BlogEconomicsThe Complete List of HSC Economics Essay Questions

The Complete List of HSC Economics Essay Questions

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It can sometimes be difficult to find practice HSC Economics Essay questions.

To make it easy for you, we’ve compiled a list of 20 HSC Economics essay questions into their respectful topic and written a small blurb on what you will need to cover in each topic!

Read through the questions and have a go at writing a practice essay! Ideally, you want to be aiming to write at least 3 pages for your essay.

All of the following questions have been adapted directly from the HSC Economics Syllabus from the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA).

Remember, feedback on your Economics essays is key to improving! We’ve got you covered with HSC Economics Tutoring Sydney!

So, what are you waiting for? Dive in!

HSC Topic 1: The Global Economy
HSC Topic 2: Australia’s Place in the Global Economy
HSC Topic 3: Economic Issues
HSC Topic 4: Economic Policies and Management

HSC Topic 1: The Global Economy

This topic focuses on the workings of the global economy from a very macroeconomic viewpoint and looks at the impact of globalisation on individual economies.

Question 1

Discuss the impact of globalisation and trade liberalisation (removal of trade barriers) on the global economy.

Question 2

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of free trade and analyse how technology has increased the quantity of world trade.

Question 3

Discuss the advantages of free trade and the role of international organisations (WTO, IMF, World Bank, United Nations, OECD ) and free trade agreements in promoting trade in the global economy.

Question 4

Evaluate the policies used to promote economic growth and economic development of a country other than Australia.

Question 5

Explain how globalisation has led to variations in the standard of living and differences in the level of development between nations.

HSC Topic 2: Australia’s Place in the Global Economy

This topic is more specific (and often more difficult) than the previous topic and asks the student to have an understanding of Australia’s place in the global economy, what our largest trading partners are, and what changes to the global economy can effect Australia.

Question 1

Using diagrams, explain how movements in the Australian dollar can affect the performance of the Australian economy.

Question 2

Analyse the impact of the changes in the global economy on Australia’s Balance of Payments.

Question 3

Explain the causes of Australia’s sustained Current Account Deficit (CAD) and explain the impacts of a high CAD on the Australian economy.

Question 4

Discuss the impact of changes in the domestic and global economy on Australia’s exchange rates and analyse the causes of recent trends in Australia’s exchange rate with the global economy.

Question 5

Explain the factors that influence Australia’s Balance of Payments.

HSC Topic 3: Economic Issues

This is perhaps my favourite of all the HSC Economics topics as it asks us to examine the nature, causes and consequences of the economic issues that are facing contemporary economies including; unemployment, inflation, distribution of income and wealth as well as sustainable development.

Question 1

Analyse the causes of unemployment and their effects on the Australian economy.

Question 2

Explain the causes of inflation and the impacts of high inflation on the Australian economy.

Question 3

Discuss the consequences of an unequal distribution of income and wealth and the impact of fiscal policy on the distribution of income in Australia.

Question 4

Analyse the changing sources of economic growth and their effects on the Australian economy and business cycle.

Question 5

Examine the economic issues associated with the goal of ecologically sustainable development.

HSC Topic 4: Economic Policies and Management

This topic looks at the aims and implementation of economic policies in the Australian economy and asks us to respond to hypothetical situations.

Question 1

Analyse how macroeconomic policy (i.e. Fiscal and Monetary Policy) can be used to achieve external stability.

Question 2

Explain the method behind how a Government can finance a budget deficit.

Question 3

Evaluate the rationale behind the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target inflation rate and explain why monetary policy suffers from a time lag limitation.

Question 4

Discuss the benefits and disadvantages of having a minimum wage and explain the national system for determining the minimum wage.

Question 5

Using diagrams, explain how market-based policies can assign a price to a negative externality (e.g. pollution) and improve the quality of life through a paradoxical reduction in consumption.

And that wraps up our list of 20 HSC Economics essay questions! Good luck!

On the hunt for other HSC Economics resources?

Check out some of our other articles and guides below:

If you’re also taking Business Studies as a subject, you should check out our essential guide to writing a Business Studies report!

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Thomas Woolley loves Economics and Business Studies. He completed his HSC in 2013 and has been working at Art of Smart since 2014. He enjoys helping out his students whilst studying B Commerce / B Education at UNSW to become an actual economics/business studies teacher in 2018. Since high school Thomas has also learned to scuba dive, salsa dance, and he can fly a quadcopter like a pro. However, he still cannot skateboard.

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