2024 Economics II Past Paper PDF (NESA)

ECONOMICS II 018 25/07/2024 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM NAT IONA L EX A MINATION A ND SC HOOL INSP EC TION AUT HORIT Y ADVANCED LEV...

ECONOMICS II 018 25/07/2024 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM NAT IONA L EX A MINATION A ND SC HOOL INSP EC TION AUT HORIT Y ADVANCED LEVEL NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS, 2023-2024 SUBJECT: ECONOMICS II PAPER II: APPLICATION OF BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS COMBINATIONS:  HISTORY–ECONOMICS- GEOGRAPHY (HEG)  HISTORY–ECONOMICS- LITERATURE (HEL)  MATHEMATICS –ECONOMICS- GEOGRAPHY (MEG)  LITERATURE-ECONOMICS- GEOGRAPHY (LEG)  MATHEMATICS-COMPUTER SCIENCE-ECONOMICS (MCE) DURATION: 3 HOURS Instructions to candidates: 1) Write your names and index number on your answer booklet as they appear on your registration form and DO NOT write your names and index number on additional answer sheets if provided. 2) Do not open this question paper until you are told to do so. 3) This paper consists of Two sections: A and B. Section A: Attempt ALL questions. (55 marks) Section B: Attempt any THREE questions. (45 marks) 4) Candidates must give explanations with relevant examples where necessary. 5) Use only a blue or black pen. 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 1 of 8 Section A: Attempt all questions. (55 marks) 1. Select the best answers among the alternatives given. (5 marks) i) Which of the following concepts does economics deal primarily with? a) Scarcity. a) Poverty. b) Exchange. c) Unemployment. ii) What is meant by the term “final good”? a) The same as the term intermediate good. b) The same as the term consumer goods. c) All goods except those traded second hand. d) Goods which are finished as far as the economy is concerned. (iii) Which one of the following best explain when does scarcity occur? a) When a society has more resources than it needs to produce goods and services. b) When there are not enough resources to produce all the things a society would like to have. c) When inflation occurs and demand for goods and services decreases. d) When inflation occurs and demand for goods and services increases. (iv) With which one of the following does Macroeconomics deal? a) The behavior of firms. b) The activities of individual units. c) Economic aggregates d) The behavior of the electronics industry. (v) Which one of the following is never satisfied? a) Needs. b) Wants. c) Needs and wants. d) Both needs and wants can be satisfied. 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 2 of 8 2) Match the contents in Column A with their related contents in Column B. (5 marks) Column A Column B a) Isoquant. i) A locus of points showing the alternative combinations of factors that can be purchased with amount of money. b) Constant return ii) Output increased by smaller proportion to its to scale. inputs. c) Isocost. iii) A locus of points showing all the technically efficient ways of combination of factors of production to produce a fixed level of output. d) Diminishing iv) The output increased by the same proportion to its return to scale. inputs. e) Increasing return v) The output increased by greater proportion to its to scale. inputs. 3) State whether each of the following statement is True(T) or False(F) (5 marks) a) The supply in an economy is the quantity of goods and services demanded in that economy. b) The supply curve represents the quantity of goods supplied at various price levels. c) The increase in the number of suppliers in the market leads to increases in supply. d) The increase in price of production leads to an increase in supply. e) Improvement in technology leads to an increase in supply. 4) Choose the appropriate word to fill in the blank spaces below: (5 marks) profit; labour efficiency; specialization; interest and division of labour. i) ………………is the ability of labour to produce the greatest quality and quantity of output within the shortest time possible. ii) ……………is the situation where the production process is divided into series of repetitive tasks. iii) The entrepreneur is rewarded ……. for his contribution in the production process. 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 3 of 8  iv) The reward of capital is ……., whose rate depends on the demand and supply of capital. v) …………refers to an economic situation where a labourer concentrates in the production of one or very few commodities in a more effective and efficient way. 5) The following are the stages of evolution of money in an economy. Order them chronologically (from the oldest to newest). (5 marks)  Paper money; - Durable commodities; - Commodity money; - Bank notes;  Precious metals. 6) You are given the following: (5 marks) a) High level of illiteracy. b) High level of Gross Domestic Product (G.D.P). c) Improved quality of consumer goods. d) Developed transport infrastructures. e) High level of technology. Classify each into: Economic growth, Economic development and underdevelopment, where it is mostly fitting. 7) Define the following terms: a) Public finance (2 marks) b) Fiscal policy (2 marks) 8) a) The cost of producing rice is ¾ of the total revenue (T.R) got from its sales. If the total cost (T.C) incurred by the producer to produce 10 sacks of rice was 60,000FRW. Calculate his/her profit? (3 marks) b) Identify any 2 examples of where we can use linear equations in economics. (2 marks) 9) Given that the price of tomatoes is 500 FRW, the quantity demanded is 2kg and also the quantity supplied is 10kgs. For every 100FRW decrease in price, the quantity supplied reduces by 2kgs and quantity demanded increases by 2kgs. a) Tabulate the above information and show the equilibrium price and the equilibrium quantity. (3 marks) 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 4 of 8  b) Basing on the data from the drawn table, draw the demand and supply curves for tomatoes. (3 marks) 10) Mukakamali has a nursery school, she bought a good tissue for her school uniforms. She is bargaining with Kamana who is a local dress maker about the system of payment when he will have sewed 300 uniforms for nursery children. a) Explain the best system of wage determination that Mukakamali has to choose to pay her dressmaker. (3 marks) b) Give two reasons why Mukakamali has to make this choice. (2 marks) 11) Supposed that Peter is Director of economic planning and development in the ministry of economic finance and development of his country A. He wants to make a good development plan for his country. Use true (T) for the statement including what is the best he must consider during setting the plan and False(F) for the statement including what is not good to be considered in the plan. (5 marks) a) All sectors of economy are considered, both rural and urban areas as well. b) Ideas from central and local authorities are only concerned if not the plan will not be implemented. c) Ideas from the president and the minister of economic planning and development are enough. d) The plan must not rely on foreign aids; it has to consider the available resources for its implementation. e) The planning activities must include all that the country A dreams to achieve during the implementation period. Section B: Attempt any three questions only. (45 marks) 12) Analyse the negative effects of economics depression on a country’s economy. (15 marks) 13) In the Keynesian framework, full employment is achieved when there is sufficient aggregate demand to utilize all available resources. It is the level of employment at which there is no involuntary unemployment or a significant output gap. a) What do you call Unemployment in general economic context? (1 mark) b) Justify this affirmation “it is difficult to attain full employment in less developed countries’’. (14 marks) 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 5 of 8 14) Assess the impact of trade protectionism on the country’s economy. (15 marks) 15) Nowadays, Rwanda like some other developing countries suffers from stagflation. This is probably a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. In December 2023 the Chief Economist at The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning said: “The Government of Rwanda is deeply aware that high inflation is imposing significant hardship, damaging budgets and decreasing what people buy”. a) What is meant by the term: i) Stagflation? (1 mark) ii) Inflation? (1 mark) iii) Explain how high inflation can decrease what people buy? (3 marks) b) As an economist appointed as a Senior Adviser to the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, elaborate policy measures that can restore price stability in Rwanda’s economy. (10 marks) 16) As an Economist and a good citizen, at the end of Umuganda activity you are required to explain to people the importance of commercial agriculture and how to improve commercial agriculture for Rwandan economic development Briefly elaborate comprehensive arguments you would present to people on: a) Importance of commercial agriculture. (8 marks) b) Measures to be taken in order to improve commercial agriculture in Rwanda. (7 marks) -END- 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 6 of 8  BLANK PAGE 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 7 of 8  BLANK PAGE 2023-2024-NESA (National Examination and School Inspection Authority) 018-Page 8 of 8