2

Answer three questions in total.

Section A
One or two of your three questions must be from this section.

1 Singapore government makes it compulsory and free for every Singapore child to be
vaccinated against diseases like poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis before the age
of 12.

(a) Explain the economic justifications for government intervention in the case of vaccination
in Singapore. [10]

(b) Discuss whether compulsory vaccination is the best form of government intervention in the
market for vaccination in Singapore. [15]

2 In recent years, consumers lifestyle has seen a drastic change due to developments in
modern technology such as faster internet connection, mobile software application and
computing devices like smartphones, tablets and computers.

(a) Explain the impact of current developments in modern technology on the markets for
broadband connection and computing devices. [10]

(b) Using the concepts of elasticity of demand, discuss the extent to which retail stores like
Harvey Norman and Sheng Siong should move away from traditional stores towards
online stores to increase their revenue. [15]

3 Globalisation increases the level of competition among firms in a country, thereby making
markets more competitive resulting in increased consumer welfare.

Assess the extent to which globalisation will lead to more competitive markets and increased
consumer welfare. [25]

ACJC2013Preliminary Exam H2EC9732/2

 3

Section B
One or two of your three questions must be from this section.

4 Explain how income inequality could result from the pursuit of economic growth in Singapore
and discuss whether the Singapore government should make adjustments to current policies
taken to achieve economic growth? [25]

5 (a) Explain the factors that could cause a change in the size of the national income multiplier
of a country. [10]

(b) To what extent do you agree with the view that the effectiveness of a fiscal policy is most
dependent on the size of multiplier of the country? [15]

6 (a) Explain how a surge in capital inflow is likely to affect the current account of a country. [10]

(b) Discuss the problems a government is likely to face in achieving a healthy balance of
payments when the country experiences a surge in capital inflow. [15]

ACJC2013Preliminary Exam H2EC9732/2