Cambridge A-Level Economics (9708)
A complete revision hub for the 9708 syllabus, split into AS Level and A Level content so you can revise for the papers you are actually sitting.
How 9708 is structured. AS Level is assessed by Paper 1 (multiple choice) and Paper 2 (data response and essay). A Level adds Paper 3 (multiple choice) and Paper 4 (data response and essay), which assume everything in the AS content and go considerably deeper — particularly on consumer theory, cost curves, market structures and macroeconomic policy. Always check the current syllabus document on the Cambridge International site for the exact paper format and weightings for your session, as these change between syllabus cycles.
If you are short on time. Paper 2 and Paper 4 carry the evaluation marks, and evaluation is where most candidates lose grades rather than on knowledge. Prioritise the diagram-heavy topics — market structures, AD–AS, and government intervention — because those are where a correct, labelled diagram earns marks quickly and reliably.
AS Level — Papers 1 and 2
The foundation content. Everything here is also assumed at A Level.
1. Basic ideas and resource allocation
- Why Study Microeconomics? — scarcity, choice and opportunity cost.
- The Economic Goals of a Country — and the trade-offs between them.
2. The price system and the microeconomy
- Demand — schedules, curves and the law of demand.
- The Supply Curve
- Market Equilibrium
- Changes in Market Equilibrium
- Elasticity: PED, YED and XED
- Price Elasticity of Demand: Complete Guide
- Elasticity Along a Linear Demand Curve
- Utility: Total and Marginal
3. Government microeconomic intervention
- Taxes and Their Types — direct, indirect and progressivity.
- Network Externalities
- Minimum Wage and Monopsony — strong evaluation material for intervention essays.
4. The macroeconomy
- Circular Flow of Income
- GDP: Introduction and Usage
- Three Approaches to Calculating GDP
- Nominal GDP, Real GDP and the Deflator
- GDP vs GNP
- Measuring Living Standards by GNI
- What Is Inflation?
- Consumer Price Index: Construction and Bias
- Inflation vs Deflation vs Disinflation
- Unemployment: Measurement and Okun’s Law
- Types of Unemployment
- Aggregate Demand
- Shifts in the AD Curve
5. Government macroeconomic intervention
Built for 9708 candidates
The Economics Made Simple Complete Bundle covers the AS and A Level content in one 914-page textbook, with practice questions and full mark schemes, 358 flashcards, and 100 real-world case studies to use as evaluation evidence in Paper 2 and Paper 4.
A Level — Papers 3 and 4
The deeper treatment. Consumer theory, cost curves, market structures and policy evaluation.
Consumer theory in depth
- Consumer Behaviour and Preferences
- Indifference Curves
- Indifference Maps and Characteristics
- Marginal Rate of Substitution
- Budget Constraints
- Budget Line Changes
- The Optimum Consumption Decision
- Price Consumption Curve
- Income and Substitution Effects
- The Giffen Good
Production, costs and revenue
- The Production Function
- Average and Marginal Product
- Production with a Fixed Input
- Production Decisions of a Firm
- Economies of Scope
Market structures
- Perfect Competition: Assumptions and Efficiency
- Short-Run Profit Maximisation
- The Benefits of Perfect Competition
- 10 Key Points About Perfect Competition
- Monopoly: MR, Deadweight Loss and Price Discrimination
- Sources of Monopoly Power
- How a Monopolist Sets Price and Output
- Monopoly Output Decision
- Monopoly Cost and Output Decision
- Shifts in Demand Under Monopoly
- Economic Inefficiencies of Monopoly
- Perfect Competition vs Monopoly
- Monopolistic Competition
- Kinked Demand Theory of Oligopoly
- Cartel Theory of Oligopoly
- Game Theory: Nash Equilibrium and Dominance
- Types and Strategies of Game Theory
- Game Theory Basics with a Worked Example
Market failure and welfare
- Asymmetric Information: Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard
- Welfare Analysis: Hicksian Foundations
- Carbon Pricing and the Social Cost of Carbon
- The Economics of Climate Change
Advanced macroeconomics and policy
- Aggregate Supply vs Market Supply
- Long-Run vs Short-Run Aggregate Supply
- The Classical Economic Model
- What Causes Inflation? Demand-Pull and Cost-Push
- Stagflation and the Policy Dilemma
- Economic Impact of Inflation
- Anticipated and Unanticipated Inflation
- Quantity Theory of Money
- Commodity Money vs Fiat Money
- Central Banks: Tools, Independence and Credibility
- Central Banks and Inflation Control
- Quantitative Easing and the Zero Lower Bound
- Bank-Based vs Market-Based Economies
- The Solow Growth Model
- Measures of Economic Development
- Growth in China: A Case Study
Also useful: the AP Microeconomics guide and AP Macroeconomics guide, which cover overlapping material organised by topic rather than by paper, and the statistics guide for the quantitative methods used in Paper 4 data response. Everything on this site is free and updated as syllabus content changes.