Economics or Macroeconomics

Economics: Private and Public Choice

Author: James D Gwartney

ECONOMICS: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CHOICE includes many more engaging elements-such as scenes from popular movies and applications of economic theory to real-world issues-to help you see how these theories apply to the world around you. Each chapter has been updated to reflect today's market, including analysis and explanation of measures of current economic activity. You'll also find highlights of the lives of notable economists and how they contributed to the thinking that shapes our markets today. Common economic myths are dispelled, and the "invisible hand" metaphor is applied to economic theory, demonstrating how it's working even today to stimulate the economy. This 12th edition includes new technology features such as a robust set of online multimedia learning tools, including video clips and free quizzes designed to support your classroom work; a completely updated Aplia interactive learning system with practice problems, interactive tutorials, online experiences, and more.

Booknews

This book/CD-ROM text seeks to make economics understandable to freshman and sophomore undergraduates and to illustrate the relevance of economics in daily life. Core chapters cover material usually taught in economics principles courses, and include short units (designed for one class period) on topics such as the future of social security, and readings which highlight the organizational and institutional factors that underlie economic prosperity. The CD-ROM contains a graphing workshop and animated tutorials, interactive graphing exercises, video lectures on difficult topics, and video news segments. Gwartney teaches economics at Florida State University. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

New interesting book: Processing or Windows Group Policy Resource Kit

Macroeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction

Author: William A McEachern

Taking a "just-in-time" approach by introducing material just as it is needed to develop an argument, MACROECONOMICS: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH, Eighth Edition, truly leads by example. In a decidedly non-condescending tone, McEachern assumes that students are already intuitively familiar with many economic concepts through their own life experiences. These life experiences are then explained to students as economic concepts with clear and interesting exposition, relevant case studies, and a clean focused design. The text's major applications take the form of case studies that are meant to be read and therefore are integrated into the flow of each chapter. With this eighth edition, the book's well-crafted approach is enhanced with resources--such as Aplia and CengageNOW--that will help your students improve their understanding and will help you streamline tasks and save valuable time.

Booknews

A text/CD-ROM package for a first course in macroeconomics. Early chapters cover macro- and microeconomics foundations, and later material uses the aggregate demand and aggregate supply models to underscore the difference between active and passive approaches to the economy. Pages are designed to be reader friendly, with color photos and graphics, plus margin terms and case studies. Pedagogical features include chapter summaries, review questions, problems, experiential exercises, and mathematical appendices with exercises, as well as notes on web sites, and a 12-page guide to reading the . Many exercises require students to consult the and the Internet. The CD-ROM contains study tools and graphing tutorials. This fifth edition contains expanded international material. Economic jargon has been reduced. The author is a professor of economics at the University of Connecticut. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Table of Contents:

Introduction to Economics
The Art and Science of Economic Analysis     1
The Economic Problem: Scarce Resources, Unlimited Wants     2
Resources     2
Goods and Services     3
Economic Decision Makers     4
A Simple Circular-Flow Model     4
The Art of Economic Analysis     6
Rational Self-Interest     6
Choice Requires Time and Information     6
Economic Analysis Is Marginal Analysis     7
Microeconomics and Macroeconomics     7
The Science of Economic Analysis     8
The Role of Theory     8
The Scientific Method     8
Normative Versus Positive     10
Economists Tell Stories     10
Case Study: A Yen for Vending Machines     11
Predicting Average Behavior     12
Some Pitfalls of Faulty Economic Analysis     12
If Economists Are So Smart, Why Aren't They Rich?     13
Case Study: College Major and Career Earnings     13
Understanding Graphs     18
Drawing Graphs     19
The Slopes of Straight Lines     20
The Slope, Units of Measurement, and Marginal Analysis     20
The Slopes of Curved Lines     22
Line Shifts     23
Some Tools of Economic Analysis     24
Choice and Opportunity Cost     25
Opportunity Cost     25
Case Study: The Opportunity Cost of College     25
Opportunity Cost Is Subjective     26
Sunk Cost and Choice     27
Comparative Advantage, Specialization, and Exchange     28
The Law of Comparative Advantage     28
Absolute Advantage Versus Comparative Advantage     28
Specialization and Exchange     29
Division of Labor and Gains from Specialization     30
Case Study: Specialization Abound     30
The Economy's Production Possibilities     31
Efficiency and the Production Possibilities Frontier     31
Inefficient and Unattainable Production     32
The Shape of the Production Possibilities Frontier     32
What Can Shift the Production Possibilities Frontier?     33
What Can We Learn from the PPF?     34
Three Questions Every Economic System Must Answer     35
Economic Systems     36
Pure Capitalism     36
Pure Command System     37
Mixed and Transitional Economies     38
Economies Based on Custom or Religion     38
Economic Decision Makers     40
The Household     41
The Evolution of the Household     41
Households Maximize Utility     41
Households as Resource Suppliers     42
Households as Demanders of Goods and Services     43
The Firm     43
The Evolution of the Firm     43
Types of Firms     44
Nonprofit Institutions     46
Why Does Household Production Still Exist?     46
Case Study: The Electronic Cottage     41
The Government     47
The Role of Government     48
Government's Structure and Objectives     49
The Size and Growth of Government     50
Sources of Government Revenue     51
Tax Principles and Tax Incidence     51
The Rest of the World     52
International Trade     52
Exchange Rates     54
Trade Restrictions     54
Case Study: Wheels of Fortune     54
Demand and Supply Analysis     57
Demand     58
The Law of Demand     58
The Demand Schedule and Demand Curve     59
Shifts of the Demand Curve      61
Changes in Consumer Income     61
Changes in the Prices of Related Goods     61
Changes in Consumer Expectations     62
Changes in the Number or Composition of Consumers     63
Changes in Consumer Tastes     63
Supply     63
The Supply Schedule and Supply Curve     64
Shifts of the Supply Curve     65
Changes in Technology     65
Changes in the Prices of Relevant Resources     65
Changes in the Prices of Alternative Goods     65
Changes in Producer Expectations     66
Changes in the Number of Producers     66
Demand and Supply Create A Market     67
Markets     67
Market Equilibrium     67
Changes lin Equilibrium Price and Quantity     69
Shifts of the Demand Curve     69
Shifts of the Supply Curve     70
Simultaneous Shifts of Demand and Supply Curves     72
Case Study: The Market for Professional Basketball     73
Disequilibrium     74
Price Floors     74
Price Ceilings     74
Case Study: The Toy Business Is Not Child's Play     76
Fundamentals of Macroeconomics
Introduction to Macroeconornies     78
The National Economy     79
What's Special About the National Economy?     79
The Human Body and the U.S. Economy     80
Knowledge and Performance     80
Economic Fluctuations and Growth     81
U.S. Economic Fluctuations     81
Case Study: The Global Economy     83
Leading Economic Indicators     85
Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply     85
Aggregate Output and the Price Level     85
The Aggregate Demand Curve     86
The Aggregate Supply Curve     87
Equilibrium     87
A Short History of the U.S. Economy     88
The Great Depression and Before     88
The Age of Keynes: After the Great Depression to the Early 1970s     89
The Great Stagflation: 1973 to 1980     91
Experience Since 1980     92
Case Study: Over Seven Decades of Real GDP and Price Levels     93
Productivity and Growth     96
Theory of Productivity and Growth     97
Growth and the Production Possibilities Frontier     97
What Is Productivity?     99
Labor Productivity     99
The Per-Worker Production Function      100
Technological Change     101
Rules of the Game     102
Productivity and Growth in Practice     102
Education and Economic Development     103
U.S. Labor Productivity     104
Slowdown and Rebound in Productivity Growth     105
Case Study: Computers and Productivity Growth     106
Output per Capita     107
International Comparisons     107
Other Issues of Technology and Growth     109
Does Technological Change Lead to Unemployment?     110
Research and Development     110
Do Economies Converge     112
Industrial Policy     113
Case Study: Picking Technological Winners     113
Measuring the Economy and the Circular Flow     116
The Product of a Nation     117
National Income Accounts     117
GDP Based on the Expenditure Approach     118
GDP Based on the Income Approach     119
The Circular Flow of Income and Expenditure     120
The Income Half of the Circular Flow     120
The Expenditure Half of the Circular Flow     122
Leakages Equal Injections     123
Limitations of National Income Accounting      123
Some Production Is Not Included in GDP     123
Leisure, Quality, and Variety     124
Case Study Tracking a {dollar}12 Trillion Economy     124
What's Gross about Gross Domestic Product?     125
GDP Does Not Reflect All Costs     125
GDP and Economic Welfare     126
Accounting for Price Changes     126
Price Indexes     126
Consumer Price Index     126
Problems with the CPI     128
The GDP Price Index     129
Moving from Fixed Weights to Chain Weights     129
Case Study: Computer Prices and GDP Estimation     130
National Income Accounts     133
National Income     133
Personal and Disposable Income     133
Summary of National Income Accounts     133
Summary Income Statement of the Economy     134
Unemployment and Inflation     136
Unemployment     137
Measuring Unemployment     137
Labor Force Participation Rate     139
Unemployment over Time     139
Unemployment in Various Groups     139
Unemployment Varies Across Regions     140
Case Study: Poor King Coal     142
Sources of Unemployment     143
The Meaning of Full Employment     144
Unemployment Compensation     145
International Comparisons of Unemployment     145
Problems with Official Unemployment Figures     146
Inflation     146
Case Study: Hyperinflation in Brazil     147
Two Sources of Inflation     148
A Historical Look at Inflation and the Price Level     149
Anticipated Versus Unanticipated Inflation     150
The Transaction Costs of Variable Inflation     150
Inflation Obscures Relative Price Changes     151
Inflation Across Metropolitan Areas     151
Inflation Across Countries     151
Inflation and Interest Rates     152
Why Is Inflation Unpopular?     154
Aggregate Expenditure Components     157
Consumption     158
A First Look at Consumption and Income     158
The Consumption Function     160
Marginal Propensities to Consume and to Save     160
MPC, MPS, and the Slope of the Consumption and Saving Functions     161
Nonincome Determinants of Consumption     162
Case Study: The Life-Cycle Hypothesis     164
Investment      165
The Demand for Investment     165
From Micro to Macro     167
Planned Investment and the Economy's Income     168
Nonincome Determinants of Planned Investment     168
Case Study: Investment Varies Much More than Consumption     169
Government     170
Government Purchase Function     171
Net Taxes     171
Net Exports     171
Net Exports and Income     171
Nonincome Determinants of Net Exports     172
Composition of Aggregate Expenditure     172
Variable Net Exports     175
Net Exports and Income     175
Shifts of Net Exports     175
Aggregate Expenditure and Aggregate Demand     177
Aggregate Expenditure and Income     178
The Components of Aggregate Expenditure     178
Real GDP Demanded     180
What If Planned Spending Exceeds Real GDP?     181
What If Real GDP Exceeds Planned Spending?     181
The Simple Spending Multiplier     182
An Increase in Planned Spending     182
Using the Simple Spending Multiplier     184
Case Study: Fear of Flying     185
The Aggregate Demand Curve      186
A Higher Price Level     186
A Lower Price Level     188
The Multiplier and Shifts in Aggregate Demand     188
Case Study: Falling Consumption Triggers Japan's Recession     190
Variable Net Exports Revisited     192
Net Exports and the Spending Multiplier     193
A Change in Autonomous Spending     193
The Algebra of Income and Expenditure     195
The Aggregate Expenditure Line     195
A More General Form of Income and Expenditure     195
Varying Net Exports     196
Aggregate Supply     197
Aggregate Supply in the Short Run     198
Labor and Aggregate Supply     198
Potential Output and the Natural Rate of Unemployment     199
Actual Price Level Higher than Expected     199
Why Costs Rise When Output Exceeds Potential     200
An Actual Price Level Lower than Expected     201
The Short-Run Aggregate Supply Curve     201
From the Short Run to the Long Run     202
Closing an Expansionary Gap     202
Closing a Contractionary Gap     204
Tracing Potential Output     206
Wage Flexibility and Employment     206
Case Study: U.S. Output Gaps and Wage Flexibility     208
Changes in Aggregate Supply     209
Increases in Aggregate Supply     209
Decreases in Aggregate Supply     211
Case Study: Why Is Unemployment So High in Europe?     212
Fiscal and Monetary Policy
Fiscal Policy     215
Theory of Fiscal Policy     216
Fiscal Policy Tools     216
Changes in Government Purchases     216
Changes in Net Taxes     217
Including Aggregate Supply     219
Discretionary Fiscal Policy to Close a Contractionary Gap     219
Discretionary Fiscal Policy to Close an Expansionary Gap     221
The Multiplier and the Time Horizon     222
The Evolution of Fiscal Policy     222
The Great Depression and World War II     222
Automatic Stabilizers     223
From the Golden Age to Stagflation     224
Fiscal Policy and the Natural Rate of Unemployment     225
Lags in Fiscal Policy     225
Discretionary Fiscal Policy and Permanent Income     226
The Feedback Effects of Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Supply     226
U.S. Budget Deficits of the 1980s and 1990s     227
Case Study: The Supply-Side Experiment      227
Case Study: Discretionary Fiscal Policy and Presidential Elections     228
Balancing the Federal Budget-Temporarily     229
The Algebra of Demand-Side Equilibrium     231
Net Tax Multiplier     231
The Multiplier When Both G and NT Change     231
The Multiplier with a Proportional Income Tax     231
Including Variable Net Exports     232
Money and the Financial System     233
The Evolution of Money     234
Barter and the Double Coincidence of Wants     234
The Earliest Money and Its Functions     234
Desirable Qualities of Money     236
Coins     236
Money and Banking     237
Paper Money     238
The Value of Money     239
When Money Performs Poorly     239
Case Study: When Monetary Systems Break Down     240
Financial Institutions in the United States     241
Commercial Banks and Thrifts     241
The Birth of the Fed     241
Powers of the Federal Reserve System     242
Banking During the Great Depression     243
Roosevelt's Reforms     244
Banks Lost Deposits When Inflation Increased     246
Bank Deregulation     246
Savings Banks on the Ropes     247
Commercial Banks Were Also Failing     248
U.S. Banking Structure     249
Case Study: Banking Troubles in Japan     252
Banking and the Money Supply     255
Money Aggregates     256
The Narrow Definition of Money: M1     256
Case Study: Faking It     257
Broader Money Aggregates     258
Credit Cards and Debit Cards: What's the Difference?     259
How Banks Work     260
Banks Are Financial Intermediaries     260
Starting a Bank     261
Reserve Accounts     262
Liquidity Versus Profitability     262
How Banks Create Money     263
Creating Money Through Excess Reserves     263
A Summary of the Rounds     266
Reserve Requirements and Money Expansion     266
Limitations on Money Expansion     267
Multiple Contraction of the Money Supply     267
Case Study: Banking on the Net     268
The Fed's Tools of Monetary Control     269
Open-Market Operations and the Federal Funds Rate     270
The Discount Rate     270
Reserve Requirements      271
The Fed Is a Money Machine     271
Monetary Theory and Policy     273
The Demand and Supply of Money     274
The Demand for Money     274
Money Demand and Interest Rates     275
The Supply of Money and the Equilibrium Interest Rate     276
Money and Aggregate Demand in the Short Run     277
Interest Rates and Planned Investment     277
Adding Short-Run Aggregate Supply     278
Case Study: Targeting the Federal Funds Rate     280
Money and Aggregate Demand in the Long Run     282
The Equation of Exchange     282
The Quantity Theory of Money     283
What Determines the Velocity of Money?     284
How Stable Is Velocity?     284
Case Study: The Money Supply and Inflation Around the World     286
Targets for Monetary Policy     287
Contrasting Policies     287
Targets Before 1982     289
Targets After 1982     289
The Policy Debate: Active or Passive?     291
Active Policy Versus Passive Policy     292
Closing a Contractionary Gap     292
Closing an Expansionary Gap     294
Problems with Active Policy      294
The Problem of Lags     295
A Review of Policy Perspectives     297
Case Study: Active Versus Passive Presidential Candidates     297
The Role of Expectations     298
Monetary Policy and Expectations     299
Anticipating Monetary Policy     300
Policy Credibility     301
Case Study: Central Bank Independence and Price Stability     302
Policy Rules Versus Discretion     303
Limitations on Discretion     304
Rules and Rational Expectations     304
The Phillips Curve     305
The Short-Run Phillips Curve     307
The Long-Run Phillips Curve     307
The Natural Rate Hypothesis     309
Evidence of the Phillips Curve     309
Federal Budgets and Public Policy     312
The Federal Budget Process     313
The Presidential and Congressional Roles     314
Problems with the Federal Budget Process     314
Possible Budget Reforms     315
The Fiscal Impact of the Federal Budget     315
The Rationale for Deficits     316
Budget Philosophies and Deficits     316
Federal Deficits Since the Birth of the Nation      317
Why Have Deficits Persisted?     318
Deficits, Surpluses, Crowding Out, and Crowding In     318
The Twin Deficits     319
The Short-Lived Budget Surplus     319
Case Study: Reforming Social Security and Medicare     321
The Relative Size of the Public Sector in the United States     322
The National Debt     322
International Perspective on Public Debt     323
Interest on the National Debt     324
Who Bears the Burden of the Debt?     325
Crowding Out and Capital Formation     326
Case Study: An Intergenerational View of Deficits and Debt     327
International Macroeconomics
International Finance     329
Balance of Payments     330
International Economic Transactions     330
The Merchandise Trade Balance     330
The Balance on Goods and Services     332
Unilateral Transfers     332
The Capital Account     333
Deficits and Surpluses     333
Foreign Exchange Rates and Markets     335
Foreign Exchange     335
The Demand for Foreign Exchange     336
The Supply of Foreign Exchange     336
Determining the Exchange Rate      337
Arbitrageurs and Speculators     337
Purchasing Power Parity     339
Case Study:The Big Mac Price Index     339
Flexible Exchange Rates     341
Fixed Exchange Rates     341
Development of the International Monetary System     341
The Bretton Woods Agreement     342
The Demise of the Bretton Woods System     342
The Current System: Managed Float     343
Case Study: The Asian Contagion     343
Glossary     347
Index     355