EJC_H2Econs_Topic1

1 © Eunoia Junior College Economics Department 2025 Topic 1: The Central Economic Problem Theme 1.1 Scarcity as the Central Economic Problem How to use this set of lecture notes? 1) BEFORE LECTURES – UNDERSTANDING CONTENT - Reference your notes against your H2 syllabus. Mark out the key concepts so that you know what you MUST know - Read your notes ahead so that you can focus on listening and capturing additional notes during lectures 2) DURING LECTURES – APPLYING CONTENT - Bring your hard copy notes along, and use your PLDs to refer to the lecture slides concurrently - Capture additional notes, especially the real world examples where you can note down how concepts are applied and how economic analysis are developed in varying contexts - You should make use of a notet aking/consolidation tool to take notes during lessons and to consolidate your learning at timely junctures. Examples are MIRO, Notion, Goodnotes, Notability, Microsoft Onenote, KAMI, and etc. The choice is yours! 3) AFTER LECTURES – TUTORIAL PREPARATION TO USE CONTENT FLEXIBLY TO SHOW APPLICATION, ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION SKILLS - Revise concepts relevant for the case study and essay questions - Refer to the notes and use it flexibly to prepare your answers to meet question requirements. Pure memorisation will not work as it does not involve deep understanding. - Do share your notes with your friends to multiply learning!

2 © Eunoia Junior College Economics Department 2025 Essential Questions: 1. Why do consumers, producers and government make choices on the goods and services consumed and produced? 2. How do consumers, producers and governments make choices about the use of limited resources? 3. How does the free market allocate and distribute the use of limited resources? 4. Why are some outcomes of choices not efficient? Economics as a discipline to understand the human experience 1. Scarcity as the Central Economic Problem 1.1 Unlimited wants and limited resources 1.2 1.3 1.4 Scarcity, Choice and Opportunity Cost The Production Possibility Curve (PPC) Illustrating economic growth on the PPC 2. Decision-Making at the Heart of Economics 2.1 An approach for decision making 2.2 6-step decision-making template Consolidation/Summary Annex CONTENTS

3 © Eunoia Junior College Economics Department 2025 Economics as a discipline to understand the human experience The Sciences and Mathematics provide the tools to understand the natural world. Similarly, Economics provides the tools to understand the human world. The human world is related to how we make decisions, how we live, how we produce and distribute things, why and how we interact with each other. These questions have a very tangible impact on our lives, and we can utilise the tools of Economics just as how we use scientific tools to influenc