Government policies and a contemporary economic issue (internal)
Internal 6 credits Policy Policy objectives Direct impact Flow-on effects Two other issuesAS 91227, 6 credits — the largest Economics internal at this level. Identify government policies that achieve specific policy objectives for ONE contemporary economic issue, explain their direct impact on it, then trace flow-on effects onto TWO OTHER named contemporary economic issues — Excellence requires justifying a COMBINATION of policies that minimises those negative flow-ons.
1 Reading the notation
Flow-on effects must land on TWO OTHER NAMED issues — and Excellence is a specific "combination of policies" task.📖 Terms the schedule grades you on
5 terms- Analyse (Achieved)
- Policies for specific objectives on ONE issue; DIRECT impact on it; FLOW-ON effects on TWO OTHER named issues.
- In depth (Merit)
- DETAILED direct impact; DETAILED flow-on effects on the two other issues.
- Comprehensively (Excellence)
- Justify a COMBINATION of policies minimising negative flow-ons; integrate model changes.
- Policy types (note 3, closed)
- Monetary; fiscal; regulation/deregulation; free trade and protection.
- Contemporary economic issues (note 4)
- Inflation, international trade, economic growth, unemployment, or a scarce-resource special-interest issue.
2 Policy objectives and instruments
Name the objective the policy targets — objectives routinely conflict with each other.| Policy type | Instrument | Objective it targets |
|---|---|---|
| Monetary (contractionary) | OCR up | Price stability |
| Monetary (expansionary) | OCR down | Growth, employment |
| Fiscal (expansionary) | Spend more / tax less | Growth, employment |
| Fiscal (contractionary) | Spend less / tax more | Price stability, surplus |
| Regulation/deregulation | Rules on markets/industries | Varies — often growth or equity |
| Trade/protection | Tariffs, quotas, free trade agreements | External balance, growth |
3 The direct impact on the chosen issue
First-round effect on the ONE issue you named — not the flow-on chain yet. ✕Confusing direct impact with flow-on effects
A fuel excise raising the pump price is DIRECT if your chosen issue is inflation. Its knock-on effect on freight costs, then food prices, then real incomes belongs to the FLOW-ON component — and only counts if it lands on a separate NAMED contemporary economic issue, not just "prices rise more generally".4 Flow-on effects on two other named issues
The same policy, traced onto two SEPARATE, NAMED contemporary economic issues.What the flow-on evidence needs
- TWO other issues, each explicitly named from the standard's list.
- A traced mechanism (with a model) from the policy to EACH one.
- For Excellence: a second policy chosen specifically to offset one negative flow-on.
Practice
Recall it first, then use it — testing yourself builds the memory, where rereading the notes above only feels easier.
Recall and application shuffled together — you have to work out what each item wants before you can answer it, which is the part the exam actually tests. Both kinds feed the same spacing schedule, so anything you miss comes back sooner.
Say the answer out loud before flipping — that attempt is where the learning happens, even when you get it wrong.
Exam-style only. Instant feedback, shuffled each attempt, best score saved on this device.