Economic Principles and Problems

Auteur

Geoffrey Schneider is Presidential Professor of Economics at Bucknell University, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He is an award-winning teacher, author or co-author of seven books and numerous scholarly articles, and executive director of the International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics.

Texte du rabat

Economic Principles and Problems: A Pluralistic Introduction offers a comprehensive introduction to the major perspectives in modern economics, including mainstream and heterodox approaches. It leaves readers better able to understand and analyze the complex behaviors of consumers, firms, and government officials.

Résumé
Economic Principles and Problems: A Pluralistic Introduction offers a comprehensive introduction to the major perspectives in modern economics, including mainstream and heterodox approaches. It leaves readers better able to understand and analyze the complex behaviors of consumers, firms, and government officials.

Contenu

PART I Economics: a pluralist definition 1 What is economics? The answer depends on who you ask; 2 Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost: the mainstream PPC model, its limits, and the importance of institutions; PART II The evolution of economic ideas and systems 3 The evolution of pre-capitalist economic systems: from communal societies to empires, feudalism, and mercantilism; 4 Adam Smith and the rise of capitalism: the era of laissez-faire; 5 Karl Marx and the dark ages of capitalism: historical materialism, surplus value, and the exploitation of labor; 6 Thorstein Veblen and monopoly capitalism: the rise of manufacturing and the fall of laissez-faire; 7 Keynes and mixed market capitalism: how to save capitalism from itself; 8 Modern economic systems: market-dominated, social market, and state-dominated economies; PART III Markets, supply, and demand 9 Markets and how they work: the institutional foundations of markets, and the supply and demand model; 10 Applications of supply and demand: wages, advertising, price floors and ceilings, excise taxes and subsidies, consumer and producer surplus, and elasticity; 11 Consumer and supplier behavior: the complexities of market analysis; PART IV Market structures and corporations 12 Different types of market structures: how market outcomes differ by market structure; 13 Theories of firm behavior: short-run and long-run costs of production; 14 Perfect competition and competitive markets: the perfect, Smithian market structure; 15 Monopoly and monopoly power: natural and non-natural monopolies and how the government regulates them; 16 Monopolistic competition: the market for local services and easy-to-enter industries with unique products; 17 Oligopoly and strategic behavior: large firm competition and an introduction to game theory; 18 Corporations and their role in society: the good and bad side of limited liability corporations; PART V Government intervention in microeconomic markets 19 Market failure and government failure: the role for government in microeconomic markets; 20 The economics of the environment and climate change: a key issue of our time; 21 Public goods and services: do we have the right balance of public and private goods and services?; PART VI Labor markets and inequality 22 Working for a living: the labor market and forces that affect your working life; 23 Inequality, a key modern issue: class, race, gender, and distribution; PART VII Macroeconomic issues and problems 24 Modern macroeconomics: the evolution of macroeconomic theory and the macroeconomy in the modern era; 25 Macroeconomic well-being: measuring and setting goals for the macroeconomy; 26 Unemployment and price instability: the major macroeconomic market failures; PART VIII Macroeconomic models 27 Aggregate demand and aggregate supply: a mainstream economics model of the macroeconomy; 28 The Keynesian aggregate expenditure model: the foundation of modern macroeconomics; PART IX Stabilization policy 29 Fiscal policy, debt, and deficits: the macroeconomic role of government: fiscal activism vs. austerity; 30 Money, banking, and the financial sector: how money markets make the world go around; 31 Monetary policy: central banks, stabilization policy, and regulating financial markets; 32 Crises, financial and otherwise: the causes and consequences of economic crises and how they can be averted; PART X Growth and global interconnectedness 33 Economic growth: the forces that stimulate economic development; 34 International trade and integration: how unregulated trade, protectionism, and trade agreements affect economies; 35 International finance and open economy macro-economics: exchange rates, financial flows, and the balance of payments