Table of Contents

Part I: GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH ECONOMICS. 1. What Is Economics? 2. The Economy: Myth and Reality. 3. The Fundamental Economic Problem: Scarcity and Choice. 4. Supply and Demand: An Initial Look. Part II: THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY. 5. Consumer Choice: Individual and Market Demand. 6. Demand and Elasticity. 7. Production, Inputs, and Cost: Building Blocks for Supply Analysis. 8. Output, Price, and Profit: The Importance of Marginal Analysis. 9. Investing in Business: Stocks and Bonds. Part III: MARKETS AND THE PRICE SYSTEM. 10. The Firm and the Industry under Perfect Competition. 11. Monopoly. 12. Between Competition and Monopoly. 13. Limiting Market Power: Regulation and Antitrust. Part IV: THE VIRTUES AND LIMITATIONS OF MARKETS. 14. The Case for Free Markets I: The Price System. 15. The Shortcomings of Free Markets. 16. The Market's Prime Achievement: Innovation and Growth. 17. Externalities, the Environment, and Natural Resources. 18. Taxation and Resource Allocation. Pare V: THE DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME. 19. Pricing the Factors of Production. 20 Labor and Entrepreneurship: The Human Inputs. 21. Poverty, Inequality, and Discrimination. Part VI: THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD ECONOMY. 22. International Trade and Comparative Advantage.