long run equilibrium including graphs d) Advantages and disadvantages of each market Structure
- 8. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer e) Illustrationand interpretation of graphs related to short and long run equilibrium f) Definition of Market Failure g) Causes of market failure - Monopoly - Merit goods and public goods - Negative or positive externalities h) Consequences of market failure - Retrenchment - Unemployment - Economic depression - Rise in levels of poverty - Decline in provisions for societal welfare - Micro consequences such as over or under pricing, inefficiency in production in terms of over or underproduction, and inefficient use of resources
- 9. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer 5 Term 3 TheFinancial Sector 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 for consumption and investment purposes c) Economic activities that are not officially regulated and which take place outside the formal norms of business transactions. d) Money as any item considered acceptable to be used as payment for goods and services and for settling debts e) From bartering to modern forms of payments f) Four main functions of money - As a medium of exchange - As a store of value - As a measure of value - As a standard of deferred payments g) Four main qualities of money - Acceptability - Scarce or limited in supply - Homogeneity - Divisibility - Portability - Durability h) Money supply: the total stock of money in the economy at any moment i) Roles of the CentralBank and its roles in: - Monetary Policies i. Interest Rates ii. Reserve requirements iii. Open market operations iv. Moral Suasion - Supervising other financial institutions
- 10. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer j) Rolesof the following financial institutions: Commercial Bank Stock Exchange Share Market Credit Union Development Bank Insurance Company Mutual Fund Building Society Investment Trust Company Informal credit institutions (Sou Sou, Box, Partner, etc.) k) Financial instruments; - treasury notes and bonds - corporate bonds - municipal bonds - equity securities - share stock certificates - Certificates of deposit 6 Economic Management: Policies and Goals a) Role of government - Full employment - Price Stability - Favourable balance of payments - Taxation and expenditure - Transfer policies - Economic growth and development i. Types of taxes: Direct and indirect 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 - balance of payment - GDP
- 11. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer Economic Management: Policies and Goals -GNP - employment - unemployment - inflation - deflation - savings - investment - closed and open economies c) Flows of goods and services and factors of production between firms, households and government d) Injections and withdrawals/Government linkages e) Illustration of basic flow diagram consisting of households, firms, government and financial institutions f) GDP: a measure of national output GNP: a measure of a national’s output NI: the increase or decrease in the standard of living Calculation and interpretation of GDP, GNP and NI g) Nominal output, real output and potential output. Include numerical examples h) Economic growth and economic development i) Inflation and recession j) The major causes and consequences of inflation and recession k) Government’s role in reducing inflation l) Government’s role in relieving recession m) Types of unemployment - structural - cyclical - frictional - seasonal - real-wage
- 12. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer n) Causesand measures to reduce each type of unemployment o) The role of Trade Unions in a free market economy FORM 5 SECTION TOPIC CONTENT 7 Term 1 International Trade a) Definition of the following terms and concepts - Balance of trade - Current account - Capital account - Net international reserves (NIR) - 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, absolute advantages, 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) Factors that influence the level of an exchange rate e) Fixed, Floating and managed exchange rate regimes f) Appreciation and depreciation of a currency g) Revaluation and devaluation
- 13. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer h) Downwardand 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) Explanation and articulation of the values for balance of payments surplus and deficits n) Surplus as excess of receipts over payments: deficit as excess of expenditure over receipts o) Factors that give rise to surpluses p) Factors that give rise to a deficit q) Possible consequences of balance of payment surpluses and deficits r) Possible remedies for balance of payments surpluses and deficits a) Main characteristics of Caribbean economies: market size, resources, nature of dependency b) Economic problems associated with Caribbean economies
- 14. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer 8 Term 1 Caribbean Economiesin a Global Environment c) Benefits and costs of preferential tariff arrangements in light of discussions within the World Trade Organisations (WTO) d) Trade liberalisation in the context of the termination of all preferential tariff arrangements worldwide e) Globalisation in the context of open competition on a world scale f) The free movement of goods, capital, labour and technology g) Effects of globalisation and trade liberalisation on firms, consumers and the sovereignty of territories. h) Shocks: external, demand, and supply i) 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)
- 15. PreparedbyJacqueline Richardson BusinessEducationOfficer Caribbean Economies in aGlobal Environment i) Definition and explanation of preferential tariffs including those offered by the European Union (EU) j) Possible social and economic benefits to be delivered from the free movement of capital, goods and CARICOM k) Concepts and challenges of e-commerce l) Definition of e-commerce or e-business m) Benefits of e-commerce or e-business n) Challenges of e-commerce or e-business Students should be testedusing 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.