Introduction Demand and supply : the basics of the market economy Market equilibrium and shifts How businesses work Competition and market power Government and the economy The first step into macroeconomics Inflation Growth Business cycles, unemployment, and inflation FIscal policy The financial markets The international trade Technological change Economics of the labor market The distribution of income Delving deeper into microeconomics Delving deeper into macroeconomics Economics of retirement and health care Economics of energy, the environment, and global climate change
This textbook presents the basics of economics with the intention of developing students' economic literacy and focusing on translating economics into an easily understood language. Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. In addition to presenting the basic tools of economics, this volume covers the fundamentals of the markets and the 21st century global market economy. In a market, buyers and sellers come together -- not necessarily in the same place -- to voluntarily exchange goods and services for money. The author also demonstrates the ways in which the possibilities of today's economy are expanding. He explains why businesses are limited in what they can produce by technology and by their past investments in factories, processes, and materials and why whole countries remain poor and thus limited in their economic capabilities