Basic Concepts & the Economic Problem is one of 9 topics in the Grade 10 Economics CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. Economics is best classified as a:
Social science that studies how scarce resources are used to satisfy unlimited wants
Natural science that studies physical matter and energy
Branch of mathematics with no connection to human behaviour
Purely historical study of past events
Answer: Social science that studies how scarce resources are used to satisfy unlimited wants — Economics studies human behaviour and choices around using limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants, which makes it a social science rather than a natural science.
Easy
2. Which branch of Economics studies the economy as a whole, such as total national income and the overall price level?
Macroeconomics
Microeconomics
Behavioural economics only
Environmental science
Answer: Macroeconomics — Macroeconomics studies aggregate, economy-wide measures such as total national income, overall inflation, and total employment, as opposed to microeconomics, which studies individual households, firms, and markets.
Medium
3. What is the name of the branch of Economics that studies the economic behaviour of individual households, firms, and specific markets?
Answer: Microeconomics — Microeconomics focuses on individual decision-making units, such as a single household's spending or a single firm's pricing, rather than the economy as a whole.
