How to Write the IB Economics Internal Assessment

April 17, 2021

The IB economics internal assessment is responsible for many nights spent fruitlessly staring at computers. Not that the essay itself is tough - on the contrary, it is one of the easiest to hack if you can get the right source articles.

The IB internal assessment is meant to assess how conversant the candidate is with current economic affairs in the world, their ability to analyze and assess them critically, and their depth of economic perception. Unlike external exams, this assessment is largely independent and self-paced except for the direction and support given by an IB-approved supervisor.

Those taking their IB exams in 2022 and beyond, meaning that they are starting their coursework in 2020, have even more reason to give the IA special attention. The IBO changed the economics syllabus this year and made some significant changes, making the new IB students guinea pigs of a new system. If you haven't heard about it already, here are a few snapshots. If, on the other hand, you would prefer to hand over your IB IA in economics to the experts, you can skip it all and give us your order here.

The New IB Economics Syllabus 2020: Top Picks

The IA now carries more weight. Previously, it contributed 20% with Papers 1 and 2 adding 40%. With the changes, the IB is now worth a cool 30%, Paper 1 worth 30%, and Paper 2 40%. For HL economics, the IA remains at 20% in weighting, Paper 1 is now 20%, while Papers 2 and 3 complete it with 20% each.

Other changes, though not directly related to the IA, include the fact that the HL Paper 3 is now known as the "Policy Paper" rather than the previous "Quantitative Paper." It will still focus on the quantitative elements but will have a bias towards definitions and explanations.

You will also be interested to learn that there will be a new topic focused on sustainability. This focus will include sustainability and poverty, environmental sustainability, and sustainable development goals. Adding this same viewpoint to your IA essay is going to impress your examiners, so it might be a good idea to add a paragraph or two about it.

Overview: What the IB Economics IA Is All About

The IB economics internal assessment is an independent research project into current economic affairs of national or global significance that culminates into a 750-word article in which the student analyzes the said events to offer academic insights. "Current" here means no older than 12 months.

These events are to be discussed and supported from 3 current articles - published in the previous 6 months - from which data, evidence, and inferences are derived for the analysis. The student draws upon an area of the Economics syllabus to derive the ideas, analysis techniques, terminology, and insight to give a clear and in-depth analysis of the events.

As any IB student or examiner will tell you, the biggest challenge associated with the economics IA is choosing and sourcing the right articles. Thus, it shall be our major focus to show you how to go about the whole process of doing that. We will also give you a step-by-step guide on how to write the internal assessment in economics, explore the rubric requirements, and finish with a few sample ideas for the year 2020.

How to Find Articles for the IB Economics IA

There's a favorite saying among researchers: Google is your best friend. In this case, it is everything. Your search for suitable articles for the economics IA essay will be as short as your research skills allow, so we will give you a way out. Before that, you need to know what a good article for the economics essay looks like.

What Makes a Good Article for the IB IA?

It should have clear links to some part of the IB Economics Syllabus - two or more sections. The IB syllabus consists of four major sections: Microeconomics (taxes, subsidies, price floors, and ceilings), macroeconomics (monetary policies, fiscal policies),
International (trade wars, tariffs, quotas, exchange rates, embargoes and sanctions, terms of trade, economic integration) and development (trade, foreign aid, FDI, debt).
The article should not have too much analysis. That means the insights and carry-home conclusions shouldn't already be there for you to use. Instead, it should have just enough data for you to base a whole essay on. This automatically leaves out chewed-and-digested articles from The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. News reports are usually an excellent source of financial reporting including BBC, the NYT, and The Huffington Post.
The articles should be no older than 6 months, at the most 12 months if more recent articles are not available. The economics IA is meant to focus on current events with an economic impact. Anything older than 1 year will already be outdated, so find articles with a date as close to that of writing as possible.
Each article should lend itself easily to the drawing of one or two diagrams used to analyze, evaluate, or offer a solution to a certain problem addressed. The essay needs to have at least one diagram, sometimes two, which relate directly to the problem at hand and which offer a more technical analysis.
The articles chosen should all be from different but reputable sources.
Each article should cover a different section of the syllabus, which you will then link in the essay and use them to draw your insights.
Each article should be a primary source - an original report and well-researched, without relying on the opinions of other writers or publications. Thus, you cannot use articles from school textbooks.
The articles should be from different parts of the world. IB candidates are expected to think globally, and while there are no language limitations, a full translation must be provided for articles in any other language but English.

While not a requirement per se, you should also choose articles that deal with a topic in which you have a personal interest. The issues should be controversial and debatable, which gives you drive and motivation as you write.

You can see that finding three articles to fulfill all these conditions will be a tough job, so let's see how to go about that.

The Process of Choosing IB Economics IA Articles

Even before you go online, write down a list of keywords that will help you uncover suitable articles. Words like “price cap,” “demand,” “supply,” “inflation,” “dumping,” “national debt,” “sanctions,” and many others depending on your area of interest. A student who wants to focus on foreign aid might also think about words like “development,” “poverty,” “hunger,” “malaria,” among others.

Open Google and click on the “News” section. This will filter the search results to what is published on news’ sites.

Sieve through the search results present, weighing them against the criteria above. Bookmark the links you come across which might be helpful in the future.

If you are looking for certain news sites such as BBC, you might think about search filtering like so: site: BBC prices. You can also exclude other sides like so: -bbc.com prices. You can also try it with Google Advanced search, which allows you to refine your search criteria even more.

If a particular search term doesn't seem to yield the results you are looking for, use alternatives. Some keywords also tend to be too general or too focused, so tweak them accordingly. So, for example, instead of searching for "European Union trading," you might find the term "European Union trading scheme" more fruitful.

Rinse and repeat this process until you are satisfied with the results. Thanks to the freedom that comes with the internet, you can get your three articles in less than an hour, or it might take you a week. It’s all a matter of skill and experience.

Economics IA Sample Articles

At the time of writing this guide, the Coronavirus is in full swing. Thus, most current economic news is about the virus. Here are the links to some sample articles you could use as inspiration.

These few examples are meant to show you how easy it is to pick out amazing articles on which to base your economics IA.

They are by no means perfect but are great starting points to fuel your research.

Don't forget along the way that, while analytical articles are not good to base your essay on, they are golden when it comes to preparation - just don't cite them.

Tips on Writing a Great Economics IA Essay

You have the articles chosen, plenty of ideas are flowing in your head, how do you pen the actual thing? Well, to begin with, have a structure. The 750-word article follows a standard academic essay format with only a few differences.

Introduction (150 words)

You don't need an introduction. For such a short article, you need all the word count you can spare for actual information that can earn you marks.

Thus, the "introduction" should be reserved for definitions or a general explanation of what you're writing about. Even then, keep it to a minimum and limit it to one paragraph, a maximum of 150 words.

Theory: Draw Your Diagram

Having explained briefly what you are going to be discussing, it's time for the diagram.

Draw a graph/chart, share a statistics table, or some other visual way or explaining your evaluation strategy. The words used in the diagram do not count in the total word count, so make sure to label everything appropriately.

Also, shade and label all relevant areas in the diagram and provide a legend as a guide to the coloring/shading scheme used.

Explain the Diagram (200 words)

Even though it is an exam which you expect will be assessed by experienced economists, you have to assume that your audience consists of people who are not very highly educated. Thus, in this section, lay out the whole theory in simple language.

Draw links and explain them, show your logic, and show how your concept works (or doesn't work.)

If you make any assumptions or conclusions, support them fully and provide clear insight into your thought process.

Remember, the examiners want to see how you came to the conclusions, but they also want to see how well and clearly you can express yourself.

Develop Your Explanation (100 words)

From what you have observed, what is your explanation? Go even deeper and show linkages between events and their causes.

If you are evaluating farmers dumping excess milk, go back all the way to the causative factors and draw links that your reader can follow to the final conclusions.

This section is simply about explaining your diagram and what it shows about the root phenomena.

Give Your Solution (300 words)

You have fully explained and described a problem, now give your solution.

What do you think can be done about it in the real world? It should be a viable solution as well, not a fantastical idea that would never be implemented.

Only one solution is needed, which you should evaluate in the CLASPP model. In this model, you:

Give your Conclusions,
State what the Long and short-term effects of your solution are
State any Assumptions made
Who would Stakeholders and participants of this solution
What should be the Priorities if it were to be implemented
Finally give a rundown of its Pros and cons.

IA Economics Rubric Rundown

Diagram (3 marks) - it should be relevant, fully labeled, and accompanied by a full explanation. Explain each element so that a layman can understand it - this entails describing the behavior of the curve/line.
Terminology (2 marks) - it is incredibly important that you also use the terminology you have been learning in the economics course. Use them in such a way that you show you understand what they mean, and give short succinct definitions where necessary.
Applications (2 marks) - How well do you apply economic concepts to link and explain your particular situation?
Analysis (3 marks) - this criterion assesses how well you have analyzed the phenomena with the mind of an economist. How thoroughly have you explored the concepts? While you explain the theory behind it, make sure to retain the real-life links.
Evaluation (4 marks) - You must have evaluated at least 3 different areas of CLASPP and left the reader with a thorough understanding of the problem and the possible solution. It also assesses how well you support and justify your analysis and assumptions.

That’s it, all you need to include in your essay. Of course, how you communicate will matter a lot. The economics IA rubric will help to give you a few more insights into what is expected of you in the IA essay.

Get Help With Writing the IB Economics IA

Needless to say, writing your economy IA requires a lot of effort and smarts to boot. Most people achieve it by going through the essay repeatedly, polishing it up and making changes.

While it helps to remove mistakes and touch upon the major points, you can end up with a Frankenstein of an IA essay. That's why we at Help for Assessments insist on getting it right the first time.

You don’t have to sweat it through endless hours of research, only to end up with a tear-jerking grade. Let us do the IB internal assessment for you, whether it is in economics or any other subject. Simply leave us your order here and rest assured that we will deliver a 100% unique, well-researched, and top-grade essay for you.

As a matter of pride, Help for Assessment assures your satisfaction and confidentiality. Also, check out our blog for more helpful articles about the IB program.

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About the author

Antony W

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.