Economics 9708 · AS & A Level · Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost

Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost — practice question

(a)[2]

Calculate the food price inflation rate(s) from Table 1.

  • Calculate the food price inflation rate between 2003 and 2009. [1]
  • Calculate the food price inflation rate between 2009 and 2012. [1]
(b)[2]

What evidence from Table 1 suggests that the EU’s adoption of biofuel targets affected food prices?

(c)[6]

Using diagrams, explain how the removal of the subsidy for biofuel production in the United States in 2011 would probably affect the market for:

  • biofuels. [3]
  • fossil fuels. [3]
(d)[4]

(i) Use a production possibility curve to show the trade-off between the production of crops for biofuels and the production of food crops. (ii) Explain why the cost of food production is increasing as more land is used to grow crops for biofuels.

  • Use a production possibility curve to show the trade-off between producing crops for biofuels and producing food crops. [2]
  • Explain why food production costs are rising as more land is devoted to growing crops for biofuels. [2]
(e)[6]

Carbon emissions are believed to contribute to global warming. Discuss whether indirect taxes on fossil fuels might be a more effective way of preventing global warming than government commitments to biofuel targets.

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