Table of Contents

Part I: THE ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING
1. The Economic Approach
2. Some Tools of the Economist
Part II: MARKETS AND GOVERNMENT
3. Demand, Supply, and the Market Process
4. Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions
5. Difficult Cases for the Market, and the Role of Government
6. The Economics of Political Action
Part III: CORE MICROECONOMICS
7. Consumer Choice and Elasticity
8. Costs and the Supply of Goods
9. Price Takers and the Competitive Process
10. Price-Searcher Markets with Low Entry Barriers
11. Price-Searcher Markets with High Entry Barriers
12. The Supply of and Demand for Productive Resources
13. Earnings, Productivity, and the Job Market
14. Investment, the Capital Market, and the Wealth of Nations
15. Income Inequality and Poverty
Part IV: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
16. Gaining from International Trade
Part VI: APPLYING THE BASICS: SPECIAL TOPICS IN ECONOMICS
Special Topic 1. Government Spending and Taxation
Special Topic 2. The Economics of Social Security
Special Topic 3. The Stock Market: Its Function, Performance, and Potential as an Investment Opportunity
Special Topic 4. Keynes and Hayek: Contrasting Views on Sound Economics and the Role of Government
Special Topic 5. The 2020 COVID-19 Recession: Cause, Response, and Implications for the Future
Special Topic 6. The Great Recession of 2008-2009: Causes and Response
Special Topic 7. Lessons from the Great Depression
Special Topic 8. The Economics of Health Care
Special Topic 9. Earnings Differences Between Men and Women
Special Topic 10. Do Labor Unions Increase the Wages of Workers?
Special Topic 11. The Question of Resource Exhaustion
Special Topic 12. Difficult Environmental Cases and the Role of Government
Appendix A. General Business and Economics Indicators for the United States
Appendix B. Answers to Selected Critical Analysis Questions

About the Author

James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University. His writings have been widely published in both professional journals and popular media. He is a co-author of COMMON SENSE ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WEALTH AND PROSPERITY, a primer on economics and personal finance. Dr. Gwartney’s current research focuses on the measurement and determination of factors that influence cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates. Using this research, he is the co-author (with Robert Lawson, Joshua Hall, and Ryan Murphy) of the annual report, Economic Freedom of the World, which provides information on the institutions and policies of 162 countries. This data set, published by a worldwide network of institutes in 90 countries, is widely used by scholars investigating topics ranging from economic growth to peaceful relations among nations. Dr. Gwartney served as chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress during 1999-2000. In 2004, he received the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contributions to the advancement of free market ideals. He is a past president of both the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington. Richard L. Stroup is professor emeritus of economics at Montana State University and professor emeritus of economics at North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Stroup served as director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has published and lectured on topics such as global warming, land use regulation, archaeology and environmental policy improvements. His research has helped to develop the approach known as free market environmentalism. Dr. Stroup co-authored COMMON SENSE ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WEALTH AND PROSPERITY with Dr. Gwartney. In addition, he has published ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ECONOMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, which was sponsored by the Property and Environment Research Center, which he co-founded. Russell S. Sobel is professor of economics and entrepreneurship in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel in Dr. Sobel's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Sobel received his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University in 1994. He serves as co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and is a member of the editorial boards for the peer-reviewed journal Public Choice and the Journal of Entrepreneurship & Public Policy. Dr. Sobel has received numerous awards for both his teaching and research, including the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association, the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for Best Article of the Year in the Southern Economic Journal and the Association of Private Enterprise Education Distinguished Scholar Award. In addition, he received the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for his book UNLEASHING CAPITALISM. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 academic journal articles and books. His publications have appeared in a wide variety of academic journals including the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Journal of Business Venturing, Small Business Economics and Economic Inquiry. His current recent research focuses on the intersection of entrepreneurship and economic policy. David A. Macpherson is the E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics and economics department chair at Trinity University. Previously, he served as director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and was the Rod and Hope Brim Eminent Scholar of Economics at Florida State University, where he received two university-wide awards for teaching excellence. He has taught courses on the principles of microeconomics, money and banking, econometrics and labor economics. Dr. Macpherson is an applied economist whose research focuses on real estate, pensions, discrimination, industry deregulation, labor unions and the minimum wage. He has published more than 60 articles in leading economics and real estate journals, including Review of Economic and Statistics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Industrial and Labor Relations Review and Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance. His research has been funded by a variety of entities, including the National Science Foundation, Florida Legislature and the National Association of Realtors. He is co-author of the undergraduate labor economics text, CONTEMPORARY LABOR ECONOMICS. Dr. Macpherson is included in WHO’S WHO IN ECONOMICS, which features the 1,200 most frequently cited economists. Dr. Macpherson received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.