Students' Guide - Using the Virtual Economy for AS and A2 level Economics

The Virtual Economy is likely to be of most value on the macroeconomic side of your course, but there are also many areas of microeconomics where you can use it.

At AS level the Virtual Economy will be most use for the National Economy module (module 2 AQA, module 3 OCR, module 3 Edexcel). You can use the Virtual Economy to experiment and learn the different tools that the government has available to manage the economy. You may also find the glossary and the library on the third floor useful for research. The Virtual Economy may also be useful for the markets and markets failure modules.

At A2 level the Virtual Economy will be most useful for the UK Economy module (module 6 AQA (Government Policy - National and International), unit 7 OCR (The UK Economy) and Module 6 Edexcel (The UK in the Global Economy)). You can use the model and related materials to look in depth at application of aggregate supply and aggregate demand theory and use the model to try various policies and assess their success. The worksheets in the Economic Policy section on the second floor may be very helpful as a basis for doing this.

You could use the different areas of the Virtual Economy in a variety of ways during your course. If you have an essay or assignment to do, try researching in the Library (3rd floor) or on the Economic Policy floor (2nd floor). The Virtual Economy may be particularly useful for project work as well. If your project covers one of the areas we've mentioned above why not use the model to do some testing and see the effects on the economy. This may give you data to help you with the project. Why not have a go at some worksheets to help you understand some of the economic principles you have learnt? There is extensive help in other areas of the Virtual Economy that will enable you to do the worksheets.

The table below considers the areas of the Virtual Economy you may wish to use for different topics on the syllabus. The table is intended as a guide.

The topics considered are:

• Market theory
• Firms
• Wages
• Market failure
• National income determination
• Money
• Unemployment and inflation
• Government and fiscal policy

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