France Terminale Economic and Social Sciences (specialty)
Chapters: 3
1. Economics
Economic growth · International trade and production · Fighting unemployment · Financial crises and regulation · Economic policy in Europe
- Economic Growth: How a Country Makes More Each Year – Economic growth is a rise in a country's real GDP: the value of all final goods and services it makes in a year, after removing the effect of price rises. The growth rate is the percentage change in real GDP. GDP per head tells us the average output per person. Growth goes up and down around a trend in the economic cycle, creating output gaps. Growth comes from more and better resources (workers, skills, machines, technology) and brings higher incomes and jobs, but can also cause pollution, inequality and inflation.
- International Trade – International trade is buying and selling goods and services across the boundaries of countries. Selling abroad is export; buying from abroad is import. It helps nations (foreign exchange, growth, jobs) and firms (profit, new markets). Exports and imports follow fixed steps and need many documents, such as the letter of credit and bill of lading. The WTO (1995) makes trade rules and works to cut trade barriers.
- International Trade: Basis, Balance, WTO and Ports – International trade is the exchange of goods and services between countries. It began with barter, grew along routes like the Silk Route, passed through the cruel slave trade and colonial trade, and expanded with industry. Countries trade because they differ in resources, population, development, foreign investment and transport. Balance of trade compares exports and imports. Trade can be bilateral or multilateral; free trade lowers barriers, while dumping sells goods abroad below cost. The WTO sets global rules, regional blocs group neighbours, and ports of many types act as gateways.
- Unemployment: Meaning, Rate, Types, Costs and Cures – A person is unemployed when they have no job, are able to work, and are actively looking for work. The labour force is everyone who is employed plus everyone who is unemployed. The unemployment rate is the unemployed divided by the labour force, times 100. Economists sort unemployment by its cause: frictional (moving between jobs), structural (skills or places no longer match the jobs), cyclical (a slump in total demand) and seasonal (work only in some months). Unemployment costs the person income, costs the country lost output and tax, and can harm health and society. Governments fight it with spending and interest-rate policy for cyclical unemployment and with training, information and mobility for the other types. Some unemployment always remains; the lowest sustainable level is called the natural rate.
- Financial Crises and Regulation – A financial crisis is a sudden collapse of trust in banks or markets. It often starts with a speculative bubble: prices rise far above real value because people buy only to resell. When the bubble bursts, investors and banks lose money, depositors panic, and failures spread from bank to bank. Banks then stop lending, firms cut output and jobs, and the crisis reaches the real economy. The 1930s Great Depression and the 2008 crisis are the famous examples. Supervisors reduce the risk with rules such as a minimum solvency ratio (capital as a share of risky assets).
- The European Union – The European Union (EU) is a group of 27 European countries that share some decisions and laws. It began in 1951, when six countries pooled coal and steel to make war between them impossible. It grew step by step into a single market where goods, people, services and money move freely. The Commission proposes laws, the Parliament and the Council pass them, and the Court of Justice makes sure they are applied. 21 members share the euro. The United Kingdom left in 2020.
2. Sociology and political science
Social structure of France · School and social destiny · Social mobility · Changes in work and employment · Political engagement
- Social Stratification – Social stratification means that a society ranks groups of people in layers (strata). Higher layers get more money, power and respect. The four main systems are slavery, estate, caste and class. Class depends on income, wealth, occupation and education. Functionalists say unequal rewards help society; conflict thinkers say they help the rich stay on top. Moving between layers is called social mobility.
- Sociology of Education: What Schools Do and Why Results Differ – Sociologists ask what school does for society and why some groups do better than others. Functionalists say education builds shared values, teaches job skills and sorts people into roles by merit. Marxists say school copies the unequal workplace through a hidden curriculum, so class inequality is passed on. Results differ by social class, gender and ethnicity because of home factors (money, cultural capital, language, parents' help) and school factors (labelling, setting and streaming, the self-fulfilling prophecy, pupil subcultures). Governments use policy to shape schools: selection, marketisation, privatisation and equality measures. Getting more pupils into school (massification) does not by itself give everyone equal chances (democratisation).
- Social Mobility – Social mobility means moving from one social layer to another. It can be between parent and child (intergenerational) or within one life (intragenerational). The result can be upward, downward, or staying in the same layer (reproduction). Sociologists measure it with mobility tables. Some movement happens because the job structure changes (structural mobility); the rest tells us how fair chances are (social fluidity). School, family money, culture, contacts and the economy all help explain who moves.
- The Labour Market – The labour market is where workers sell their time and skills and employers buy them. Firms demand labour because people buy their products (derived demand). Workers supply labour, and more people offer work at higher wages. The wage settles where demand meets supply. A minimum wage above that level can raise pay but may cut jobs. Trade unions, a single big employer (monopsony), skills, discrimination and new technology all change wages and jobs.
- Civic Engagement: How Citizens Take Part – Civic engagement means taking part in the life of your community and country. It is like a ladder: stay informed, vote, join groups, volunteer, then organise and campaign. Citizens vote in elections to choose representatives and in referendums to answer one question directly. They join political parties (which aim to govern), trade unions (which defend workers) and associations or NGOs (which work for a shared cause). Between elections they sign petitions, volunteer, mediate local conflicts and campaign online, checking facts first. Whistleblowers reveal hidden wrongdoing, and a free press and public opinion turn it into action. Organising a community event shows all these skills: planning, teamwork and responsibility.
3. Joint perspectives
Inequality and social justice · Environmental policy
- Income Inequality – Income inequality means income is shared unevenly between people. Economists rank people from poorest to richest, split them into five groups of 20% (quintiles) and compare their shares. The Lorenz curve plots the cumulative share of income against the cumulative share of people; the further it bends from the straight line of equality, the more unequal the society. The Gini coefficient = A ÷ (A + B) turns this into one number between 0 (perfect equality) and 1 (one person has everything). Wealth (what you own) is usually more unequal than income (what you earn). Causes include differences in skills, education, inherited wealth, discrimination and technology. Governments reduce inequality with progressive taxes, benefits, minimum wages and public services such as free schooling and health care.
- Environmental Policy: How Societies Protect Nature – Environmental policy is the set of laws, taxes, rules and agreements a society uses to protect air, water, land, climate and living things. It is needed because pollution is an external cost: the polluter does not pay for the harm done to others, and shared resources (air, rivers, oceans) get overused. Main tools: regulation (limits, standards, bans, environmental impact assessment), market tools (pollution taxes, cap and trade permits, subsidies for clean options), protected areas, and information (labels, reporting). Key principles: polluter pays, prevention, precaution and sustainable development. People have rights to a healthy environment and duties to protect it. Policy works at local, national and global levels, because pollution crosses every boundary. Societies balance three choices: exploit, preserve or protect (use wisely).