Economics Pad

About Economics Pad

A free interactive teaching and learning resource for secondary economics students and their teachers.

Economics Pad exists because no single resource offered what teaching the subject actually requires: a dynamic, interactive space in which the relationships between economic variables can be explored and tested, not just labelled on a static diagram. This site is an attempt to build that space — a pad for economic thought.

The tools are designed primarily for students studying CAIE 0455 iGCSE Economics and CAIE 9708 AS and A-Level Economics, though they are relevant across syllabuses and levels.

What is currently available

Three interactive tools are available now, free and browser-based with no login or installation required.

Supply & Demand

An interactive market equilibrium model, first studied in 0455 iGCSE. Adjust the determinants of supply and demand and observe real-time effects on price and quantity.

AD / AS Model

An interactive macroeconomic model of Keynesian aggregate demand and aggregate supply. This presentation of short and long run AS is especially useful for observing the effects of transitions in spare capacity in the economy.

Custom Diagram Maker

Build your own economics diagram from scratch. Choose curves, label intersections and export as a standalone interactive file. This is intended primarily for educators to build different scenarios across a broad range of economic theory and be able to give these to students as interactive models rather than static.

Coming soon

The following features are in development. Content is not yet published but these are the directions the platform is heading.

Coming soon

Scenario Library

Pre-built interactive diagrams showing economic scenarios for 0455 and 9708 students, to help develop A01, A02 and A03 skills.

Coming soon

Student Practice Diagrams

Guided exercises where students move curves in response to economic events, then check their reasoning against a model answer.

Coming soon

Curriculum Resources

Topic-by-topic resources and interactive models tailored to questions for the CAIE 0455 and 9708 specifications, developed and refined with student feedback.

Who built this

Economics Pad was founded and built by Frederick Graham, a teacher of CAIE 0455 iGCSE and 9708 A-Level Economics at the British International School of Bucharest. Frederick holds a First Class degree in Economics (University of Buckingham), a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Economics with Merit (University of Nottingham), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education with QTS (University of Birmingham).

The platform grew out of classroom practice and practitioner research into the use of dynamic interactive tools in secondary education. It is intended as a resource for teachers making interactive teaching materials and for students who want to engage with economics as a living subject.

Supply / Demand Model

Move the sliders for the non-price determinants of demand and supply to shift the curves, click and drag either curve, or grab points A and B to change a curve's slope. Previous positions are kept as faded shadows.

Set your starting position

Move at least one Demand control (slider, drag, or drag point A/B) and one Supply control. Once both have been touched, the original equilibrium is marked as (Q, P) and subsequent moves leave labelled shadows.
○ Demand moved ○ Supply moved
S D Quantity Price
Scenarios

Price Elasticity of Demand (PED)

Drag the blue A and B points on the Demand line to change its slope and recompute PED between them.
—

Factors influencing PED

Move the sliders below to see how each determinant affects the steepness of the demand curve. A steeper curve = more inelastic demand.

Applications of PED

  • Pricing strategy: If demand is inelastic, firms can raise prices to increase revenue. If elastic, cutting prices increases revenue.
  • Taxation: Governments tax goods with inelastic demand (tobacco, alcohol, fuel) to raise revenue without large falls in consumption.
  • Consumer behaviour: Understanding PED helps predict how strongly consumers will react to a price change — essential for market analysis.
  • Example: Airlines charge higher prices during peak seasons knowing demand is inelastic (few alternatives, last-minute travel).

Price Elasticity of Supply (PES)

Drag the red A and B points on the Supply line to change its slope and recompute PES between them.
—

Factors influencing PES

Move the sliders below to see how each determinant affects the steepness of the supply curve. A steeper curve = more inelastic supply.

Applications of PES

  • Market prices: Inelastic supply means price rises cause large revenue gains for producers but output barely changes — common in agriculture and energy.
  • Government subsidies: Subsidies lower production costs, shifting supply right and making it more elastic over time — used in renewable energy policy.
  • Business planning: Firms with elastic supply can respond to booms quickly. Those with inelastic supply risk losing market share during demand surges.
  • Example: Wheat supply is inelastic in the short run (fixed by planting cycles); manufactured goods like smartphones are more elastic as factories can scale.

Supply

non-price determinants of supply

Demand

non-price determinants of demand

Feedback

If you used this in a lesson or for studying, please let me know how you used it so I can work on improvements.

Open feedback form →

AD / AS Model — Full version

Move the sliders for the components of AD and the factors of production for AS to shift the curves. The previous positions are kept as faded grey shadows so you can compare.

Set your starting position

Move at least one AD slider and one AS slider to set where the model begins. Once both have been moved, the original equilibrium will be marked as (Y, P) and subsequent moves will leave labelled shadows.
○ AD moved ○ AS moved
AS AD Real GDP Price Level SPARE CAPACITY INTERMEDIATE FULL CAPACITY
Scenarios

Aggregate Supply

factors of production

Aggregate Demand

AD = C + I + G + (X − M)

Feedback

If you used this in a lesson or for studying, please let me know how you used it so I can work on improvements.

Open feedback form →

Custom Diagram Maker — This tool allows for a variety of curves common in economics to be used to make a wide range of interactive diagrams. We’ll call this the parent HTML as it can get confusing otherwise.

This tool does not calculate values; it labels the point of intersection of curves with the labels you choose. It is a simpler system designed to give maximum flexibility in creating interactive economics diagrams. Points of intersection can also be manually added, labelled and dragged to the correct place (these will not move automatically as the curves are moved). Auto intersect can be toggled on or off.

Axes, curves, and values used to label intersect points are added by the user manually.

Once this is done, you can select “Set initial positions”. When curves are dragged after this, a “ghost” image of the previous curve remains.

You can set the curves and add labels as you like to represent a variety of diagrams such as the Phillips Curve, the Keynesian Cross, IS-LM models, PPC/PPF, budget lines and indifference curves, MRP of labour, and more.

If you set up a diagram as you want it, you can export it as a standalone offline HTML file — we’ll call this the child HTML. The child HTML is a pre-made interactive diagram that retains the majority of the functionality of the parent HTML. It can be reset and edited, and allows you to start from an economics diagram with a starting point you designed.

This is intended as a tool for educators making interactive teaching materials, but may also be useful to students at A-Level and in higher education who want to make interactive diagrams.

Curves
Curve 1
Curve 2
Shape
Curve Label & Colour
Axis, Title & Equilibrium Labels
Intersections

Click chart to place. Hover over a dot and click × to remove it.

History & Ghosts

Position curves freely, then click Set to start recording ghost shadows.

Export

Standalone interactive HTML file.

Drag A or B to reposition curve endpoints · Drag the curve body to move both · Click label to rename

Scenario Library

Coming soon.

Student Practice Diagrams

Coming soon.

Curriculum Resources

Coming soon.

[This page is a mock-up for ideas for the future.]

Resources

Lesson handouts, worksheets and reference material for the topics covered by the interactive model could be available here. (Mock-up — I would replace the placeholders below with my own Drive links, PDFs and embeds.)

Lesson handout

An example of a Google Doc could be embedded directly in the page here. Edits made in Drive would then appear here automatically — nothing to re-upload.

Embedded Google Doc would appear here.

Worksheets & printables

Direct links to PDFs hosted on Google Drive. Set each file’s sharing to “Anyone with the link can view”. [Links below are examples.]

Video walkthroughs

YouTube embeds — I could copy the “Embed” iframe code from any video’s Share menu.

Embedded YouTube video would appear here.

External reading