Year 9 Revision for Humanities Exam Semester Two-Economics and Geography

Flashcards covering key economic concepts for Year 9 Humanities Exam preparation.

What is economics?

The study of how individuals and societies allocate scarce resources.

What is scarcity?

The condition where resources are limited while wants are unlimited.

What is absolute scarcity?

A situation where the available resources are insufficient to meet the needs of the population.

What is relative scarcity?

A state where resources are available but limited in relation to the demand for them.

Define opportunity cost and provide an example.

The cost of forgoing the next best alternative when making a decision; for example, if you spend time studying instead of going out with friends, the opportunity cost is the fun you missed out on.

What are needs and wants? Provide an example.

Needs are essential for survival (like food and shelter), while wants are desires that are not necessary (like a new phone).

What is supply and demand? Provide an example.

Supply is the quantity of a good that producers are willing to sell at different prices, and demand is the quantity consumers are willing to buy. An example is the demand for electric cars increasing as technology improves.

How do you construct a supply and demand graph?

Plot the price on the vertical axis and quantity on the horizontal axis, draw the supply curve upward and the demand curve downward, and identify the equilibrium point where they intersect.

What is equilibrium price?

The price at which the quantity of a good demanded equals the quantity supplied.

Define GDP.

Gross Domestic Product; a measure of the economic performance of a country, representing the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period.

Who are the four main economic participants?

Households, businesses, government, and foreign sector.

How to find the equilibrium price?

Equilibrium price is the price where the amount buyers want to buy = the amount sellers want to sell. It’s the point where demand and supply match.