Measures of Economic Performance (Edexcel A Level Economics A): Exam Questions

The UK economy

Figure 3: GDP per hour worked, nominal values at PPPs, percentage above or below UK level, 2018

The chart below shows UK inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), 2011 to 2015:

Figure 4: Unemployment rate in Germany, percentage of labour force, 2005 to 2020 (2020 figure is forecasted)

(Source adapted from: arbeit.de and https://www.ft.com)

UK unemployment rate (%), December 2020 – June 2022

(Source: adapted from https://www.ons.gov.uk)

Extract C

Bank of England tells lenders to increase capital reserves

The Bank of England has told lenders they will need to build a special reserve worth £11.4 billion by the end of 2018 as it tries to make banks more resilient to the risk posed by mounting consumer debt. This reserve of assets that can be readily turned into cash is a way of forcing banks to set aside capital reserves in good times in order to keep lending to the wider economy at a steady level, even during an economic downturn. In 2017 the Bank of England told UK banks it would raise the reserve ratio, relative to all assets, from zero to 0.5% and also forecast a further increase to 1% by the end of 2017.

The move is not intended to directly reduce consumer demand for credit, which in 2017 grew by 10.3% on an annual basis, but it may well lead to banks becoming less willing to lend to consumers. Since the Bank of England has recently become increasingly concerned about consumer borrowing, including rising car loans and credit card debt, this may be no bad thing as far as the Bank of England is concerned, even if it does have a negative impact on the wider economy.

Analysts are concerned about the impact on consumer confidence of rising inflation, partly caused by a falling pound. With falling real incomes consumers could become more vulnerable to falling behind with their credit card and personal loan repayments. Despite these concerns the UK economy recently recorded the lowest rate of unemployment since 1975.

(Source: adapted from https://www.ft.com)

Figure 2: Eurozone inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)

Extract A

European Central Bank disappoints markets with weaker than expected stimulus

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), surprised financial markets in November 2015 with a less ambitious package of monetary stimulus than many had anticipated.

The ECB cut its base interest rate by 0.1% to minus 0.3% in order to encourage private banks to lend funds to companies and households rather than deposit them at the central bank. The central bank agreed to extend its €60 billion (£45 billion) monthly bond-buying quantitative easing (QE) programme for a further six months. The ECB’s €1.1 trillion QE scheme had originally been due to end in September 2016.

“We are doing more because it works,” Mr Draghi said. Yet the ECB did not increase the size of its monthly asset purchases and also disappointed those expecting that it would cut interest rates more aggressively.

The euro rose almost 3% against the dollar to $1.08 after the announcement. Italian and Spanish bond yields both jumped by 0.27% to 1.62% and 1.72% respectively.

The ECB’s economists reduced their inflation forecasts for the next two years. They now predict consumer prices in the Eurozone rising by just 1% in 2016 and 1.6% in 2017 – still below the central bank’s ceiling of 2%. In November 2015, the inflation rate was just 0.1% and core inflation, excluding volatile items such as fuel and food, dropped to 0.9%.

Mr Draghi stressed again that monetary policy alone could not restore the Eurozone to economic health. He called for looser fiscal policy among member states to support aggregate demand and more rapid implementation of supply-side reforms. “In order to reap the full benefits from our monetary policy measures, other policy areas must contribute decisively,” he said.

(Source: http://www.independent.co.uk)

Figure 2: UK subjective happiness by income, April 2021

Answer to the question: ‘On a scale of 1–10, how happy did you feel after yesterday?' (0 = not at all, 10 = completely)

(Source: adapted from https://www.ons.gov.uk)

The UK economy

Figure 1: UK gas prices in pence per therm, August 2002 to August 2022

Figure 2: UK inflation, CPI, August 2002 to August 2022

Extract B

Inequality to rise in the UK

The rising cost of living is expected to affect low-income families the most. Inflation in Autumn 2022 is expected to hit 14% for families in the poorest tenth of the income distribution, compared with 8% for families in the richest tenth, driven in large part by rising energy costs and food prices. Around half of the food consumed in the UK is imported, and the 20% fall in the value of the pound in 2022 has affected lower income groups more because food is a higher proportion of their spending. The government’s decision to freeze benefits, rather than allowing them to rise in line with current inflation, means that the support provided is a real terms cut for families currently receiving high levels of benefits. A two-year freeze on energy price caps will now only last until April 2023, which would have kept the average energy bill at £2500 rather than £3500.

(Source: adapted from IFS Report: Living standards, poverty and inequality in the UK: July 2022 and https://www.ft.com)

Extract D

Rising debt levels in Africa

Increases in national debt have brought several African governments towards a debt-servicing crisis when the repayment of debt and interest become unsustainable. Between 2010 and 2015, many sub-Saharan countries raised debt totalling more than £20 billion. Back then, with commodity prices soaring and foreign loans available at very low interest rates, everyone agreed that borrowing was the way to grow an economy with expansionary fiscal policy. Since 2015, some African governments – beneficiaries of big debt write-offs at the start of the century – have taken to private debt markets too eagerly, leaving them with heavy repayment schedules at a time of lower commodity prices. 

Until recently, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has played down African debt concerns, pointing to better management of public resources and greater transparency. But it was shaken by Mozambique’s default on more than £2 billion of secret loans used to purchase a non-existent tuna-fishing fleet, raising fears of hidden debt in other African countries with similar levels of corruption. The median level of debt in sub-Saharan Africa 15 had risen sharply from 34% of gross domestic product in 2013 to 48% in 2017. Although that is low by international standards, analysts said debt burdens were heavier than they appeared because of most African countries’ low tax base. “The real thing to look for is debt to revenue, or debt-service as a percentage of government spending,” said John Ashbourne, Africa Economist at Capital Economics. In several countries, he said, debt payments were above 20% of government revenue, with an opportunity cost in terms of government spending.

(Source: adapted from African debt worries intensify as levels near tipping point by David Pilling © Financial Times 2017 https://www.ft.com)