Econograms · IB Economics
Discuss practice
Offer a considered and balanced review including a range of arguments, factors or hypotheses.
What your response needs
Argument → counterargument → conditions/evidence → balanced conclusion.
- Developed arguments on more than one side
- Conditions and stakeholder effects
- Relevant evidence and economic theory
- A balanced overall judgement
Select a paper and unit once the practice tools are ready. Your saved answer is not opened until the account has been checked.
How to approach a Discuss question
A discussion develops different arguments and weighs them before reaching a reasoned conclusion. Explain why each argument matters; a list of advantages and disadvantages does not do that work.
Original Paper 1 part (b)-style practice · 15 marks
Discuss the view that economic growth necessarily improves living standards.
Practice context: Real GDP grows rapidly while income inequality and urban pollution increase. Tax revenue rises and the government expands health and education spending.
This fictional context helps you plan. In a Paper 1 discussion, support your arguments with relevant real-world examples too.
Build an answer to this particular question
- Identify the claim. Economic growth is an increase in real GDP. Living standards include material well-being and wider aspects of quality of life. The word “necessarily” asks whether growth always brings an improvement.
- Develop a benefit. Explain how higher real output could raise household incomes or tax revenue, then connect that change to consumption or public services. Apply an example you have studied rather than simply naming a country.
- Test the argument. Ask who receives the extra income, whether population growth offsets the rise in output per person, and how pollution affects well-being. Explain the limitation rather than just adding “however”.
- Reach a judgement. Decide how far the claim holds using the arguments and evidence you developed. Explain which conditions matter most in your example.
A developed link might read: “Growth may increase tax revenue. If the government uses this revenue to improve access to effective health care, health outcomes can improve, raising non-material living standards.” The condition explains why the gain is possible rather than automatic.
A relevant AD/AS diagram can support an argument about output and employment, but it cannot establish how income is distributed or measure quality of life. Use a diagram when it helps answer the question, and explain its labels and relationships in your writing. These planning steps are not a fixed paragraph formula.
Read the Discuss command-term guide · Choose a macroeconomics practice question