[0:00]Hello, Ed Excel students, the video I know you've been waiting for. These are hot topic areas for you guys to weigh up in your revision. We're talking for paper one, yes, but if any of these topic areas don't feature significantly in paper one, they could also feature heavily in paper three. Your job is just to add weight to these topics in your revision. An extra 10-15% of your revision time devoted towards these topic areas is my recommendation, but not disregarding any other parts of the course. You want to be revising everything, whereby if these topic areas feature, great, you're laughing. You've got the knowledge there. You can smash these essays out the park if they do feature. But hey, even if they don't, you're still revising everything else, whereby you can ace those essays regardless. For these topic areas, we're talking not just 25 markers, but even data response essays. Make sure you listen carefully to all of this coming. And note, guys, that this is one video of many in my revision for 2026 exams playlist, make sure you're watching all the videos in there. They are geared to help you perform at the highest possible level in your exams, so here we go, hot topic number one. First is market structures, give this good weight in your revision with a particular focus on perfect competition or just highly competitive markets generally, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. But also revise price discrimination well, as a topic area on its own, yes, there's been a big rise in the amount of firms using price discrimination. But also revise it as a major con of a highly competitive market where very competitive firms might take profiteering to too far a level using price discrimination. The rise of drip pricing and surge pricing in the UK has been quite explicit, quite obvious, and might feature as an exam question. Linked to this is how in the last couple of years, businesses have been really struggling in the UK, facing significantly higher costs and also falling demand. Many firms have had to shut down given how tough this climate has been for them. So understanding the shutdown condition, more generally why a lot of businesses have had to shut down, um, but also the impacts of business closures, whether there is a need for government intervention to help businesses out in this very tough climate. All of that is good to add to your revision this year. Next is the topic area of government intervention, but specifically within market structures. Definitely revise this well. It's an Edexcel favorite and usually features in section B, paper one, but could be a 25 marker as well. There are four different aspects to this topic area, the regulation side of it, privatization and deregulation as market-based alternatives, but also nationalization. If it was me, I'd focus a little bit more on regulation and nationalization. Nationalization because it's a major theme at the moment in the UK, linked in particular to our water companies. Our private profit-motivated water companies have been dumping raw sewage into our rivers, oceans and lakes. It's been a national scandal them doing that as a cost-cutting measure to avoid them having to invest in appropriate sewage infrastructure to treat this sewage properly. It has been a massive environmental market failure and yes, absolutely, a national scandal, but also many companies, most notably Thames Water, have been facing severe financial difficulties. So a big talking point whether our water companies need to be nationalized, but also other themes. Rail has been re-nationalized in the UK, various steel plants have been nationalized. Uh, we also have a nationalized renewable energy company, Great British Energy. So nationalization, a major talking point, a major discussion point at the moment, knowing the pros and cons of that, excellent in your revision this year, could easily feature as a big essay question. And regulation, there have been many markets in the UK that the competition and markets authority, the CMA, have been investigating and regulating that could easily feature in exams this year, whether it's section B, uh, paper one, your data response section, or whether a 25 marker in section C, we need to be ready.
[4:03]For me, most notably, the UK vet market has clearly not been working in the public interest, investigated for two years by this CMA. And as of three weeks ago, lots of regulations announced to try and get this market working more favorably for pet owners, for consumers, more generally. So, knowing a bit about that case study is a worthwhile recommendation. We've also had lots of regulation coming in the UK and in the EU to deal with the monopoly abuses of large tech companies, know what those regulations have been. We've also had investigation and regulation within the UK baby formula market. We've seen it with Ticketmaster given their massive monopoly power in the eventing space with tickets there. We've seen the extension of windfall taxation on the profits of energy manufacturers, extended, actually, that windfall tax as of late. We've also seen notable mergers and takeovers. So very recently the takeover of Warner Brothers by Paramount, a bit too recent to come up in exams this year, but good to know about it as a general example. We also saw in late 2024, December 2024, a massive merger between Vodafone and three in the mobile phone network space. What was already a very concentrated oligopoly is now become even more concentrated. So knowing about that merger, very interesting case study, the pros and cons of that merger is worthwhile. Actually, that was a merger, I was very surprised was allowed to go ahead by the CMA. And that takes me to my next theme, which is how the CMA in the UK, but also the EU competition Commission, have been deregulated, whereby they are now allowed to allow for more mergers and takeovers to go ahead. Basically, for their remit to become more business-friendly, understanding why that has occurred, and what the potential pros and cons of that could be is again, great to add to your revision. So for all of this, you want to know a bit about these case studies, yes, but more generally, you want to know what the justifications are for intervention, what the intentions are of regulation, and what the policies have been or could be to improve how these markets work. That will be excellent revision. Next is the labor market. When questions come up on the labor market, they're often tied to major themes in the UK. And there are some significant themes that could easily be paper one questions, but also here, paper three questions as well. For example, the role of trade unions in organizing strikes, so the pros and cons of trade unions that have been very active in the UK as of really 2022. But also how they've been organizing strikes, so knowing the pros and cons of strikes well, again, paper one and paper three, perfect material right there. But also the role of monopsony power and how public sector pay has been restricted in the UK as of late, given that the government is a monopsony employer. Another major theme is how the Labour Party have been imposing various labor market regulations over the last year and a half or so to help protect workers. Regulations such as day one rights to sick pay and parental leave, banning fire, re-hire practices, banning zero hours contracts, regulations that have burdened businesses quite significantly. So understanding the rationale behind those regulations, the impacts of them, the pros and cons basically of them is good to add to your revision, labor market themes there for you. And lastly, market failure, not last because it's less significant or anything. This is another huge topic area that you must weigh up in your revision. We're talking paper one, we're also talking very significant for paper three. And there are loads of themes out there in the UK and globally that examiners can latch onto and ask you big essay questions about. We need to be ready for market failure. Here are some major themes that you should be revising. On the negative externality side, we're thinking vaping and smoking, how vaping, the imperfect information to that, it's kind of worrying policymakers, the amount of people taking on this habit, is worrying policymakers. And in the UK, we've had a lot of policy introduced to discourage people taking on this habit, in particular the introduction of a vaping tax. We've also seen with smoking calls for complete universal bans on smoking, very interesting there. Globally, of course, we're talking climate change, CO2 emissions, plastic waste, the need for recycling, always good to know about those themes. We've already mentioned, haven't we, in the UK, a national scandal of our water companies dumping raw sewage into our rivers, oceans and lakes. That could be an environmental market failure style question, as opposed to a nationalized question that we talked about before. Unique topical themes, the rise of online gambling, sports betting by young people, in particular, is worrying policymakers. There's been policy of late to increase gambling taxation, policies to curb gambling advertisement as well. Also concerns over social media use by children. Um, Australia, New Zealand led, uh, with the banning of social media use for under sixteens. Other European countries have followed, we're talking about doing that in the UK as well. Um, also the rise of over-tourism in major European cities, the negative externalities linked to that, but also housing market related issues linked to that. Um, is the market failure there, and how a lot of these cities have implemented policies to help reduce the amount of tourism that they receive. Uh, but also obesity, a massive UK-based market failure here. There have been extensions to the sugar tax in the UK, calls for a fat tax to be used as well in the UK and implemented. Um, how there have been um increases in alcohol minimum pricing in Scotland. But also with major London-based airports, um, there's been approval of expansions of lots of them, whether with uh new runways or just with larger terminals or new terminals, whatever. So understanding the potential risks of that, negative externalities linked to that, is very, very topical at the moment. On the positive externality side, a major talking point at the moment is child care. And note that there are significant positive externalities to high quality of affordable childcare, in particular, it's parents being able to go back to work after having a child and to contribute back to the economy again. Well, we don't have that in the UK. We're lacking in both ways, so as society, we're losing out on those potential extra welfare gains right there. Uh, but also on the positive externality side, we're thinking health care, but dentistry in particular, in the UK is very hard for people to access affordable NHS-funded dental services. Also tuition fees. Know that university tuition fees, there is a price cap, a maximum price that's applied to them. And because of that, many universities have been facing a funding crisis. There have been talks about internet provision in the UK as well, whether internet should be provided for free by the government for those on low incomes. But also housing market related failures here, this is more on the inequity side, the unfairness side. Uh, and how since COVID, house prices have increased dramatically, but also the rental accommodation market has gone berserk over the last few years, unaffordable for many to access this market. So yes, a market failure based on inequity there. And also, don't forget to revise your public goods well, there are themes to flood defenses, maybe that examiners can ask you questions about. So for all of these themes, you're thinking, what is the type of market failure that's driving the market failure? I've helped you with that. But also apply your own policy solutions of how these market failures could be remedied. That could be a big essay question coming your way this year, then you're revising market failure very well and very smartly. So, there you have it, guys, hot topics for paper one, but also for paper three. If any of these topics don't feature substantially in paper one, they could easily be paper three questions as well. Your job, weigh these topic areas up, but also revise everything else, so that no matter what the question is, you know you can ace it in your exams. So thank you for watching this video, guys. Make sure you watch all the relevant videos in my revision for 2026 exams playlist, crucial stuff there. But we're going to do exactly the same for paper two very soon. Can't wait to see you in that video. Thanks, guys.
