St Mary's School Calne

Economics

The "dismal" science comes to life.

 

The basis of Economics – that there are not enough resources to go round – can sound a bit dismal. However, the study of how this problem may be overcome, which is what we do at AS and A Level, proves to be a stimulating experience for those who take up this new subject. Central to the whole process is the debate about what should be done by the government and what should be left to ‘the market’.

We study theoretical models which we apply to the real world that is familiar to our students, observing how the ‘invisible hand’ of the market gives us DVDs, cheap fashion clothes from China and low-cost airlines. At the same time, we have to acquire a whole new vocabulary, in which CO2 emissions become a ‘negative externality’ and the sort of things our students sell in the tuck shop become ‘demerit goods’!

In lessons, and in written assignments, we apply our theories and language to topics and debates that fill the newspapers and the nightly TV news programmes. How much should the ‘nanny state’ regulate our lives? Why are energy prices so high? Should there be a minimum wage below which no one should be paid? Is income and wealth distributed too unevenly in the UK? Are we too obsessed with economic growth and raising living standards?  

At A Level, we use the same tools of analysis to discuss how the problem of traffic congestion can be tackled, whether overseas aid helps or hinders the development of the world’s poorer economies, and whether the UK should take the plunge and adopt the € as its currency.

Your non-economist friends, and your parents, will be amazed at your new understanding of how the world works.

Full details of the OCR specification we follow can be found on the OCR website.