Maya chose a question from Microeconomics: “Explain how the introduction of a per-unit tax on a good can lead to a deadweight loss. Using a diagram, evaluate whether governments should always tax demerit goods.”
On exam day, Maya walked into the hall not with fear, but with familiarity. When she opened Paper 1 and saw a question on indirect taxes and subsidies, she smiled. She had written that exact evaluation point about the regressive nature of taxes three nights ago. Ib Econ Past Papers
The first paper she pulled out was Paper 1, May 2023 (TZ2). The title alone sent a shiver down her spine. She remembered her teacher, Mr. Choudhury, saying, “The past paper is a mirror. It shows you what you actually know, not what you hope you know.” Maya chose a question from Microeconomics: “Explain how
When the timer buzzed, her hand was cramped, but her confidence was not. She compared her answer to the markscheme. She had missed one key point: the role of cross-elasticity of demand for substitutes. A point lost, but a lesson learned. She had written that exact evaluation point about
She began to sketch. Demand and supply curves. A vertical wedge for the tax. The shrinking of consumer and producer surplus. And there it was—the Harberger triangle. Deadweight loss. Not just a term from a glossary, but a real loss of total welfare. She labeled everything: Pc for consumers, Pp for producers, Qt for quantity after tax, Qe for equilibrium.
So she did what any desperate HL student would do: she opened the creaking drawer of her desk, pulled out a thick, dog-eared folder, and began looking into IB Econ past papers.