Edexcel AS/A Level x RegenEcon Mapping.xlsx

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1	Regenerative Economics x Edexcel AS/A Level Economics Mapping
2	This spreadsheet indicates possible footholds in the Edexcel AS/A Level syllabus for Regenerative Economics content Note: This is a living document. More Regenerative Economics content will be added as we develop the work 2024-2025
3	Theme 1: Introduction to markets and market failure
4	AS/A Level Economics Syllabus	Regenerative Economics Textbook Sections	Additional comments

5	1.1 Nature of economics
6	1.1.1 Economics as a social science	1.1.1 The economy and you 1.1.2 The embedded economy model	It might be interesting to contrast the way students' mainstream textbook starts the course, with the way Regenerative Economics starts.
7	1.1.2 Positive and normative economic statements	1.3.2 Values in the economy
8	1.1.3 The economic problem	1.3.3 Human needs 1.2 Ecology and the economy (any/all sections)	You could challenge the scarcity starting point of the course by asking whether human needs/wants are really unlimited. The assumption of scarcity underpins this course's approach to economics, but is contested. Production possibility frontiers also encourage binary thinking. Later, you could challenge students to consider how different the course might look if it started with the concept of sufficiency, rather than scarcity. You could also provide more context about the factors of production by looking more closely at the energy and matter resources needed for production. Subtopic 1.2 has sections that explain basic ecology to help students understand how dependent we are on ecosystems, and the negative impact of our economies on those ecosystems.
9	1.1.4 Production possibility frontiers
10	1.1.5 Specialisation and the division of labour
11	1.1.6 Free market economies, mixed economy and command economy	1.1.2 The embedded economy model 3.2.1 Capitalism: definition and development	You could challenge the language of "free" market economy by helping students understand that markets are interconnected with households, commons and the state in the economy and that they are embedded in wider social and ecological systems. You could use 3.2.1 to help students distinguish between capitalism and markets, and understand the development of capitalism through enclosure, colonisation, and human-nature dualism.
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13	1.2 How markets work
14	1.2.1 Rational decision making	1.3.1 Human nature	You could challenge/enrich the assumptions human nature underlying the market models
15	1.2.2 Demand	3.1.1 The market as a system 3.1.2 Demand and supply 3.1.4 Uses and limitations of markets	Regenerative Economics does not use linear demand/supply analysis. Instead the materials use causal loops with balancing and reinforcing feedback to illustrate the relationships between demand/supply, price and non-price factors. This approach gives students a more complex and dynamic understanding of markets. It is, however, a significant departure from the syllabus so must be used carefully, especially as students can lose many marks on the exam for nitpicky graphing errors. Here is a research paper that compares using linear supply and demand analysis with causal loop diagrams with secondary students.
16	1.2.3 Price, income and cross elasticities of demand	3.1.3 Elasticity	The Regenerative Economics materials on elasticity introduce students to the concept and the different elasticity measurements, but spend most of the time on PED. This is because PED is so connected with power dynamics between producers and consumers in markets, and power is one of the key concepts running through the course.
17	1.2.4 Supply	3.1.2 Demand and supply	See comment above about the approach to markets
18	1.2.5 Elasticity of supply
19	1.2.6 Price determination	3.1.2 Demand and supply	See comment above about the approach to markets
20	1.2.7 Price mechanism	3.1.2 Demand and supply	See comment above about the approach to markets
21	1.2.8 Consumer and producer surplus
22	1.2.9 Indirect taxes and subsidies
23	1.2.10 Alternative views of consumer behaviour	1.3.1 Human nature
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25	1.3 Market failure
26	1.3.1 Types of market failure	3.1.4 Uses and limitations of markets 3.1.5 Ecologically embedded markets 3.1.6 Socially embedded markets	Regenerative economics does not use a market failure approach and models to discuss the impacts of market activities on social and ecological systems. This is because the models and approach perpetuate the degenerative understanding of humans as separate from nature. Calling social and ecological impacts 'externalities' only makes sense if you are using a systems boundary narrowly drawn around markets as your focus of concern. This course uses a wider systems boundary, assuming from the start that markets are one of several economic provisioning institutions, all of which are socially and ecologically embedded.
27	1.3.2 Externalities
28	1.3.3 Public goods
29	1.3.4 Information gaps
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31	1.4 Government intervention
32	1.4.1 Government intervention in markets		This is covered in Topic 5: State in Regenerative Economics - will be published in early 2025
33	1.4.2 Government failure
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