SAJC _H1 Econs 2008 Prelim Question Paper

ST ANDREW’S JUNIOR COLLEGE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION - 2008 ECONOMICS 8816 Higher 1 10 September 2008 3 hours Additional Materials: Writing Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your Centre number, index number and name on all the work you hand in. Write in dark blue or black pen. You may use a soft pencil for any diagrams, graphs or rough working. Do not use staples, paper clips, highlighters, glue or correction fluid. Section A Answer all questions. Section B Answer one question. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely together. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 8 printed pages. © SAJC 2008 [Turn Over

2 Section A Answer all questions in this section Question 1 Healthcare & Ageing Population Table 1: Total Health Expenditures Per Capita in US$ PPP, U.S. and Selected Countries, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2006 1970 1980 1990 2006 Canada 299 783 1,737 3,678 France 205 697 1,532 3,449 Switzerland 351 1,031 2,029 4,311 United Kingdom 163 480 987 2,760 United States 352 1,072 2,752 6,714 Source: OECD 2006 & 2007 Online Database; accessed on 30th July 2008 Table 2: Total Health Expenditures as a Share of GDP, U.S. and Selected Countries, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2006 1970 1980 1990 2006 Canada 7.0 7.1 9.0 10.0 France 5.3 7.0 8.4 11.1 Switzerland 5.5 7.4 8.3 11.3 United Kingdom 4.5 5.6 6.0 8.4 United States 7.0 8.8 11.9 15.3 Source: OECD 2006 & 2007 Online Database; accessed on 30th July 2008 Extract 1: Medical price inflation to blame? Price insensitivity on behalf of customers, lack of competition, technological complexity -- they all adds up to immense inflationary pressures on health-care costs. Technological advances go hand in hand with productivity gains in most industries, but in medicine, better technology almost always means higher expenses in most countries. The California Healthcare Foundation says medical price inflation, not increased use, drives 51% of the growth in health-care spending. The federal Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality [AHRQ] found that from 2000 to 2004, the mean cost of a hospital stay per patient rose 15%. Source: Adapted from BusinessWeek Website, 15th July 2008 @ S A J C 2 0 0 8 [Turn over

3 Extract 2: United Nations report on world ageing Population ageing is unprecedented, without pa