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Choosing the right articles for your Economics Internal Assessment (IA) is one of the most crucial steps in crafting a high-quality commentary. The articles you select will serve as the foundation of your analysis, so it’s important to ensure they align with IB requirements, and have the potential for insightful economic analysis. In this post, we’ll guide you through the process of selecting the perfect articles for your IA.
How to choose an Economics IA article
Before we dive into the guide for choosing IB Economics articles, we would like to provide you with a quick summary of what these articles actually are. Articles are a key component of the IB Economics Internal Assessment, as they essentially are the subject of the IA. For the Economics IA, students are required to produce three commentaries, each centered around a selected article. In each commentary, the student presents the article at the beginning, and then uses economic theories and graphs to analyze and evaluate the content, demonstrating their understanding of the topic.
We shall now move on to the guide on how to choose IB Economics IA articles.
Start with your interests
Choosing IA articles becomes much easier when you focus on topics that genuinely interest you. When you're passionate or curious about a subject, your analysis naturally becomes more thoughtful and engaging. If you choose articles that revolve around topics that genuinely interest you, you will find it much easier to later write your analysis.
Align your articles with the IB requirements
Remember however that each of your three commentaries must connect to one of the IB Economics Key Concepts: scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence, or intervention. When evaluating potential articles, ensure that the topic clearly links to one of these concepts. For example, an article about rising healthcare costs might relate to equity and economic well-being, while one on trade disputes could tie to interdependence and change. Also, make sure that the articles you choose allow for the use of the economic theories and models you learned about throughout the course.
Cover different syllabus areas
The IB requires each commentary to address a different syllabus area: microeconomics, macroeconomics, international economics, and global economics. Therefore, ensure that the articles you select align with these areas. For instance, a microeconomics article might focus on government-imposed price controls in housing, while a macroeconomics piece could explore a country’s recent GDP growth and unemployment trends. An international economics article might discuss the impact of currency fluctuations on trade, and a global economics piece could examine how climate change policies affect international markets.
Use various, reliable sources
Each article must come from a different source, so choose reputable publications like The Economist, Financial Times, BBC News, or other trusted outlets. Avoid unreliable sources such as personal blogs, social media posts, or advertisements.
Also, remember that your articles must be recent. They must be published within one year of the date you write your commentary.
Select articles that allow for focused analysis
Keep in mind that relevance and depth matter more than length. Shorter articles are often a good choice because they make it easier to stay within the 800-word limit. If you find a longer article with a lot of potential, focus on one specific section.
We hope you found this post helpful. For more useful materials associated with the IB check out the wide variety of IA, EE and TOK exemplars available at Clastify and other guides available on our blog.
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