Structure for the  Econ IA: 

Introduction: " The article is .... 

Finding and unpacking articles

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Characteristics of good and bad articles

Characteristics of good articles

'Raw' articles, with no analysis and extensive explanation

Articles from local or regional printed or online news media

Articles on recent economic events or decisions about government intervention in a market

Articles which do not contain the opinion of the author but just facts and figures related to the economic event

Articles which do not contain explanation, analysis and evaluation

Articles which are not too long but also not too short and have enough details to comment on

The IA commentaries need to be based on news extracts coming from three different media sources. If one or more of the news extracts for the IA commentaries were published in the same media, this will cause you to lose one mark on Criterion F: Rubric Requirements.

Most online or printed news media are good sources for articles. The articles need to be 'raw' articles, without analysis and extensive explanations in them, as this is something that you need to do yourself in your IA commentary. Sources like The Economist should not be used as a source for news articles as they usually present an analysis of economic events.

Sometimes students choose articles from the Technology section or the Fashion section of the media because they see that it discusses new trends in technology or fashion and the articles explore consumer trends. But these articles, although quite interesting to read, are seldom suitable for writing an IA commentary in Economics.

Students also tend to choose articles known as editorials, with a lot of opinions expressed in them. These are also unsuitable as they have a lot of explanations and analysis of the economic event in question.

The most suitable news articles do not have explanation, analysis and evaluation and just report the economic event with enough details and numbers to allow good application of the economic theories learned. They are usually one A4 page (8.5 × 11 in the US) long or a bit longer than that, but not too long or with too many subheadings.

Finding a good article

You can type certain keywords such as 'demand', 'indirect tax', etc. into your Internet search engine to find news media reporting on related events which have recently happened somewhere in the world.

Another approach, and the best one as it has multiple benefits, is to regularly read current news and to bookmark articles of interest as you learn the topics of the syllabus. By the time the first IA commentary starts, you will have a good number of bookmarked articles, and some of those will probably be suitable for the IA commentary on microeconomics, provided they are not more than one year old by the time you submit the final draft of the first commentary.

You can also seek guidance from your teacher on articles you have found and consider suitable. Once the article has been approved by the teacher, you can start writing the commentary.

Examples of good articles

Below are some links to articles that are suitable for a commentary on most sections of the syllabus. Please ignore the date as the articles can be outdated, but the focus is on the content and what makes a suitable article:

Microeconomics

1. Government figures show drop in pharmacy numbers since funding cuts

2. Coffee cravers ignore bean price surge’

Macroeconomics

1. Mexico annual inflation reaches highest level in 8 years during May

2. Finland to pay unemployed €560 (P29,145) per month

The Global Economy

1. China cuts import tariffs on more than 200 consumer goods

2. U.S. trade deficit with China and Mexico is growing

Planning the commentary

Planning the commentary and its structure is essential in producing a good commentary. You have to determine the key economic terms and the diagrams that need to be included and that are appropriate for the context of the article. You have to consider the type of evaluation to be included in the commentary. You need to determine the key concept and how it can be linked to the analysis of the event in the article. Each commentary should be written around a different key concept.

Some teachers may require a planning sheet to be completed prior to the start of writing the commentary. If this is not the case, you can use the suggested outline below to plan your commentary:

• A single-sentence summary of the article

• An explanation of the links between the key concept, the theory and the article content

• A diagram/diagrams with a complete explanation to illustrate the change/issue

If possible, a second topic, analysing a solution to the issue, so you would then have:

• An explanation of the solution in the article using relevant terminology

• A diagram with a complete explanation to illustrate the solution, appropriate links drawn between the key concept and the economic theory of the topic

• An evaluation (Remember the CLASPP approach and suggest at least 2–3 of those related to the context of the article.)

If your article does not include a solution, then you would move onto the evaluation after your first diagram.

Note: Generally, better articles contain information that allows for two topics to be discussed and diagrammed, but sometimes IAs with only one topic and diagram can also be excellent, if they lend themselves to a thoughtful evaluation and clearly analyse the real world event through the lens of the key concept and apply economic theory precisely.

Example:

Let’s take one of the articles above and see how the commentary can be structured:

Government figures show drop in pharmacy numbers since funding cuts

A single-sentence summary of the article:

This article is about the closure of pharmacies across the UK.

An explanation of the change/issue in the article using relevant terminology:
The pharmacy closures are because of cuts to government subsidies. Your commentary could be about the effect that the cut in subsidies might have on pharmacies and consumer prices of medicine. The efficiency of this measure is the key concept to consider.The issue here is the cut in subsidies and how it will affect pharmacies in rural areas due to a new government scheme restricting access to subsidies. The explanation will include the following economic concepts and theories: subsidy theory, positive externality theory, PED theory, efficiency of resource allocation.

A diagram/diagrams with a complete explanation:

One suitable diagram will be a subsidy diagram showing the effect of a subsidy on the price and quantity of medicines that pharmacies sell. The diagram should also reflect the low PED for medicines and thus the very big decrease in price when the subsidy is implemented. Another diagram will show the effect of removing the subsidies on the price and quantity demanded, again with consideration of the low PED for medicines.

Analysis and evaluation:

Analysis: of subsidy and cut of subsidy diagram, of positive externality diagram

Evaluation: advantages and disadvantages of subsidy cuts, impact on stakeholders of subsidy cuts – consumers, producers, government, society; improved efficiency of resource allocation.

A suitable conclusion

The conclusion should flow naturally from the arguments in the evaluation but also should be tentative. It should not be more than one or two sentences and should also include the changes in efficiency of resource allocation.

Link to sample IA: https://www.thinkib.net/economics/page/32067/exemplar-ia-sample-1a