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IB Economics IA: A Complete Guide with 30 Ideas
This guide is your complete roadmap to mastering the IB Economics Internal Assessment. The IA is worth up to 30% of your final grade, making it one of the most powerful tools you have to secure a 7. But it’s not just another essay; it's a portfolio of three commentaries where you get to act like a real economist, applying theory to the world around you.
At Lanterna, our expert tutors (who are all top IB graduates) know that a brilliant IA is built on a smart strategy, not just last-minute stress. We’ve distilled years of experience into this guide to give you that insider edge.
By using this guide, you will be able to:
- Master the IA Rules: Understand the non-negotiable requirements for your portfolio, from word count to source selection.
- Find the Perfect Article: Access 30 curated, high-potential article ideas grounded in current economic realities.
- Decode the Marking Criteria: Learn exactly what IB examiners are looking for in a top-scoring commentary.
- Leverage a 7-Point Strategy: Implement the proven structure and evaluation techniques used by the best students.
The IA Blueprint: Core Rules You Must Follow
Your IA is a portfolio of three commentaries, each capped at 800 words. Getting the structure right is the first step to a high score. Failure to follow these rules can lead to serious mark deductions.
- Three Different Syllabus Units: Each commentary must be from a different section of the syllabus: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and The Global Economy.
- Three Different Key Concepts: You must use a different Key Concept for each commentary. The nine concepts are easily remembered with the acronym WISE ChoICES: Well-being, Interdependence, Scarcity, Efficiency, Choice, Intervention, Change, Equity, and Sustainability. You cannot repeat a concept.
- Three Different Sources: Your three articles must come from three different, credible news outlets (e.g., The Economist, Financial Times, BBC News, Reuters).
- The 12-Month Rule: Each article must have been published within one year of the date you write the commentary.
- The 800-Word Limit: Examiners are instructed to stop reading at exactly 800 words. Any brilliant evaluation you write in word 801 will not be marked.
The Lanterna Tip: Strategic Word Count Management
The 800-word limit is strict, but some of the most important elements are exempt. Diagrams, diagram titles (up to 10 words), labels (up to 5 words), data tables, and citations do not count. This is your secret weapon. Use well-labeled, data-rich diagrams to convey complex analysis without eating into your word count.
The 800-word limit is strict, but some of the most important elements are exempt. Diagrams, diagram titles (up to 10 words), labels (up to 5 words), data tables, and citations do not count. This is your secret weapon. Use well-labeled, data-rich diagrams to convey complex analysis without eating into your word count.
The Marking Criteria: What Examiners Really Want
Each commentary is marked out of 14 points, plus 3 portfolio-wide points, for a total of 45. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to do to hit the top marks in each criterion.
| Criterion | Focus | Max Marks | How to Score a Top Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Diagrams | 3 | Your diagram must be accurate, fully labeled, and explained in the text. Crucially, it must be customized with real data from your article (e.g., actual prices, dates, or percentages), not generic labels like P1 and Q1. |
| B | Terminology | 2 | Use economic terms with precision. Don't use "price" when you mean "price level" in a macro context. Show the examiner you speak the language of economics fluently. |
| C | Application & Analysis | 3 | Connect economic theory directly to your article. Use quotes and data to build a clear chain of reasoning showing how the theory explains the real-world event. Avoid generic, textbook definitions. |
| D | Key Concept | 3 | Your chosen Key Concept must be the central theme of your commentary. Define it, link it to the article, and use it to frame your evaluation. It should be woven throughout, not just mentioned in the introduction. |
| E | Evaluation | 3 | This is where 7s are made. You must provide a balanced judgment. Discuss pros and cons, short-term vs. long-term effects, and impacts on different stakeholders. A one-sided analysis is automatically capped at 9/14 for the commentary. |
30 High-Impact IA Article Ideas
Choosing the right article is half the battle. A good article focuses on a single, specific policy or event and includes data. Avoid broad, opinion-heavy pieces. Here are 30 ideas grounded in current economic trends to get you started.
Microeconomics: Market Forces and Government Intervention
| Topic Idea | Real-World Focus | Recommended Diagram | Optimal Key Concept | Evaluation Focus (Stakeholders & Limitations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Indirect Tax on Vaping | A new excise tax on e-cigarettes or vaping products. | Indirect tax diagram showing the tax wedge and welfare loss. | Intervention | Regressive impact on low-income users vs. long-term public health savings. Success depends on the Price Elasticity of Demand (PED). |
| 2. EV Subsidy Cuts | Governments reducing subsidies for electric vehicles due to budget issues. | Subsidy diagram showing an inward supply shift. | Sustainability | Short-term budget relief vs. failure to internalize positive externalities, slowing the green transition. |
| 3. Minimum Wage Hikes | A city or country raising its minimum wage to address the cost of living. | Labor market price floor diagram showing potential unemployment. | Equity | Higher living standards for workers vs. potential job losses and cost pressures on small businesses. |
| 4. Rent Control Policies | A major city imposing a cap on residential rents. | Price ceiling diagram showing the resulting housing shortage. | Well-being | Immediate relief for tenants vs. long-term decline in housing quality and new construction. |
| 5. Carbon Tax on Industry | A country implementing or increasing a carbon tax on emissions. | Negative externality of production diagram (MSC > MPC). | Sustainability | Meeting climate goals vs. loss of international competitiveness for domestic firms. |
| 6. Public Transport Funding | Government investment in a new subway line or public transit project. | Positive externality of consumption diagram (MSB > MPB). | Efficiency | Societal benefits and improved allocative efficiency vs. the huge opportunity cost of public funds. |
| 7. Food Price Spikes | Extreme weather causing price volatility for a staple food like wheat or rice. | Supply and demand diagram with highly inelastic curves. | Change | Impact on farmer revenues (use PED) vs. food security issues for low-income households. |
| 8. Regulating Tech Giants | Antitrust action or price caps on a monopoly like a utility or tech firm. | Monopoly diagram showing abnormal profits and deadweight loss. | Efficiency | Increased consumer surplus vs. risk of reducing the firm's innovation and R&D spending. |
| 9. Used Car Market Rules | New laws requiring mandatory disclosures for used vehicle sales. | Asymmetric information market failure model. | Equity | Reducing adverse selection for consumers vs. compliance costs for sellers passed on to buyers. |
| 10. Supermarket Price Wars | Major grocery chains aggressively cutting prices to gain market share. | Kinked demand curve or oligopoly market share diagram. | Interdependence | Short-term consumer benefit vs. long-term risk of market consolidation and lower quality. |
Macroeconomics: The Big Picture
| Topic Idea | Real-World Focus | Recommended Diagram | Optimal Key Concept | Evaluation Focus (Stakeholders & Limitations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11. High Interest Rates | A central bank holding interest rates high to fight persistent inflation. | AD/AS diagram showing a leftward shift in Aggregate Demand. | Intervention | Success in controlling inflation vs. the high risk of causing a recession and cyclical unemployment. |
| 12. Cutting Interest Rates | A central bank lowering interest rates to stimulate a slowing economy. | AD/AS diagram showing a rightward shift in Aggregate Demand. | Change | Boosts consumption and investment vs. time lags and the risk of reigniting inflation. |
| 13. Infrastructure Stimulus | A government launching a massive spending program on roads, bridges, or AI. | Keynesian AD/AS model showing the multiplier effect. | Economic well-being | Multiplier effect on jobs and income vs. crowding out private investment and increasing national debt. |
| 14. Government Austerity | A government cutting spending or raising taxes to reduce its budget deficit. | AD/AS diagram showing a leftward shift in Aggregate Demand. | Equity | Long-term debt sustainability vs. negative impact on vulnerable groups who rely on public services. |
| 15. Supply-Side Labor Reforms | Policies to deregulate labor markets or fund national retraining programs. | Long-Run Aggregate Supply (LRAS) shifting rightward. | Efficiency | Potential for non-inflationary growth vs. very long time lags to see effects. |
| 16. Demand-Pull Inflation | Reports of inflation caused by strong consumer spending and a hot economy. | AD shifting right past the full employment level on the LRAS. | Change | The redistributive effects of inflation: borrowers win, while savers and those on fixed incomes lose. |
| 17. Cost-Push Inflation | An energy price shock causing both inflation and economic contraction (stagflation). | Short-Run Aggregate Supply (SRAS) shifting leftward. | Interdependence | The central bank's dilemma: raising rates worsens the recession, while cutting them worsens inflation. |
| 18. Rising Unemployment | A sharp rise in unemployment following a wave of corporate layoffs. | Deflationary (recessionary) gap on a Keynesian AD/AS model. | Well-being | Loss of human capital and skills vs. the need for targeted government spending to boost AD. |
| 19. High GDP Growth | A country reporting unexpectedly high economic growth. | Outward shift of the Production Possibilities Curve (PPC). | Scarcity | Higher living standards vs. negative environmental externalities and resource depletion from rapid growth. |
| 20. Wealth Redistribution | A change in the progressive tax system or an expansion of welfare benefits. | Lorenz curve shifting closer to the line of equality (Gini coefficient falls). | Equity | Social benefits of fairness vs. potential disincentive for high-earners and risk-takers. |
The Global Economy: Trade and Development
| Topic Idea | Real-World Focus | Recommended Diagram | Optimal Key Concept | Evaluation Focus (Stakeholders & Limitations) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21. New Tariffs | A country imposing tariffs on imported goods like steel or electric cars. | Tariff diagram showing changes in surplus and deadweight loss. | Interdependence | Protecting domestic jobs vs. higher consumer prices and the risk of a retaliatory trade war. |
| 22. Import Quotas | Strict limits placed on the import of a foreign agricultural product. | Quota diagram showing the constrained supply and price increase. | Intervention | Job security for domestic farmers vs. higher food prices for consumers. |
| 23. Free Trade Agreements | Two or more countries signing a new deal to remove trade barriers. | Comparative advantage model or world supply curve shifts. | Efficiency | Gains from trade and lower prices vs. structural unemployment in uncompetitive domestic industries. |
| 24. Strong Currency | A nation's currency appreciating rapidly due to high interest rates. | Foreign exchange market diagram (demand shifting right). | Change | Cheaper imports and lower inflation vs. exports becoming uncompetitive, harming domestic firms. |
| 25. Weak Currency | A central bank intervening to devalue its currency to boost exports. | Foreign exchange market diagram (supply shifting right). | Interdependence | Export-led growth vs. the risk of imported inflation and provoking a "currency war." |
| 26. Foreign Direct Investment | A multinational corporation building a new factory in a developing country. | AD/AS shifts or an outward shift of the PPC. | Economic well-being | Technology transfer and job creation vs. risks of environmental damage and profit repatriation. |
| 27. Sovereign Debt Forgiveness | International lenders forgiving the debt of a low-income country. | Aggregate demand shifts representing new fiscal space. | Equity | Government can now spend on health/education vs. the risk of moral hazard (encouraging future debt). |
| 28. Microfinance Programs | The expansion of small loan programs for entrepreneurs in rural areas. | Poverty cycle diagram. | Sustainability | Empowers local entrepreneurs vs. risks of high interest rates and over-indebtedness. |
| 29. Sustainable Development Goals | A developing country implementing a policy to meet an environmental SDG. | Negative externality diagram or a PPC showing trade-offs. | Sustainability | The difficult trade-off between rapid economic growth needed to reduce poverty vs. protecting the environment. |
| 30. "Reshoring" Supply Chains | A company moving its manufacturing from overseas back to its home country. | Shifts in domestic supply curves reflecting higher costs. | Interdependence | More resilient supply chains and domestic jobs vs. higher prices for consumers due to lost efficiencies. |
The Anatomy of a Level 7 Commentary
Top students don't just know the theory; they use a proven system to apply it. Follow this structure to elevate your work from good to great.
1. Make Your Diagrams Work for You
A generic diagram gets you a passing mark. A diagram customized with data from the article gets you top marks. If an article says a tax raised the price of a product from $5 to $6.50, those numbers must be on your diagram's y-axis. Title it specifically, for example: "Figure 1: The effect of a $1.50 excise tax on the market for coffee in Canada." Then, in your text, walk the examiner through every part of the diagram you've drawn.
2. Master Evaluation with the CLASPP Framework
Evaluation (Criterion E) is the biggest differentiator. Don't just list a few pros and cons at the end. Weave evaluation throughout your analysis using the CLASPP framework.
- Conclusions: Make a clear, justified judgment. Don’t sit on the fence.
- Long-term vs. Short-term: A policy that works now might create problems later. Discuss both.
- Assumptions: Economic models assume ceteris paribus (all else being equal). Challenge this. What could change in the real world to make the policy fail?
- Stakeholders: Who wins? Who loses? Think about consumers, domestic firms, foreign firms, the government, and different income groups.
- Priorities: What is the government prioritizing with this policy? Is it efficiency over equity? Growth over sustainability?
- Pros & Cons: This is the foundation, but it must be balanced and well-reasoned.
3. Use the Perfect Six-Paragraph Structure
This blueprint ensures you hit every criterion within the 800-word limit.
- Introduction (~100 words): Briefly state the article's context, define key terms, and explicitly state your chosen Key Concept.
- Diagram: Insert your fully labeled, data-driven diagram.
- Diagram Explanation (~150 words): Explain the mechanics of your diagram step-by-step.
- Application & Analysis (~250 words): Connect the theory from your diagram to the specifics of the article, using quotes and data as evidence.
- Evaluation (~250 words): This is your biggest section. Use the CLASPP framework to critically assess the policy from multiple angles.
- Conclusion (~50 words): Provide a final, concise judgment that links back to your Key Concept.
