Many subjects in the IB diploma programme actively include and regularly update topics that are deeply reflecting contemporary social, cultural, and economic issues, allowing students to study and think deeply about these issues and share their knowledge and thoughts.
In the IB English A exam, there are essay questions that require analysis of important issues in contemporary society such as anxiety or discrimination. IB Economics is a subject that studies the actual economic and social situations in the most realistic and in-depth way, such a feature is most evidently observed.
The very topic that I am talking about is ‘Sustainability’. Perhaps because it is one of the most important global issues at the moment. Within all the units in IB Econ syllabus: Micro, Macro, and Global economy, this topic is so distinctively present that there is no doubt that this topic should be properly understood and deeply revised.
This topic started to be on the exam little by little in the year 2020, but began to occupy a distinctive presence from 2022. In the 2023 exams, it marked the biggest presence, I actually was a little surprised when I saw the test questions (especially, the N23 exam questions).
Now, let’s see how we can synthesise the topic, Sustainability with the concepts learned in each unit of Econ. You will be able to see that it is really comprehensively related.
A. Sustainability in Unit 2, Microeconomics
Market failure
Negative Externality
Common access resources
Government invention & Direct provision
Private management
B. Sustainability in Unit 3, Macroeconomics
Economics growth VS Sustainability
Economic well-being in Quantitative sense VS Qualitative sense
Costs of Economics growth
Difference between Economic growth VS Economic development
Demand side Policies to promote sustainable development
Supply side Policies to promote sustainable development
Conflicts between Macroeconomic objectives
C. Sustainability in Unit 4, Global Economy
Evaluations on FDI,
Evaluations Aid
Evaluations on MNCs in LEDCs
Sustainable development
Evaluation on Development policies
The attention on the concept, ‘sustainability’ in IB Economics is likely to last for the next few years. Of course, there are two or three more important topics other than Sustainability.
I will talk about them in the following posts.
Cheers to IB Econ lads!
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