This document provides an introduction to economics, including the main economic groups (consumers, producers, government) and factors of production (land, labor, capital, enterprise). It explains that consumers directly use goods and services while producers supply them. Government decides how the country is run. The factors of production are the resources used to make goods and services. The document also discusses the basic economic problem of scarcity and unlimited wants, and how this leads to questions around allocating resources efficiently. It defines key terms like opportunity cost and explores the costs and benefits of economic choices regarding sustainability. Activities and videos further explain these concepts.

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1. An Introduction to Economics

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1.1 Main economic groups and factors of
production
Learners should be able to:
• explain the role of the main economic groups:
consumers, producers and the government,
including their interdependence
• explain the factors of production: land, labour,
capital and enterprise, including how they might
be combined

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Key terms:
• Economic agents:
• Government:
a political body who decide how the country is run
• Consumer:
an individual, household that directly uses a good or service
• Producer: (firms)
an individual, company or country that makes or supplies a good or
service
• The factors of production:
resources used in the production process;
• land:
natural resources
• labour:
human resources,
• capital:
man made aids to production
• enterprise:
organisation and risk bearing activity

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Activity
Wants and needs
Write down everything you feel you would need to survive
on a day to day basis. In turns you will feedback to the class
and your answers will go on the board. Then write down
everything you would want/like to have over time (you can
be as imaginative as you like) again you will feedback to the
class and your answers will go on the board. Now discuss in
groups why you are unable to have everything you want.

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Videos:

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Task: Watch the video and makes notes on the
economics agents

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Task: Watch the following video and answer
the questions at the end.

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Exemplars with commentary

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Relevant past paper/sample questions
Practice paper 01

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Relevant past paper/sample questions
Practice paper 01

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Relevant past paper/sample questions

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Relevant past paper/sample questions
Practice paper 01

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• explain what is meant by scarce resources and
unlimited wants
• explain the economic problem, including the questions
of how resources should be allocated, what, for whom
and how goods and services should be produced
• explain what is meant by opportunity cost
• evaluate the costs and benefits of economic choices,
including the impact on economic, social and
environmental sustainability.
1.2 The basic economic problem

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• Scarce resources
Insufficient amount of something to satisfy all wants
• Unlimited wants
The infinite desire for goods and services consumers
would like to have
• Economic problem
How to best allocate scarce resources in order to satisfy
unlimited wants of people
• Opportunity cost
The cost of the next best alternative given up when
making a choice
Key terms:

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• Economic choices
An option for the use of scarce resources
• Economic sustainability
The best use of scarce resources to promote development or
growth now and in the future
• Social sustainability
The impact of development that promotes an increase in the
quality of life, now and in the future
• Environmental sustainability
When the impact of growth or development on the
environment is small and manageable now and in the future
Key terms

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Overview:
The key ideas are that the co-existence of scarce resources and
infinite wants leads to the need for an efficient allocation of those
resources, which is what Economics does by answering the three basic
questions:
1. what to produce?
2. how to produce it?
3. for whom to produce?
The basic economic problem
is so called because it applies
in any context wherein economic
decisions have to be made.

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Video: Scarcity

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Task: Watch the following video and make
revision notes on scarcity

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Video: Background knowledge of sustainability

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• Split into groups of four.
• Use google to research the HS2 project.
• On A3 paper make a list of the benefits of HS2 and a list
of the costs. Think in terms of economic, social and
environmental.
• Discuss and try to reach a conclusion as to whether you
feel it will be an overall benefit to the UK.
Activity

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Relevant past paper/sample questions
Practice paper 01
A591/02 June 2017

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Past paper questions:

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Past paper questions:

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Links to useful sites/ sources of information/
resources
YouTube G Conomics has a whole range of videos including GCSE Economics
command words
Seneca a free learning platform, aimed at A level but can be useful
Quizlet is useful for learning of key terms that students can add to
Tutor2U has a growing number of resources for OCR GCSE Economics
TES have a range of resources, some of which are free

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