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How to study for Economics (Question, not answer... YET!) (2 Viewers)

SweatyAsian#1

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Pretty much summed up in the title, like what's the best way you guys study for Economics because reading the Dixon textbook and completing 3 questions really isn't the biggest motivation lol. Like, what's the best way to study ahead for Economics?

Appreciate you :)
 

sab13562

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Like they said, read the textbook. It will cover everything the exam has to offer. Unless you want to update it with more recent stats for stuff like interest rates, exchange rates, inflation and so on.
 

SweatyAsian#1

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From experience, what's the best Economics Textbook to study content? Dixon or Tim Riley? Like which ones are better at... (E.g.: Learning new content, practice questions/applying knowledge, etc.)
 

nourished.

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From experience, what's the best Economics Textbook to study content? Dixon or Tim Riley? Like which ones are better at... (E.g.: Learning new content, practice questions/applying knowledge, etc.)
Tim Riley is more comprehensive, Tim Dixon is easier to understand.

The best resource is someone else's notes, though. Read that first, and then read the textbook. You'll read and absorb 2x faster. Works 100% of the time, 80% of the time.
 

SweatyAsian#1

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I have both textbooks, both are good but Dixon is better.
Which one is better at explaining content? Which one is better at providing in-depth analysis of current-world problems? (Like, I may sound contradicting but there has to be a significant difference between 2 textbooks, with thousands of dollars spent every year reproducing the same ratio of each lol).
 

sab13562

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Which one is better at explaining content? Which one is better at providing in-depth analysis of current-world problems? (Like, I may sound contradicting but there has to be a significant difference between 2 textbooks, with thousands of dollars spent every year reproducing the same ratio of each lol).
Dixon. It also has an extension appendix at the back so go ahead and read that too.
 

nourished.

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Which one is better at explaining content? Which one is better at providing in-depth analysis of current-world problems? (Like, I may sound contradicting but there has to be a significant difference between 2 textbooks, with thousands of dollars spent every year reproducing the same ratio of each lol).
Riley is better at providing in-depth analysis. Pretty much no holes in its content, as far as I'm concerned. Dixon is better at explaining the content. The appendix section is really good, too.
 

nourished.

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I've started making notes using the Riley textbook but I'm kinda struggling, because I'm pretty much copying everything. I can't figure out what lines are important and what's not because everything sounds important :/ Could you provide some advice on how to go about making notes
This a good question, and I don't think there's one right answer.

From a psychology standpoint, you don't have the prerequisite knowledge to distinguish between the content you should and shouldn't remember. So, for the time being, just get a solid set of notes down first. Stick to a budget of 20 pages per topic. From there, do a few questions. You'll quickly get a feel for what is important and what isn't. Then, cut those 20 pages to about 5.
 

SweatyAsian#1

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This a good question, and I don't think there's one right answer.

From a psychology standpoint, you don't have the prerequisite knowledge to distinguish between the content you should and shouldn't remember. So, for the time being, just get a solid set of notes down first. Stick to a budget of 20 pages per topic. From there, do a few questions. You'll quickly get a feel for what is important and what isn't. Then, cut those 20 pages to about 5.
I'd say 10 in total for each topic since you need to include diagrams, stats, etc. instead of just words on a page which is quite demotivating. And its the HSC, why cut down a content-heavy subject to 5 pages lol. Can't see it happening for me anyways.
 

notme123

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I'd say 10 in total for each topic since you need to include diagrams, stats, etc. instead of just words on a page which is quite demotivating. And its the HSC, why cut down a content-heavy subject to 5 pages lol. Can't see it happening for me anyways.
tbh eco can be cut to a page per topic ngl theres not really that much content if youre smart about it because eveything links.

Pretty much summed up in the title, like what's the best way you guys study for Economics because reading the Dixon textbook and completing 3 questions really isn't the biggest motivation lol. Like, what's the best way to study ahead for Economics?

Appreciate you :)
also with the reiley dont get bogged down trying to remember australias gdp growth rate or net liabilities every year and every single cash rate decision during which month over the past cuz that's just a complete waste of time and space. just make up ballpark stats and know the most recent stuff like 0.1% cash rate and -7 -> 3.4% gdp maybe one from the mining boom as well. if you want to know trends, the rba chart pack is your best friend because all their graphs are amazing and are often used in the hsc
 

nourished.

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I'd say 10 in total for each topic since you need to include diagrams, stats, etc. instead of just words on a page which is quite demotivating. And its the HSC, why cut down a content-heavy subject to 5 pages lol. Can't see it happening for me anyways.
So, that's sort of the point of cutting it down. Otherwise you're still in this limbo of trying to put everything into your notes. And, that's not the goal.

tbh eco can be cut to a page per topic ngl theres not really that much content if youre smart about it because eveything links.
Exactly. A lot of the same stats can be recycled. Key concepts + key stats is the takeaway here.
 

SweatyAsian#1

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Wait, we are on different pages lol. I'm talking about syllabus notes, like attacking each dot point and answering it with relevant notes from the textbook. How would you take notes in the minimalistic style?
 

nourished.

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Wait, we are on different pages lol. I'm talking about syllabus notes, like attacking each dot point and answering it with relevant notes from the textbook. How would you take notes in the minimalistic style?
Good question.

So, your first set of notes will do just that. What you'll find after completing them is that there's a lot of overlap. You'll also realise that not all the content is actually important. And you'll get a feel of this when you attempt a few papers. The end result is that your 5 pager cheat sheets aren't meant to summarise the dotpoints, but rather the most important concepts.
 

SweatyAsian#1

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Good question.

So, your first set of notes will do just that. What you'll find after completing them is that there's a lot of overlap. You'll also realise that not all the content is actually important. And you'll get a feel of this when you attempt a few papers. The end result is that your 5 pager cheat sheets aren't meant to summarise the dotpoints, but rather the most important concepts.
Very nice, thank you.
 

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is dixon's australia in the global economy workbook good? i'm thinking of buying it
 

notme123

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You'll also realise that not all the content is actually important. And you'll get a feel of this when you attempt a few papers.
Exactly, Reiley includes an impact of financing a deficit called 'international crowding out' which I didn't find in Dixon, and it's basically just about how issuing bonds to foreign investors increase demand for aud so it appreciates in value and reduces competitiveness on elastic exports like services but by no means is it one of the primary impacts which are obviously higher liabilities leading to NPY deficit, a sudden shift in confidence and potentially debt trap (and downgrading AAA rating). It's good to include but such a concept he spends a paragraph on can be minimized to a simple sentence. keep tabs on little things like that though, you can expand on the details in the exam so you don't get overwhelmed learning pages of notes.
 

Hiheyhello

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is dixon's australia in the global economy workbook good? i'm thinking of buying it
yessss it’s so so good

although u rlly need to answer Qs regularly (at the start of the year i would do like 2 hours on saturday mornings) or it soughta gets on top of you
 

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