2024 SAJC JC1 H1 Scarcity as the Central Economic Problem Tutorial.doc

SCARCITY AS THE CENTRAL ECONOMIC PROBLEM © St Andrew’s Junior College Page 1 Economics Department Before you begin Approach the questions by following this sequence: 1. Perform a quick scan of the extract, start be reading the titles. 2. Analyse the question by highlighting words that hint towards what you are supposed to do (command words) and identify the economic tools of analysis and concepts required in the question. 3. Read the extract in detail and highlight any evidence that can be used to support your answer. 4. Write your answer out on a piece of foolscap. Section A: Data Response Questions 1. [2023 H1 DHS Prelim] US government's responsibility for public health Public health promotes and protects the health of all people and their communities. While the healthcare industry treats people who are sick, public health aims to prevent people from getting sick or injured in the first place. While healthcare industry focuses on individual patients, public health focuses on entire populations. Every day, the public health field is working – often behind the scenes – to prevent hazards and keep people healthy. Examples of public health programmes includes tracking disease outbreaks to reduce the spread of infectious disease, setting safety standa rds to protect workers and developing school nutrition programme to ensure kids have access to healthy food. In 2021, the US government spent US$187.6 billion funding public health programmes. If health expenditures continue to increase as a share of government spending, the increase will eventually necessitate either tax increases or reduced spending on other important government functions like public safety, infrastructure, research and develo pment, and education. Source: Community Health Services Administration Handbook, 3 May 2023 (a) Explain what the opportunity cost of the US$187.6 billion invested by the US government to fund public health programmes might be. [2] (b) Using a PPC diagram, explain the likely impact of the above investment in public health programmes on the US economy. [2] *Question highlighted on pages 9 (Qn a) & 21 (Qn b) of Scarcity as the Central Economic Problem Lecture Notes. ST ANDREW’S JUNIOR COLLEGE 2024 JC1 H1 ECONOMICS SCARCITY AS THE CENTRAL ECONOMIC PROBLEM

SCARCITY AS THE CENTRAL ECONOMIC PROBLEM © St Andrew’s Junior College Page 2 Economics Department 2. [2015 H1 & H2 HCI Prelim] Reduction in interest rates to boost China’s economy China’s economy has not performed as well in 2014 as compared to previous years. To boost economic growth in China, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced a cut in its interest rates. More specifically, the deposit rate for households will be reduced by 0.25 percentage point to 2.75 percent. Such a move makes it less attra