Categories:

How to get a 7 in the IB Economics AI

How to write a commentary on AI economics

Feedback is the internal assessment component of the IB economics course. This component is worth 20% of your final grade, but given the flexibility and time on offer, there should be no reason why you can’t score highly in this section.

The best part about comment writing is that you can decide what concepts to write about. You decide which items to choose. Also, you have relatively no time pressure, giving you ample opportunity to review and refine your comment.

This article is designed to guide you through:

How to choose an economy article

A systematic method for writing a comment.

A note on definitions

Key points to remember

Choosing a good article

In a sentence, this is the best advice I have ever heard about economic reviews:

“A good comment turns non-economic into economics”

What does this mean?

It means that the item you choose must be predominantly “uneconomical”, that is, it uses everyday language. However, there should be an opportunity for you to apply your knowledge of economics to the article.

Given this, follow these guidelines when you find your article:

1. Don’t choose articles that have too much existing analysis.

Articles written by economists, or articles that already have a significant amount of analysis on the topic, are often not good comments. This is because a large part of the evaluation would have been done for you and you will simply be writing the article with little information. Better to find articles from everyday news reporters that have little financial input and analysis.

2. The articles must have something that you can evaluate.

The best articles are those in which there is some controversy, for example:

· Should a tax be imposed on that good?

Should that monopoly be regulated?

· Should the government impose a fee?

· Is raising interest rates a good idea?

· Is the economic growth of this country unstable?

Regardless of what the article is discussing, you should be able to discuss and weigh the pros and cons of something. As such, articles describing policy options are often good for commenting.

Therefore, it is not recommended to choose articles that only list a bunch of statistics about something that has happened to the economy.

3. Have only one focus for your evaluation

750 words is not enough to evaluate multiple situations and policy options effectively. Ideally, choose an article that reflects this, that is, only describes a situation / policy. If this is not possible, highlight the relevant part of the article that you will discuss.

4. Choose your concept before searching for the article

Think about the concepts in the area of ​​the syllabus that you are safest to evaluate. What this means is that you can confidently list and explain at least 3 advantages and disadvantages of the policy / situation and illustrate them with diagrams.

Good topics that are rich in evaluations could be:

Microeconomics:

Implementation of minimum and minimum prices

Taxes (Australian carbon tax is good)

Externalities

Buffer Stock Schemes

Regulation of monopolies and oligopolies

Grants

Macroeconomic:

Monetary policy decisions

Fiscal policy decisions

Implications of economic growth

International economy:

Decision to implement protectionism (often tariffs)

Decisions to influence the exchange rate

Development economics:

Receive help

Growth vs development

Find the article:

Once you’ve decided on your topic, finding the article should be pretty straightforward. Just google related articles on the topic. It may take a bit of trial and error. If you get stuck, try this approach:

Country + topic

For example, Russia tariff, China maximum price, Australia carbon tax

Google now has a news article search feature.

If possible, have some diversity with respect to the countries you speak of, that is, do not talk about China in all your articles.

A systematic way of writing the article.

This approach will work for the vast majority of items that you find. Note that this is similar to the approach described in “How to get the highest score in an IB economics essay.”

1. Summarize the important aspect of the article in 1-2 sentences (preferably 1).

Suppose the moderator has already read your article, so you don’t need to spend too much time explaining what the article is about. With only 750 words available, every word must count. So keep this part as concise as possible.

The main purpose of this sentence is to let the examinee know which part of the article they consider most important.

2. Show your intention to evaluate and what you will evaluate

Leave no doubt in the examiner’s mind, from the outset, that you intend to evaluate. Comments that are purely descriptive with little evaluation should be avoided and help prevent you from falling into that trap.

This should only be 1 to 2 sentences.

3. List and explain the benefits

The more detailed the benefit explanation, the fewer benefits you will have to discuss and vice versa. Aim for at least 2 and at most 3, although in rare cases you will only have one advantage that you talk about at length.

With practice, you will intuitively figure out how the extent and detail of each lead should be analyzed. Ideally, include a diagram for each advantage discussed.

As you progress through essay writing, it is often helpful to rate these advantages as well. Instead of just writing “A key advantage is that the policy will reduce unemployment,” write “Since the economy is likely to experience a deflationary gap, a key advantage of the policy is that it will help the economy get closer to maximum employment. “.

4. List and explain the disadvantages

The principles behind this are the same as for the benefits.

5. Weigh advantages and disadvantages

It is often the case that the advantages and disadvantages do not carry the same weight. Depending on what is being evaluated and the economy under consideration, it is often more appropriate to lean one way or the other rather than simply writing “it depends.”

This is essentially your conclusion. For the vast majority of evaluations, this should be a tentative conclusion, ie “It is likely to be advantageous overall” rather than “Definitely advantageous overall”.

For policy evaluations, it can be helpful here to consider some alternative policy options. Remember also that doing nothing is a possible policy choice.

Note on definitions

Ratings are given for correct definitions and as such it is important that you define economic keywords in your comment. However, with a small word limit, definitions incur an opportunity cost, the next best alternative lost when making an economic decision.

As such, a decision needs to be made on what terms you will define. Consider the following when deciding how and what to define.

1. Definitions should be integrated as easily as possible

For example, if you were to define the maximum price:

Do not write:

The Chinese government has imposed a maximum price on pork. A maximum price is defined as the maximum price that can be charged for a good or service.

Instead, write:

The Chinese government has imposed a maximum price, the maximum price that can be charged for a good or service, for pork.

The second approach saves words and flows better.

2. Don’t define absolutely every economic word in your essay.

You just don’t have enough words to define everything. Not all economic concepts are critical to your evaluation. Often times, if you find yourself defining words like supply, demand, price, or quantity, you are defining too much.

For the most part, you show your understanding of the economic concept, not by citing a textbook definition, but by using it correctly in your analysis.

To get an idea of ​​what needs to be defined, ask a few Data Answer questions and look at what is defined in part a).

Don’t let your comment suffer death by definition.

3. Avoid using footnotes

Footnotes are included in the word limit and it will often cost more words to write a full definition rather than seamlessly embedding it in your comment.

Key points to remember

1. The purpose of your comment should be to evaluate. The evaluation should not be the “extra” part that you add to earn bonus notes.

2. Your analysis should be directed to your article.

Basically, imagine if you took your comment and swapped your article for another article on the same topic. If your article still “works” then your article is not targeted.

Be careful when using generic arguments like, “A recession will mean a decrease in demand for the product.” If the product is alcohol or cigarettes, this is unlikely.

Also, if you are saying, “The monopoly must be regulated by the government,” make sure the monopoly is not already regulated. Similarly, if you are suggesting that the government lower interest rates and interest rates are already close to zero (eg Japan), then your argument is wrong.

Draw diagrams to reflect the state of the economy. For example, if the economy in your article is currently in recession, draw your AD / AS diagram illustrating this with a deflationary gap. Not having AD crossing SAS at the full employment production level. If your item’s industry is a net exporter, draw the world price above the equilibrium domestic price.

Final thoughts

The internal assessment component should be the easiest component to earn high marks. You have the flexibility of time and you can basically choose your own exam question.

We hope this guide will provide you with the necessary direction and help you achieve your IB Economics goals.

Good luck,

Owen yang

Executive Tutor – Australian IB Tuition

Founder – IB Blueprint

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *