Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: 1. Getting acquainted with economics: What is economics? -- The Use and misuse of graphs -- The Economy: myth and reality -- Scarcity and choice: The Economic problem -- Supply and demand: an initial look -- 2. The Building blocks of demand and supply: Consumer choice: individual and market demand -- Demand and elasticity -- Production, inputs and cost: building blocks for supply analysis -- Output, price and profit: The importance of marginal analysis -- 3. Markets, from competition to monopoly: virtues and vices: The firm and the industry under perfect competition -- The price system and the case for free markets -- Monopoly -- Between competition and monopoly -- The market mechanism: shortcomings and remedies -- Microeconomics of innovation: prime engine of growth -- Real firms and their financing: stocks and bonds -- 4. The distribution of income: Pricing the factors of production -- Labor: the human input -- Poverty, inequality and discrimination -- 5. The Government and the economy: Limiting market power: regulation and antitrust -- Taxation and resource allocation -- Externalities, the environment and natural resources -- 6. The Macroeconomy: aggregate supply and demand: The realm of macroeconomics -- The goals of macroeconomic policy -- Income and spending: the powerful customer -- Demand-side equilibrium: unemployment or inflation? -- Changes on the demand side: multiplier analysis -- Supply-side equilibrium: unemployment and inflation? -- 7. Fiscal and monetary policy: Managing aggregate demand: fiscal policy -- Money and the banking system -- Monetary policy and the national economy -- The debate over monetary policy -- Deficits, monetary policy and growth -- The Phillips curve and economic growth -- 8. The United States in the world economy: International trade and comparative advantage -- The International monetary system: order or disorder? -- Exchange rates and the macroeconomy --