Advanced Placement high school macroeconomics course
Advanced Placement (AP ) Macroeconomics (also known as AP Macro and AP Macroecon ) is an Advanced Placement macroeconomics course for high school students that culminates in an exam offered by the College Board .
Study begins with fundamental economic concepts such as scarcity , opportunity costs , production possibilities , specialization, comparative advantage , demand , supply , and price determination .
Major topics include measurement of economic performance, national income and price determination, fiscal and monetary policy , and international economics and growth. AP Macroeconomics is frequently taught in conjunction with (and, in some cases, in the same year as) AP Microeconomics as part of a comprehensive AP Economics curriculum, although more students take the former.
Topic outline
Source:[1]
Basic Economic Concepts (5–10%)
Scarcity , choice , and opportunity costs
Production possibilities curve
Comparative advantage , absolute advantage , specialization, and exchange
Demand , supply , and market equilibrium
Macroeconomic issues: business cycle , unemployment , inflation , growth
Economic Indicators and the Business Cycle (12–17%)
Financial Sector (15–20%)
Financial sector :
Long-Run Consequences of Stabilization Policies (20–30%)
Fiscal and monetary policies
Inflation and unemployment
Open Economy: International Trade and Finance (10–13%)
Exam
Multiple Choice (2/3 of Score)
60 questions in 70 minutes
Reflects topic outline above
Example: 3-6 questions on economic growth
Free Response (1/3 of Score)
3 questions in 60 minutes (with 10 minutes of recommended reading and planning time)
Score distribution
The exam was first held in 1989, along with Microeconomics. Grade distributions since 2002 are as follows:
Score
2002[2]
2003[3]
2004[4]
2005[5]
2006[6]
2007[7]
2008[8]
2009[9]
2010[10]
2011[11]
2012[12]
2013[13]
2014[14]
2015[15]
2016[16]
2017[17]
2018[18]
2019[19]
2020[20]
2021[21]
2022[22]
2023[23]
2024[24]
5
14.4%
13.5%
13.0%
14.3%
12.7%
14.1%
14.9%
15.7%
14.4%
13.1%
13.9%
14.6%
16.1%
15.2%
17.4%
17.4%
19.7%
19.1%
19.7%
18.0%
16.4%
17.1%
16%
4
27.7%
23.8%
25.0%
28.9%
23.4%
24.4%
22.7%
25.2%
25.6%
24.0%
23.9%
23.2%
23.2%
22.2%
23.4%
23.3%
22.6%
23.0%
25.0%
19.6%
20.0%
22.9%
21%
3
18.4%
19.2%
17.6%
15.9%
17.4%
16.4%
15.2%
15.8%
15.2%
16.7%
18.0%
16.6%
18.5%
17.1%
16.1%
16.9%
16.2%
16.9%
18.5%
13.7%
15.4%
24.7%
25%
2
22.7%
25.8%
26.0%
16.9%
21.0%
17.2%
19.8%
16.2%
16.6%
18.2%
17.8%
19.1%
17.5%
17.0%
17.0%
15.8%
16.8%
14.9%
16.2%
15.7%
15.1%
21.6%
23%
1
16.8%
17.8%
18.4%
24.0%
25.4%
27.9%
27.5%
27.1%
28.1%
28.0%
26.3%
26.6%
24.7%
28.4%
26.0%
26.6%
24.7%
26.2%
20.5%
32.9%
33.1%
13.7%
15%
% of scores 3 or higher
60.5%
56.5%
55.6%
59.1%
53.6%
55.0%
52.7%
56.7%
55.3%
53.8%
55.8%
54.3%
57.8%
54.6%
57.0%
57.6%
58.5%
58.9%
63.2%
51.3%
51.8%
64.7%
62%
Mean
3.00
2.89
2.88
2.93
2.77
2.80
2.78
2.86
2.82
2.76
2.81
2.80
2.89
2.79
2.89
2.89
2.96
2.94
3.07
2.74
2.71
3.08
Standard deviation
1.32
1.32
1.32
1.41
1.38
1.43
1.44
1.45
1.45
1.42
1.41
1.42
1.42
1.45
1.46
1.46
1.47
1.48
1.42
1.52
1.50
1.29
Number of Students
32,184
38,177
41,265
41,265
52,599
60,116
68,009
73,817
83,146
90,134
99,903
108,219
117,209
126,267
134,638
141,649
146,673
146,091
122,639
124,436
134,413
164,505
Criticism
Tawni Ferrarini, James Gwartney, and John Morton have written that the examination does not adequately cover recent advances in the field: "The AP macroeconomics exam and resources largely reflect the simplistic Keynesian view from the 1960s and 1970s."[25] The College Board updates the AP Macroeconomics curriculum with the guidance of college and high school economics instructors. The most recent update was published in 2022.[1]
See also
References
^ a b "AP Macroeconomics Course and Exam Description Effective Fall 2022" (PDF) . College Board . 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2024 .
^ "2002: Grade Distributions ". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "2003: Grade Distributions ". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "2004: Grade Distributions ". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "2005: Grade Distributions ". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "2006: Grade Distributions ". Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Grade Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ Macroeconomics Score Distributions
^ Macroeconomics Scoring Distributions
^ Macroeconomics Scoring Distributions
^ Macroeconomics Score Distributions
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions" (PDF) . 2017.
^ "2018 Student Score Distributions" (PDF) .
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ "STUDENT SCORE DISTRIBUTIONS" (PDF) . Retrieved June 9, 2021 .
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ "Student Score Distributions " (PDF). Retrieved January 18, 2024.
^ "2024 AP Score Distributions ". Retrieved July 8, 2024.
^ Ferrarini, Tawni H.; Gwartney, James D.; Morton, John S. (January 2011). "Advanced Placement Economics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" . Econ Journal Watch . Retrieved January 11, 2011 .
Study Resources