What's happening

Practice Question

Unit 4
1. Explain why privatisation of government-owned businesses is considered a microeconomic reform. Draw a diagram to supplement your response. 
2. Describe 2 potential negative impacts of this. 

Unit 2
1. Explain the difference between absolute and relative poverty
2. Explain and give an example of two effects of income inequality. 

Practice Questions

Unit 2
1. Describe two examples which help explain how two people on similar incomes can have accumulated different levels of wealth.
2. Recent RBA data show that underemployment has trended higher than unemployment for most of the last 10 years, with the gap between the two increasing. Explain how this may reflect worsening income inequality. 

Unit 4
1. Draw an AS/AD model which shows downward pressure on price levels as a result of a microeconomic policy. 
2. Identify and describe two examples of microeconomic policies which could account for the change above.  

QUT Student Day Recordings

Please find below the links to the recordings from the QUT student day

Morning Session
Afternoon Session

Practice Questions

Unit 2
1. Identify and describe the negative impacts of rising income and wealth inequality.
2. "Covid-19 has increased income and wealth inequality." Discuss two affirmative and two negative arguments to this statement. 

Unit 4
1. Provide an example of cyclical, structural, seasonal and frictional unemployment. 
2. "Unemployment is historically low and the participation rate is historically high, which means the economy is performing favourably." Discuss two affirmative and two negative arguments to this statement. 

Cost of living, the federal budget and rising inequality

Joseph Stiglitz on rising inequality as a result of current economic conditions and policy | ABC News Breakfast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGmHkEaVwUs

Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz is urging the federal government to keep the idea of a windfall profits tax on the table. Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://ab.co/3cocpwK Mr Stiglitz says it would be a fair way to fund a cost of living package in the next budget.

Practice Questions

Unit 2 Practice:
To what extent would increasing minimum wage reduce income inequality in Australia? Write a 100-200 word justification, incorporating 2 of the following economics concepts:
- Price ceiling/floor
- Production possibility curve/frontier
- Aggregate demand
- Circular flow of income

Unit 4 Practice:
Assume that on balance, Australia is highly reliant on a strong export industry, and that strong exports have had a distinct role in sustaining Austrlaian economic growth over the last 10 years. Is it possible to maintain sustainable economic growth over the long term without a strong export sector? Outline the arguments and counter arguments in a "Yes/No" table. 

Extension: collect economic data from 3 other countries over the last 10 years to help justify your overall judgement. 

QUT Student Day

The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) QETA Economics Schools Day is an immersive and interactive learning day designed for high school students.
Students will have the opportunity to:

• Learn concepts relevant to the curriculum directly from leading academic economists
• Experience university life on campus
• Update their economics knowledge and understanding
• Explore future career opportunities and hear from current economics students.

Teacher Network Afternoon Meeting

We invite you to attend our second online Teacher Network Afternoon meeting for 2022. The spotlight is EA: Preparation Techniques. Dane, Deb, Jodie and Justin, four experienced Economic teachers, will lead discussion of share experiences and different approaches. The event is on Thursday 21 July and will commence at 4pm and conclude at 5.30 (including questions).

Questions can be submitted prior to the event at Q&A Event Submit a Question

BEA National Conference

The theme for this year’s conference is “Connected: Together is Better” and focuses on reuniting educators across the country to engage in proactive discussions on emerging business concepts, and changes to the curriculum, offering opportunity to share knowledge amongst peers to improve systems nationally.

As business educators, we share a vision to give every student opportunities to acquire knowledge and understanding that can be applied creatively to problem solve issues in the context of the corporate world.

The disruption of COVID-19 may have created physical barriers, and challenged the way in which teaching is conducted; however, the business world has evolved as a consequence. It’s time to reconnect, and embrace the opportunity to collaborate and share expertise, challenges and learn from one other.

Twilight Event - Dr Axel Wieneke

The core of economics education as well many people’s beliefs is that markets work best and that government interventions leads to inferior results. Economics provides a strong analytical framework to proof the superiority of the market as well. However, even Adam Smith emphasised that certain goods should be provided by the government.

This workshop focuses upon situations where the free-market solution is inefficient and government interventions are required to achieve efficient production and consumption.

• What are the fundamental characteristics of goods and market structures that cause market failures?
• How can we approach these situations such that students can discover the problems and solutions themselves?

Practice Questions

Unit 4 - Monetary Policy
Draw the transmission mechanism diagram from memory, and annotate with arrows to show how what increases/decreases if the RBA implements expansionary monetary policy or contractionary monetary policy. Write a paragraph summarising the effects of an increase in the cash rate. 

Unit 2 - Market Concentration
Find data which supports the belief that "the Australian grocery industry is largely dominated by Woolworth's and Coles". Using supporting research, identify the impacts this has on the household and business sectors of the circular flow of income. In your opinion, would growth in an overseas competitor such as Aldi, Costco or Wal-Mart be net beneficial or harmful for Australia's economy. 

Practice Questions

Unit 2
1. Explain the concepts of "allocative, dynamic and productive" efficiency. 
2. List some of the benefits and costs of privatising the following mostly public goods
- Beaches
- Motorways
- Prisons
- Schools

Unit 4
Gather "the big 3" economic indicators of CPI, GDP growth and the Unemployment Rate. Choose 2-5 additional indicators as well. Based purely on these charts, evaluate the extent to which the Australian economy recovered from the GFC in 2008 by the end of 2013.