2023 RI H1 Econs Prelims QP

1 Raffles Institution 8843/01/Prelim/Y6/23 [Turn over RAFFLES INSTITUTION 2023 YEAR 6 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS Higher 1 ECONOMICS 8843/01 Paper 1 29 August 2023 3 hours Additional Materials: Answer Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name, index number and civics class on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen on both sides of the paper. You may use a soft pencil for diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Answer all questions. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. Use the cover sheets and tie your answer to the questions separately. This document consists of 10 printed pages and 2 blank pages. H

2 Raffles Institution 8843/01/Prelim/Y6/23 [Turn over BLANK PAGE

3 Raffles Institution 8843/01/Prelim/Y6/23 [Turn over Answer all questions. Question 1: The Fashion Industry Figure 1: World Cotton Prices (US$) Source: Macrotrends, March 2023 Extract 1: Cotton Farmers in India and Pakistan Bear the Brunt of Extreme Heat, Unpredictable Rainfall Farmers have been growing cotton in India and Pakistan for thousands of years. Both countries’ economies are thriving because they have been part of the top 10 cotton exporters along with the US, China, and Brazil. India alone contributes over 26% of the global cotton production. But that shared history and benefit is under threat because of weather volatility. The year 2021 will remain etched in the memory of Anantha Kumar Pichaipillai, a cotton farmer from Tamil Nadu. For the first time in eight years, he did not grow cotton. Extreme rainfall wreaked havoc on his cotton farm. Source: The Wire, 11 Feb 2023 Extract 2: Cotton Subsidies in US Every year, US taxpayers lavish $4 billion on their cotton farmers, a practice that begun in response to the Great Depression, US cotton subsidies apply no matter the farmer’s yield (in fact, the practice often rewards the successful) - which means that cotton producers in the poorest regions of the world are unable to compete with the low prices of their rich American counterparts. In the 2019-20 season, the US paid out more than $2 billion to cotton farmers, up from $1.2 billion the year before. According to a 2007 Oxfam report, eliminating US cotton subsidies permanently could lead to about millions of households in poorer developing countries being able to feed another person based on the higher prices farmers would get for their cotton. In India alone, cotton production sustains the livelihoods of 5.8 million farmers, the majority of whom are small -scale farmers cultivating land less than 2 hectares in size. These farmers live below the poverty line. Many are deeply indebted from the high-interest loans they are forced to obtain from loan sharks to buy fertilizers. Source: