2023 AQA A-level ECONOMICS 7136/2 Paper 2 National and International Economy Question Paper & Mark scheme (Merged) June 2023 [VERIFIED] A-level ECONOMICS

2023 AQA A-level ECONOMICS 7136/2 Paper 2 National and International Economy Question Paper & Mark scheme (Merged) June 2023 [VERIFIED] A-level ECONOMICS Paper 2 National and International Economy Monday 22 May 2023 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours Materials For this paper you must have: • an AQA 12-page answer book • a calculator. Instructions • Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Pencil should only be used for drawing. • Write the information required on the front cover of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7136/2. • In Section A, answer EITHER Context 1 OR Context 2. • In Section B, answer ONE essay. Information • The marks for questions are shown in brackets. • The maximum mark for this paper is 80. • There are 40 marks for Section A and 40 marks for Section B. Advice • You are advised to spend 1 hour on Section A and 1 hour on Section B. IB/G/Jun23/E6 7136/2 2 Section A Answer EITHER Context 1 OR Context 2. EITHER Context 1 Total for this context: 40 marks Corporation tax in Ireland Study Extracts A, B and C and then answer all parts of Context 1 which follow. Extract A Figure 1: Corporation tax rates (%) in selected Figure 2: Macroeconomic performance European nations, 2021 indicators for selected European nations, 2021 France Ireland Spain GDP at current prices ($bn) Exports ($bn) Inflation (%) 1.6 2.4 3.1 Unemployment (thousands) Labour force 31.0 2.5 23.3 (millions) Note: Main tax rates only. Some figures rounded. Source: Official statistics, 2022 Extract B: Irish corporation tax Ireland has dropped its low-tax policy of the past 18 years, which had helped to persuade some of the world’s biggest companies, including Google and Facebook, to site their European headquarters in Ireland. Countries who are members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), have agreed to a minimum corporation tax rate of 15%. Initially, Ireland was one of nine countries that refused to join the scheme but they have now all 5 agreed to do so. The deal brings an end to the country’s 12.5% corporation tax rate that has applied since January 2003, which has been criticised in other EU countries and the UK, where higher corporation tax rates have applied. The new tax, which will be limited to firms with annual global revenues of over €750m, will come into force in 2023. According to some estimates, it will cost 10 the Irish government between € 800m and € 2bn a year in lost tax revenue. Multinational corporations (MNCs) located in Ireland and elsewhere, employing up to 500 000 staff, could be affected. Over the years, as a consequence of its low corporate tax policy, Ireland has attracted an estimated 1000 MNCs in the technology, finance and pharmaceutical sectors, including Pfizer, 15 Intel, Yahoo, LinkedIn, TikTok, Apple, IBM and Twitter. Such is the importance of MNCs to the Irish economy, that figures released in May showed that just 100 companies accounted for almost 80% of government tax revenue. The figures exclude those sectors closed due to the lockdown, including hospitality and travel, but showed Ireland’s reliance on MNCs for employment and tax revenue. In 2020, about 32% of all jobs in Ireland were in MNCs and those 20 employees contributed 49% of all taxes on income. Source: News reports, 2021 IB/G/Jun23/7136/2 3 Extract C: Extra tax revenue? According to figures published by the EU Tax Observatory, an independent research group, Ireland could collect an extra €12.4bn in corporation tax under the 15% global minimum corporation tax rate. The group stated that Ireland should not be that concerned about MNCs leaving the country. The biggest blow to Ireland’s low-tax regime came in 2015 when, under pressure from the EU, tax avoidance schemes known as the “double Irish” were made illegal. 5 Under this scheme multinationals paid as little as 1% tax on their profits, a fraction of the 12.5% headline corporation tax rate. The argument that the Irish Government would raise more tax revenue is simple: if all OECD members have a common minimum corporation tax rate, then global MNCs would not move to where taxation is lowest, and would just pay more tax in the countries in which they are 10 located. The report finds developing and low-income countries will benefit less than more-economically-developed countries as most MNCs operate in high-income countries. High economic growth rates allowed Ireland to run a budget surplus in 2018 and 2019. However, Ireland is now running a large budget deficit, made worse by the pandemic, and any additional government revenue would be welcomed. Ireland also has an ageing population 15 and could use the money to pay for pensions, social care and improved welfare. Source: News reports, 2021 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 Using the data in Extract A (Figure 1), calculate the difference between Ireland’s corporation tax rate and the mean corporation tax rate of the other five European nations. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2 marks] Explain how the data in Extract A (Figure 2), show that Ireland’s economy performed better than the economies of France and Spain in 2021. [4 marks] Extract C (line 13) states: ‘High economic growth rates allowed Ireland to run a budget surplus in 2018 and 2019.’ With the help of a diagram, explain how high economic growth could help to create a budget surplus. [9 marks] Extract B (lines 1–3) states: ‘Ireland has dropped its low-tax policy of the past 18 years, which had helped to persuade some of the world’s biggest companies, including Google and Facebook, to site their European headquarters in Ireland.’ Using the data in the extracts and your knowledge of economics, assess the view that a rise in Ireland’s corporation tax rate is likely to have a damaging effect on its macroeconomic performance. [25 marks] IB/G/Jun23/7136/2 Turn over ► 4 Do not answer Context 2 if you have answered Context 1. OR Context 2 Total for this context: 40 marks Quantitative easing in the UK Study Extracts D, E and F and then answer all parts of Context 2 which follow. Extract D Figure 3: Cumulative value of quantitative easing in the UK Source: Bank of England, 2022 Figure 4: Macroeconomic performance indicators for the UK, averages, 2006 to 2021 –2009 –2013 –2017 –2021 Economic 0.1 1.8 2.5 0.4 growth rate (%) CPI inflation 2.6 3.3 1.2 2.0 rate (%) Unemployment 6.0 7.9 5.2 4.2 rate (%) Balance of payments on current account –3.3 –3.3 –4.8 –3.1 (% of GDP) Source: ONS, 2022 Extract E: Unconventional monetary policy? Since March 2009, an experiment has been underway in the UK. The Bank of England reduced Bank Rate to almost zero and introduced a new policy to the UK, known as quantitative easing (QE). Back then, financial markets around the world were in crisis and banks in the UK decreased lending, reducing the availability of credit for households and firms. This damaged the real economy and created high unemployment. 5 Faced with these problems, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to cut Bank Rate to 0.5%, down from 5% in October 2008, but this was not enough on its own. Emergency meetings with the Chancellor at the time, Alistair Darling, led to the use of unconventional monetary policy in the form of QE. Initially, the Bank of England bought bonds worth £75bn but soon began to purchase more. 10 QE was originally intended to be an emergency measure but has remained in place. The total spent on buying government bonds under QE has been expanded repeatedly, reaching £895bn, with the latest round coming during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the fact that the Bank of England has continued increasing its bond purchases, and that interest rates remain close to zero, indicate that QE may not have been as successful as was hoped. 15 Andrew Sentance, an economist who was on the MPC and who helped draw up the plan, said that financial markets in March 2009 pointed to Bank Rate returning to 3% by 2011. He also stated that he didn’t think anybody on the MPC believed that QE was anything other than an emergency measure. In some respects, the policy worked wonders. The UK enjoyed a strong recovery from the 20 2008 crash and had the longest run of unbroken quarterly growth of any major economy. UK unemployment peaked at 8.5%, compared to 10% in the US and 12.1% in the eurozone. It then dropped to 3.8% before the pandemic, the lowest rate since the mid-1970s.