Student contributions

Now we are back at school and the term is well underway, it is time to get this blog back up and running. In order to do so, we are inviting contributions from economics students and have already got a couple of cracking pieces that will be shared over the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled!

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5 Steps to an Excellent Economics Essay

We all know that essay structure is important. It's been said that a good essay is like a sandwich... you need an introduction, main body and a conclusion. This is rather vague advice, and so here are some pointers that should help you to construct an excellent economics essay. This post is designed to support questions that require all the assessment objectives tested. These types of questions tend to feature command terms like 'discuss', 'to what extent' or 'evaluate'... Image source The 5 step process This process is not perfect but does provide a framework to help you construct your essay. Feel free to use whatever elements you believe will add to your performance... 1 - Annotate the question Simply underline the command terms, highlight the parts which you need to respond to and the key terms etc. This will ensure you understand the question, helps you to focus and reduces the likelihood that you'll go off topic. 2 - Plan I would...

Contestable Markets: A Classroom Analogy

In our recent mock exams, some Year 13 students were confused about the concept of contestable markets. Many defined them as simply being a market with high levels of competition. They often went on to correctly explain the benefits to consumers, as a contestable market does have a similar impact on the behaviour of incumbents (firms already in the market). Contestable markets, in contrast to 'competitive' markets, are where the presence of potential entrants acts as a competitive constraint on the incumbent firms, even if these potential entrants do not actually enter the market. In this context, the concept of contestability is used to capture the degree of competition in a market, with fully contestable markets having zero barriers to entry and exit and the ability of firms to enter and exit the market quickly and easily. I mentioned this common error to my fellow economist, Mr O'Hagan and he shared with me a brilliant analogy he uses to explain contestable markets: Th...

Get ahead this summer - Read

The summer provides AS students the perfect opportunity to set themselves apart from other students and to get ahead, making their life that little bit easier for the A2 year. This might be in terms of being prepared for the A2 course but also for the all important university applications process, and the subsequent interviews... One excellent way students will set themselves apart is through reading. Universities say they want to see applicants reading relevant books that show they have an interest in the subject they wish to study. Imagine applying to do an economics degree having not read any books! It is not just about reading anything, it is about what you have read. So, to help you we have tried to provide you with some reading at various levels that should enable you to choose the appropriate books for you this summer. Don't forget, being up to date in terms of news and opinion is also critical so make sure you check out the further reading recommended in...

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