Unit 3: Exploring Economic Behaviour · 1520U30-1

WJEC A-level Unit 3, June 2017

All 19 written questions from WJEC A-level Unit 3 (June 2017), Exploring Economic Behaviour. Each question shows its marks and topic, with an examiner insight on 3, and opens the question paper and mark scheme at the right page.

Question paperMark schemeExaminer report

Section A

Q9Discuss8 marks
Discuss the extent to which Japan's high government debt is a problem for the Japanese economy.
Mark splitApplication 2Analysis 2Evaluation 4

Examiner insight

What to cover
Answer about the debt itself, not the policies used to cut it. Explain the problems: debt interest crowding out other spending, credit rating and borrowing costs, the burden on future taxpayers. Quote the data, for example debt at 240 per cent of GDP, the highest in the world.
Evaluation
Set against that: Japan borrows cheaply in its own currency, most of the debt is held domestically, and austerity to cut it would damage growth. Judge how far it is really a problem.
Watch out
Most candidates wrote about the effects of debt reduction policies rather than the debt, which answers a different question. Nearly everyone who mentioned a VAT rise said it would reduce AD, when it reduces SRAS.
How it went in the exam
Examiners said many answers used no data at all. One reference to the 240 per cent figure was worth an AO2 mark.
Question paper p.14Mark scheme p.14Examiner report p.12Open in the tool
Q10Discuss8 marks
Discuss the view that the Bank of Japan should raise its inflation target from 2 % to 4 %.
Mark splitApplication 2Analysis 2Evaluation 4

TopicMacroeconomic objectives and policyMeasuring economic performance

Examiner insight

What to cover
Keep the focus on raising the target, not on inflation being higher. Explain how a higher target works through inflationary expectations, the real interest rate and the incentive to spend rather than hold cash in a deflationary economy.
Evaluation
Use the data to argue credibility: Japan was already failing to hit 2 per cent, so announcing 4 per cent may change nothing and may cost the Bank credibility. Weigh that against the escape from deflation.
Watch out
Most answers described the problems of higher inflation instead of a higher target, which caps the marks badly.
How it went in the exam
Examiners called this the worst answered question in Section B, and singled out expectations plus the failure to hit the existing target as the strongest line.
Question paper p.15Mark scheme p.16Examiner report p.12Open in the toolPractise the AD/AS diagram
Q118 marks
With reference to the data, discuss the extent to which Japan's economy is likely to benefit from increased free-trade and reduced protectionism.
Mark splitApplication 2Analysis 2Evaluation 4

TopicInternational trade and exchange rates

Examiner insight

What to cover
Give the gains from more free trade for Japan: comparative advantage, cheaper imported inputs and food, larger export markets for cars and electronics, more competition and efficiency. Then the losses for protected sectors.
Diagram
Tariff diagram showing the fall in price, the rise in imports and the gain in consumer surplus when a tariff is removed. Refer to it in the writing.
Evaluation
The question says reduced protectionism, not none. Argue about degree: some protection for rice and cars kept, structural unemployment during adjustment, and the dependence on world demand.
Watch out
A diagram that is drawn and then never referred to earns little. Answers with no Japanese context got no AO2 marks at all, when one line on rice or car producers would have earned one.
How it went in the exam
Examiners said this was one of the better answered questions in Section B. The very best answers picked up the word reduced and evaluated degrees of protection.
Question paper p.16Mark scheme p.18Examiner report p.12Open in the tool

Question text is quoted from the question papers, © WJEC CBAC Ltd, for students’ private study. Open the official papers and mark schemes from the links on each question. Examiner insights are written with AI assistance and moderated by Finn.