Cambridge International as and a level Economics Ebook

Scarcity and choice: 
In assessing whether to conserve or 
use resources, scarcity and choice are clearly important 
concepts. The reason why a choice has to be made is 
because resources are limited.
KEY CONCEPT LINK
TOP TIP
Remember that what may have been renewable 
resources, such as fish stocks, may become non-
renewable resources if they are overexploited.
National income statistics
A government measures a country’s total output to 
assess the performance of the country. An economy 
is usually considered to be doing well if its output 
is growing at a sustained and sustainable rate. 
Economic growth has the potential to increase people’s 
living standards. If an economy is growing at a slower 
rate than it is considered capable of, a government is 
likely to introduce policy measures to stimulate the 
economy.
National income
statistics are used to compare 
countries’ economic performance and to give a perspective 
to key economic indicators. For instance, in 2013 the 
output of Turkey increased to US$811.2 billion from 
US$780 billion the previous year and the output of 
Russia increased from US$2.52 trillion to US2.55 trillion. 
National income: 
the total income for an economy.
KEY TERM
SELF-ASSESSMENT TASK 
9.2
The world’s most polluted city
In 2014 the levels of air pollution in Delhi overtook those 
in Beijing, making India’s capital the most polluted city in 
the world. The population of Delhi, which was 22 million 
in 2014, is continuing to grow and this is increasing car 
ownership. Exhaust fumes from cars was the largest 
single contributor to the increase in pollution in the city 
in 2014. The higher pollution level was also contributed 
to by rises in industrial emissions, dust from construction 
sites and smoke from burning rubbish.
Read the feature below and answer the following questions.