NJC_2008 Prelim - H2 P1 Qn Paper

This document consists of 7 printed pages. © NJC 2008 NATIONAL JUNIOR COLLEGE Humanities Department (Economics) [Turn Over National Junior College Humanities Department (Economics) Preliminary Examinations for General Certificate of Education Advanced Level 2008 JC2 H2 Economics (Syllabus 9732) ECONOMICS 9732/1 Higher 2 Paper 1 Case Study 27 August 2008 2 hour 15 min Additional Materials: Answer Booklet / Paper READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Write your name and subject 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. Answer ALL questions The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. At the end of the examination, fasten all your work securely with the cover page given. Fill in the necessary information on the cover page. You are reminded of the need for good English and clear presentation in your answers.

2 © NJC 2008 9732/Aug 2008 Case Study 1 – Answer ALL the Questions Figure 1: Price of Oil (US$ per barrel) Source : OPEC website www.opec.org Table 1 : Price of Rice (Thai A1 super grade) Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Price of rice per tonne (US$) 150 151 207 219 217 275 Source: International Rice Institute Research website www.irri.org Extract 1: Don’t Panic, Don’t Hoard And Don’t Overbuy “Don’t Panic, Don’t Hoard And Don’t Overbuy.” This message comes from Ms Sopan Manathanya, the vice-president of one of Thailand’s top rice exporters. She is in Singapore on a 3-day visit to assure rice distributors here that Thai rice conglomerates like hers are taking steps to increase the number of crops harvested in a year and are also negotiating prices with farmers. According to Ms Sopan, factors pushing up the price of rice include the growing number of farmers switching from producing rice to biofuels, weather conditions and higher overheads. Source: Adapted from The New Paper, 29 Apr 2008

3 © NJC 2008 9732/Aug 2008 Figure 2 Source: www.opec.org Extract 2: Targeted Price Controls in United Arab Emirates A black market for rice has emerged in inflation-hit United Arab Emirates. An Abu Dhabi-based food trader said: "The price you pay a black market dealer could be as much as 20% more than what you pay normally." The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has reportedly tried to limit inflation through targeted price controls. This measure has pushed rice supplies off store shelves. As a result of this, people took to panic buying, thereby causing Thai rice prices to nearly treble. According to traders, the UAE will continue to encounter a shortfall in rice supplies. A rice trader said: "The number of trader s who stopped importing rice in the last couple of months is scary. They want subsidies and compensation and the government is not giving any.