Welcome to Principles of Economics, an OpenStax resource. This textbook has been created with several goals in mind: accessibility, customization, and student engagement—all while encouraging students toward high levels of academic scholarship. Instructors and students alike will find that this textbook offers a strong foundation in economics in an accessible format.
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Principles of Economics can be easily customized using our online platform (http://cnx.org/content/col11613/). Simply select the content most relevant to your current semester and create a textbook that speaks directly to the needs of your class. Principles of Economics is organized as a collection of sections that can be rearranged, modified, and enhanced through localized examples or to incorporate a specific theme of your course. This customization feature will ensure that your textbook truly reflects the goals of your course. Principles of Economics is also available in two volumes, one covering microeconomics and one covering macroeconomics principles.
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Principles of Economics is designed for a two-semester principles of economics sequence. The text has been developed to meet the scope and sequence of most introductory courses. At the same time, the book includes a number of innovative features designed to enhance student learning. Instructors can also customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom.
To develop Principles of Economics, we acquired the rights to Timothy Taylor’s second edition of Principles of Economics and solicited ideas from economics instructors at all levels of higher education, from community colleges to Ph.D.-granting universities. They told us about their courses, students, challenges, resources, and how a textbook can best meet the needs of both instructors and students.
The result is a book that covers the breadth of economics topics and also provides the necessary depth to ensure the course is manageable for instructors and students alike. And to make it more applied, we have incorporated many current topics. We hope students will be interested to know just how far-reaching the recent recession was (and still is), for example, and why there is so much controversy even among economists over the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Keystone Pipeline, Occupy Wall Street, minimum wage debates, and the appointment of the United States’ first female Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, are just a few of the other important topics covered.
The pedagogical choices, chapter arrangements, and learning objective fulfillment were developed and vetted with feedback from educators dedicated to the project. They thoroughly read the material and offered critical and detailed commentary. The outcome is a balanced approach to micro and macro economics, to both Keynesian and classical views, and to the theory and application of economics concepts. New 2015 data are incorporated for topics that range from average U.S. household consumption in Chapter 2 to the total value of all home equity in Chapter 17. Current events are treated in a politically-balanced way as well.
The book is organized into eight main parts:
Chapter 1 Welcome to Economics!* * *
Chapter 2 Choice in a World of Scarcity* * *
Chapter 3 Demand and Supply* * *
Chapter 4 Labor and Financial Markets* * *
Chapter 5 Elasticity* * *
Chapter 6 Consumer Choices* * *
Chapter 7 Cost and Industry Structure* * *
Chapter 8 Perfect Competition* * *
Chapter 9 Monopoly* * *
Chapter 10 Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly* * *
Chapter 11 Monopoly and Antitrust Policy* * *
Chapter 12 Environmental Protection and Negative Externalities* * *
Chapter 13 Positive Externalities and Public Goods* * *
Chapter 14 Poverty and Economic Inequality* * *
Chapter 15 Issues in Labor Markets: Unions, Discrimination, Immigration* * *
Chapter 16 Information, Risk, and Insurance* * *
Chapter 17 Financial Markets* * *
Chapter 18 Public Economy* * *
Chapter 19 The Macroeconomic Perspective* * *
Chapter 20 Economic Growth* * *
Chapter 21 Unemployment* * *
Chapter 22 Inflation* * *
Chapter 23 The International Trade and Capital Flows* * *
Chapter 24 The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model* * *
Chapter 25 The Keynesian Perspective* * *
Chapter 26 The Neoclassical Perspective* * *
Chapter 27 Money and Banking* * *
Chapter 28 Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation* * *
Chapter 29 Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows* * *
Chapter 30 Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy* * *
Chapter 31 The Impacts of Government Borrowing* * *
Chapter 32 Macroeconomic Policy Around the World* * *
Chapter 33 International Trade* * *
Chapter 34 Globalization and Protectionism* * *
Appendix A The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics* * *
Appendix B Indifference Curves* * *
Appendix C Present Discounted Value* * *
Appendix D The Expenditure-Output Model* * *
Alternate Sequencing Principles of Economics was conceived and written to fit a particular topical sequence, but it can be used flexibly to accommodate other course structures. One such potential structure, which will fit reasonably well with the textbook content, is provided. Please consider, however, that the chapters were not written to be completely independent, and that the proposed alternate sequence should be carefully considered for student preparation and textual consistency.
Chapter 1 Welcome to Economics!* * *
Chapter 2 Choice in a World of Scarcity* * *
Chapter 3 Demand and Supply* * *
Chapter 4 Labor and Financial Markets* * *
Chapter 5 Elasticity* * *
Chapter 6 Consumer Choices* * *
Chapter 33 International Trade* * *
Chapter 7 Cost and Industry Structure* * *
Chapter 12 Environmental Protection and Negative Externalities* * *
Chapter 13 Positive Externalities and Public Goods* * *
Chapter 8 Perfect Competition* * *
Chapter 9 Monopoly* * *
Chapter 10 Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly* * *
Chapter 11 Monopoly and Antitrust Policy* * *
Chapter 14 Poverty and Economic Inequality* * *
Chapter 15 Issues in Labor Markets: Unions, Discrimination, Immigration* * *
Chapter 16 Information, Risk, and Insurance* * *
Chapter 17 Financial Markets* * *
Chapter 18 Public Economy* * *
Chapter 19 The Macroeconomic Perspective* * *
Chapter 20 Economic Growth* * *
Chapter 21 Unemployment* * *
Chapter 22 Inflation* * *
Chapter 23 The International Trade and Capital Flows* * *
Chapter 24 The Aggregate Demand/Aggregate Supply Model* * *
Chapter 25 The Keynesian Perspective* * *
Chapter 26 The Neoclassical Perspective* * *
Chapter 27 Money and Banking* * *
Chapter 28 Monetary Policy and Bank Regulation* * *
Chapter 29 Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows* * *
Chapter 30 Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy* * *
Chapter 31 The Impacts of Government Borrowing* * *
Chapter 32 Macroeconomic Policy Around the World* * *
Chapter 34 Globalization and Protectionism* * *
Appendix A The Use of Mathematics in Principles of Economics* * *
Appendix B Indifference Curves* * *
Appendix C Present Discounted Value* * *
Appendix D The Expenditure-Output Model* * *
Throughout the OpenStax version of Principles of Economics, you will find new features that engage the students in economic inquiry by taking selected topics a step further. Our features include:
The OpenStax version of Principles of Economics further expands on Taylor’s original end of chapter materials by offering four types of end-of-module questions for students.
Principles of Economics includes an updated art program to better inform today’s student, providing the latest data on covered topics.
Timothy Taylor, Macalester College* * *
Timothy Taylor has been writing and teaching about economics for 30 years, and is the Managing Editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, a post he’s held since 1986. He has been a lecturer for The Teaching Company, the University of Minnesota, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, where students voted him Teacher of the Year in 1997. His writings include numerous pieces for journals such as the Milken Institute Review and The Public Interest, and he has been an editor on many projects, most notably for the Brookings Institution and the World Bank, where he was Chief Outside Editor for the World Development Report 1999/2000, Entering the 21st Century: The Changing Development Landscape. He also blogs four to five times per week at http://conversableeconomist.blogspot.com. Timothy Taylor lives near Minneapolis with his wife Kimberley and their three children.
Steven A. Greenlaw, University of Mary Washington* * *
Steven Greenlaw has been teaching principles of economics for more than 30 years. In 1999, he received the Grellet C. Simpson Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author of Doing Economics: A Guide to Doing and Understanding Economic Research, as well as a variety of articles on economics pedagogy and instructional technology, published in the Journal of Economic Education, the International Review of Economic Education, and other outlets. He wrote the module on Quantitative Writing for Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics, the web portal on best practices in teaching economics. Steven Greenlaw lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Kathy and their three children.
Eric Dodge | Hanover College |
Cynthia Gamez | University of Texas at El Paso |
Andres Jauregui | Columbus State University |
Diane Keenan | Cerritos College |
Dan MacDonald | California State University San Bernardino |
Amyaz Moledina | The College of Wooster |
Craig Richardson | Winston-Salem State University |
David Shapiro | Pennsylvania State University |
Ralph Sonenshine | American University |
Bryan Aguiar | Northwest Arkansas Community College |
Basil Al Hashimi | Mesa Community College |
Emil Berendt | Mount St. Mary's University |
Zena Buser | Adams State University |
Douglas Campbell | The University of Memphis |
Sanjukta Chaudhuri | University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire |
Xueyu Cheng | Alabama State University |
Robert Cunningham | Alma College |
Rosa Lea Danielson | College of DuPage |
Steven Deloach | Elon University |
Debbie Evercloud | University of Colorado Denver |
Sal Figueras | Hudson County Community College |
Reza Ghorashi | Richard Stockton College of New Jersey |
Robert Gillette | University of Kentucky |
Shaomin Huang | Lewis-Clark State College |
George Jones | University of Wisconsin-Rock County |
Charles Kroncke | College of Mount St. Joseph |
Teresa Laughlin | Palomar Community College |
Carlos Liard-Muriente | Central Connecticut State University |
Heather Luea | Kansas State University |
Steven Lugauer | University of Notre Dame |
William Mosher | Nashua Community College |
Michael Netta | Hudson County Community College |
Nick Noble | Miami University |
Joe Nowakowski | Muskingum University |
Shawn Osell | University of Wisconsin, Superior |
Mark Owens | Middle Tennessee State University |
Sonia Pereira | Barnard College |
Brian Peterson | Central College |
Jennifer Platania | Elon University |
Robert Rycroft | University of Mary Washington |
Adrienne Sachse | Florida State College at Jacksonville |
Hans Schumann | Texas AM |
Gina Shamshak | Goucher College |
Chris Warburton | John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY |
Mark Witte | Northwestern |
Chiou-nan Yeh | Alabama State University |
OpenStax projects offer an array of ancillaries for students and instructors. Please visit http://openstaxcollege.org and view the learning resources for this title.
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