IB Economics

Higher Level & Standard Level — All Units

Standard Level Topics

Core content required for all IB Economics students.

Unit 1

Introduction to Economics

Scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, PPC, economic systems, and the role of the market.

Unit 2

Microeconomics

Demand & supply, elasticities, government intervention (price controls, taxes, subsidies), market failure.

Unit 3

Macroeconomics

Measuring economic activity, AD/AS model, macroeconomic objectives, fiscal/monetary/supply-side policies.

Unit 4

The Global Economy

International trade, exchange rates, balance of payments, economic integration, and development.

HL Extensions

Additional content for Higher Level students.

HL Micro

Theory of the Firm

Costs & revenues, profit maximisation, perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly.

HL Micro

Market Failure (Extended)

Welfare analysis with externalities diagrams, common pool resources, asymmetric information.

HL Macro

Multiplier & AD/AS Extensions

The multiplier effect, Keynesian vs Monetarist perspectives, Phillips Curve.

HL Global

Tariff & Quota Analysis

Tariff/quota diagrams with welfare analysis, terms of trade, Marshall-Lerner condition, J-curve.