6.1.1 Business cycle: • Main stages of the business cycle, e.g. growth, boom, recession, slump • Impact on businesses of changes in employment levels, inflation and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) 6.1.2 How government control over the economy affects business activity and how businesses may respond: • Identify government economic objectives, e.g. increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) • Impact of changes in taxes and government spending • Impact of changes in interest rates • How businesses might respond to these changes Questions and suggested answers

Real GDP per head and the Human Development Index (HDI). The components of real GDP and HDI. The advantages and disadvantages of real GDP and HDI. Reasons for differences in living standards and income distribution within and between countries. Questions and suggested answers

The difference between absolute and relative poverty. The causes of poverty including unemployment, low wages, illness and age. Policies including those promoting economic growth, improved education, more generous state benefits, progressive taxation, and national minimum wage. Questions and suggested answers

Economic growth, full employment/low unemployment, stable prices/low inflation, balance of payments stability, redistribution of income. Reasons behind the choice of aims and the criteria that governments set for each aim. Possible conflicts between aims: full employment versus stable prices; economic growth versus balance of payments stability; and full employment versus balance of payments stability Review of Unit 4 Questions and suggested answers

Including income, the rate of interest and confidence between different households and over time. Questions with suggested solutions