2026-W18
Students struggle most with AD shifts from taxes, exchange rates and investment
Aggregate quiz activity this week shows strong performance on long‑run supply shifts but consistent errors when predicting short‑run AD responses to taxes, currency moves and falling investment expectations.
Published May 10, 2026
Attempts (week)
311
Unique learners
50
Average score
75.9%
Overall question accuracy
74.0%
Average question time
514 s
1. Weekly Overview
AD-shift questions caused the largest drop in accuracy this week.
Across 311 attempts by 50 learners, accuracy averaged ~74% but several macroeconomics items (unit 3.2 and 3.5) produced much lower correct rates — especially a question on indirect taxes (≈15% correct). At the same time, students consistently answered LRAS and supply-side shift items correctly.
Student takeaway: Focus revision on how indirect taxes, currency appreciation and falling investment affect aggregate demand in the AD–SRAS–LRAS framework.
2. Key Patterns
Main Insights
Great strength: supply‑side / LRAS questions
Items about LRAS shifts (e.g., effects of immigration or weakening institutions) show near‑perfect correctness, indicating clear understanding of long‑run productive capacity concepts.
Advice: Keep practising supply-side examples and link them to policy timelines (what is short run vs long run).
Biggest weakness: indirect taxes and their macro effects
The question about raising indirect taxes had the lowest correct rate (≈15%), a clear signal that many learners confuse how tax changes feed through to AD, prices and output in the short run.
Advice: Work through AD diagrams showing consumer spending falls after higher indirect taxes; practice labelling the direction of AD shifts and short‑run price/output effects.
Patterns of confusion: short‑run vs long‑run policy effects
Several items with low correct rates relate to short‑run AD responses to currency appreciation, investment expectations and fiscal stimulus timing — students often mix up which curve shifts first and whether effects are temporary or permanent.
Advice: Practice paired comparisons (short‑run vs long‑run) for the same shock: draw AD–SRAS–LRAS before and after, and state the expected price and output changes.
3. Revision Plan
Priority Areas
Indirect taxes and aggregate demand · 3.2
Lowest correct rate (≈15%) on an indirect‑tax item; common confusion about how consumption and AD respond.
Action: Draw AD shifts for tax rises, do 5–8 practice diagram questions and summarise short‑run price/output outcomes in one paragraph.
Exchange rates and net exports · 3.2
Many incorrect answers on appreciation effects (imports/exports and AD), indicating incomplete mental models.
Action: Practice FX market shifts and then map the effect into AD; use two worked examples: appreciation and depreciation.
Business expectations & investment — AD implications · 3.2
Low accuracy where worsening expectations reduce investment and AD; important for policy‑response questions.
Action: Do short exercises linking investment decisions to AD shifts and fiscal/monetary policy responses (past paper style).
AD–SRAS timing for monetary policy (QE / sustained rate changes) · 3.5
Confusion about which curve moves first in response to QE or prolonged high rates.
Action: Compare diagrams for one‑off QE vs prolonged monetary tightening and write stepwise explanations for curve movement.
4. Question Evidence
Featured Questions
Most Wrong Questions
| Question | Topic | Unit | Attempts | Correct | Wrong | Avg Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If the government raises indirect taxes (such as VAT) on most goods and services, how is the economy affected? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 26 | 15.4% | 84.6% | 14.8 s |
| How is aggregate demand affected if business expectations about future profits worsen sharply, leading firms to postpone or cancel investment projects? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 45 | 35.6% | 64.4% | 35.4 s |
| What happens if the domestic currency appreciates significantly, making imports cheaper and exports more expensive to foreigners? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 65 | 36.9% | 63.1% | 1.0 min |
Most Correct Questions
| Question | Topic | Unit | Attempts | Correct | Wrong | Avg Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| If the government implements austerity measures and cuts public spending on welfare benefits and public sector wages, what happens to aggregate demand in the short run? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 54 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 1.1 min |
| How is the LRAS curve affected if a country experiences a sustained increase in net immigration of skilled workers, expanding the available labour force? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 36 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 14.3 s |
| How is the LRAS curve affected if institutions weaken over time, for example through rising corruption and weaker enforcement of property rights? | Macroeconomics | 3.2 | 43 | 100.0% | 0.0% | 11.8 s |
Most Time Spent Questions
| Question | Topic | Unit | Attempts | Correct | Wrong | Avg Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A trade dispute leads China to reduce its imports of US soybeans. In the foreign exchange market for the US dollar (USD) against the Chinese yuan, what shift occurs on the diagram? | Global Economy | 4.5 | 11 | 81.8% | 18.2% | 752.2 min |
| Which of the following is a non-price determinant of supply? | Microeconomics | 2.2 | 9 | 44.4% | 55.6% | 329.5 min |
| What is the likely economic effect when a major natural disaster destroys factories and infrastructure? | Macroeconomics | 3.7 | 14 | 35.7% | 64.3% | 300.7 min |
5. Conclusion
Target AD mechanics this week
Start with focused diagram practice: redraw AD–SRAS–LRAS for the tax, exchange‑rate and investment shocks highlighted above. Spend 20–30 minutes on 3 worked examples (short vs long run) and check answers against past paper markschemes.
Note: This weekly report is automatically generated and may contain mistakes. Always double-check key points before using them for revision.
This report summarises anonymized aggregate quiz activity and question‑level statistics; no individual student data is shown.