Internal Assessment Commentaries

As you may have seen from the IB Economics Syllabus page, the internal assessment commentaries are an essential component that will contribute to 20% of your final grade. That is quite alot!

Let's first remind ourselves the criteria:

• Each commentary must not exceed 750 words 

Included : sub-headings, headings on graphs/tables that exceed 10 words, labels that exceed 5 words
Not included : article posted onto document, headings on graphs/tables that exceed 10 word, labels that exceed 5 words

• News article date must not be before one year before you start your IB course. 

E.g. I started my IB diploma programme on 1st September 2011 (For first examinations 2013), earliest article taken is 1 year before, hence 1st September 2010.

• Any graphs you include in your commentary must not be taken from a secondary source 

Draw your own graphs, make it look excellent to get good impression marks.

• Each article is taken from a different and appropriate source

Should be easy enough!

• Each article is based on a different section of the syllabus

1. Microeconomics - E.g. Demand & Supply, Taxation, Market Failure, Theory of the Firm etc.
2. Macroeconomics - E.g. Unemployment, Inflation, Income Distribution, Economic growth etc.
3. International Economics - E.g. Comparative Advantage, Exchange Rate, Balance of Payments etc.
4. Development Economics - E.g. Human Development Index, Barriers to Development etc.

Guide to writing your commentary

Having a whole article to write about in only 750 words will be a challenge to everyone, especially if you are the type of person that likes to go on, and on when writing...pretty much like myself.

We will go over the essential components when you eventually come to write your commentary.

Choosing a news article

Finding articles is one of the most difficult parts, because you have will have to consider virtually tens of thousands of articles in order to find one that is most suitable to you. It can be a real headache, but with a little bit of patience, you will find one that is perfect.

Make sure that your article:

• revolves around the main topic you are focusing on.
• covers the topic quite widely, not too narrow

Micro Example: If your article only focuses on increasing taxation, it is not good because the scope of your commentary is too narrow. Taxation is within the bigger topic, Market Failure, so it will be better to find articles on market failure that you can analyze and evaluate.

Introduction

With only 750 words to write, what do you say should be the first thing to keep in mind? Keep it short and to the point. What gets most people is how long the introduction should be, and to be honest, it should be very short; I would recommend 5 lines at most. 

Why do you want it to be so short? The reason being is that you will be required to fill a portfolio cover sheet that roughly outlines your article. If you do find that you are over the word limit, the first place to start cutting words is in the introduction.

1. Opening Sentence

Write a summary of your chosen news article

The main point is to summarize what your article is talking about. It is important to make it only one sentence, two if you need to, because examiners dislike waffling.

2. Progressive Sentence

Talk about why your article is economics related.

This will be a good place to introduce the main economic "topic" that your commentary will talk about.

3. Closing Sentence (Optional)

Talk about what economic theories your commentary will cover

Micro commentary example: http://www.skynews.com.au/national/article.aspx?id=740545&vId=

Example:

The article reports the results from a health survey that many Australians find drinking by young people a serious problem to society, and the government taking measures to correct this market failure. Because alcohol is a de-merit good, it will be over-consumed and supplied in the market. Demand, externalities and elasticity are concepts that can help governments make informed decisions on correcting market failures.

Opening sentence effectively talks about the summary of the news article; it gives a very clear and precise outline of what it is talking about to the examiner. Progressive sentence outlines the link to economic theory. Lastly, the closing sentence tells the examiner what relevant economic theory it will comment on.

Of course, no examples are perfect, like this one, so feel free to explore and bring in your own style of writing to make it unique!

Body Paragraphs

There is actually no general formula for how you approach the body paragraphs, but it will be more beneficial to have a layout that is coherent and talks about each theory separately.

1. First Paragraph

For the first paragraph, you have to define around 3 or 4 economic terms that you have talked about in the introduction. While you are writing, you may have to include other definitions within your analysis, but these will be your main ones.

Proper definitions are important, make an effort to listen to your teacher. If you are the type that always dozes off in lessons (like myself), note them down from the text book.

Example:

Demand is the quantity of a good that an individual is willing to purchase at different price levels. Externalities occur when the consumption or production of a good or service has an effect on a third party. Price elasticity of demand is a measure of responsiveness of a change in quantity demanded to the change in price.

*Note: The last definition is not 'elasticity', but 'price elasticity of demand'(PED). It is perfectly fine to have imperfections, especially since PED is under elasticity and an essential part of what my commentary will include in the analysis/evaluation section

2. Subsequent Paragraphs

• Separate each of the 'sections' or 'theories' that you will talk about. As in: analyze and evaluate separately.
• Reference the article when developing a point or analyzing. Referencing does not need to be professional like the extended essay, just write it in the paragraph.
• Make sure that your graphs are properly labeled; excellent graphs are not only a good way to earn marks, it also gives the examiner a good impression as he/she goes through hundreds and hundreds of IA's.

Example of a negative externalities of consumption graph:

• Use clear, focused economic terminology when analyzing.
• Bring in different things when you have the opportunity to show your critical analysis. For example: other policies
• Avoid using too much overly-complicated vocabulary. A few is fine, but having too much is just not necessary.
• Make sure that titles do not exceed 10 words and labels do not exceed 5 words, otherwise it will be included in your word count.
• No pictures

Conclusion

The conclusion should be around the same length as the introduction; 4-5 lines maximum because the analysis will give you the most marks.

1. Summary Sentence

In one coherent sentence, talk about the theories that you have analyzed and evaluated. The examiner will have seen your analysis, so do not explain everything fully.

2. Final Concluding Sentence

This last sentence is your personal opinion on the article through what you have analyzed.

Example:

In conclusion, taxation is an effective measure and price floor can be used as an alternative policy in the short term by supplementing negative advertising as a long term measure. Using these measures, the Australian can correct the market failure effectively. [Word Count: 750]

*Include your word count at the end of the conclusion in square brackets

Marking Criteria

Each of the 3 commentaries will be based upon this mark scheme:

Marking Criteria	Marks Awarded
Relevant, accurate and correctly labelled diagrams are included, with a full explanation	3
Terminology relevant to the article is used appropriately throughout the commentary	2
Relevant economic concepts and/or theories are applied to the article appropriately throughout the commentary	2
There is effective economic analysis relating to the article	2
Judgments are made that are supported by effective and balanced reasoning	4
All five rubric requirements are met.	1
Total:	15

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Final Tips

• Once you have received your assignment, get a head start! People who believe that they can finish a commentary in one day are gravely mistaken. Deadlines can suddenly appear out of nowhere!
• When you think you have finished, check it again;  be extremely critical about your commentary.  Doing this daily will allow you to perfect your commentary to the highest standards, it's only going to take 10 minutes, 20 minutes at most. Proof read your work like there is no tomorrow!!
• The best way to edit is to - print your work out and read it aloud. You may not be able to notice mistakes when reading from your computer. If you 'trip' on a word, it is because the word structure is slightly wrong.
• Don't expect your teacher to help you read it many times, he/she can only read it once! So treat your first draft like your final draft before asking your teacher to edit.