Foundations of Economics

Economics is a subject you learn by doing. Foundations of Economics breaks the mold of a traditional text and becomes a practice-oriented learning system. Each chapter uses a Checklist to focus readers' attention on the most important key concepts. A discrete section introduces each of these core concepts and is immediately followed by a Checkpoint, a full page of practice that applies the concept. The result is a patient, confidence-building approach that prepares readers to use economics in their lives, regardless of what their future career will be.. Introduction: Getting Started; The U.S. and Global Economies; The Economic Problem; Demand and Supply. A Closer Look at Markets: Elasticities of Demand and Supply; Efficiency and Fairness of Markets. How Governments Influence the Economy: Markets in Action; Taxes; Global Markets in Action; Externalities; Public Goods and Common Resources. A Closer Look at Decision Makers: Consumer Choice and Demand; Production and Cost. Prices, Profits, and Industry Performance: Perfect Competition; Monopoly; Monopolistic Competition; Oligopoly Incomes, Uncertainty, and Inequality: Demand and Supply in Factor Markets; Uncertainty and Information; Inequality and Poverty. Monitoring the Macroeconomy: GDP and the Standard of Living; The CPI and the Cost of Living; Jobs and Unemployment. The Real Economy: Potential GDP and the Natural Unemployment Rate; Economic Growth; Investment, Saving, and the Real Interest Rate. The Money Economy: The Monetary System; Money, Interest, and Inflation. Economic Fluctuations: AS-AD and the Business Cycle; Aggregate Expenditure; The Short-Run Policy Tradeoff. Macroeconomic Policy: Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; International Finance.. For all readers interested in economics.