Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents: 1. What is economics: The ordinary business of life -- First principles -- Economic models: trade-offs and trade -- 2. Supply and demand: Supply and demand -- Consumer and producer surplus -- The Market strikes back -- Elasticity -- 3.Individuals and markets: Taxes -- International trade -- 4. Economics and decision making: Making decisions -- 5. The Consumer: The rational consumer -- Consumer preferences and consumer choice -- 6. The production decision: Behind the supply curve: inputs and costs -- Perfect competition and the supply curve -- 7. Market structure: beyond perfect competition: Monopoly -- Oligopoly -- Monopolistic competition and product differentiation -- 8. Microeconomics and public policy: Externalities -- Public goods and common resources -- The economics of the welfare state -- 9. Factor markets and risk: Factor markets and the distribution of income -- Indifference curve analysis of labor supply -- Uncertainty, risk and private information -- 10. Introduction to macroeconomics: Macroeconomics: the big picture -- Tracking the macroeconomy -- Unemployment and inflation -- 11. Long-run economic growth: Long-run economic growth -- Savings, investment spending and the financial system -- 12. Short-run economic fluctuations: Income and expenditure -- Deriving the multiplier algebraically -- Aggregate demand and aggregate supply -- 13. Stabilization policy: Fiscal policy -- Taxes and the multiplier -- Money, banking and the federal reserve system -- Monetary policy -- Reconciling the two models of the interest rate -- Inflation, disinflation and deflation -- 14. Events and ideas: Macroeconomics: events and ideas -- 15. The Open economy: Open-economy macroeconomics --