New to this Edition
NEW "KEYS TO ECONOMIC PROSPERITY" FEATURES DIRECT READER FOCUS TO CRITICAL ECONOMIC FACTORS. This feature helps students fully appreciate the organizational and institutional factors that form the foundations for economic progress. These "Keys to Economic Prosperity" features highlight the importance of factors, such as gains from trade, secure property rights, competition, and free trade, as sources of economic prosperity.
NEW "APPLICATIONS IN ECONOMICS" APPLY ECONOMIC THEORY TO REAL-WORLD ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES. These features illustrate the importance and power of the economic principles addressed in the book.
NEW "MEASURES OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY" BOXES EXAMINE SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC INDICATORS. These boxes detail how important economic indicators, such as the unemployment rate and the index of leading indicators, are assembled and what they mean.
NEW "OUTSTANDING ECONOMISTS" BOXES INTRODUCE LEADERS WHO HAVE SHAPED ECONOMICS TODAY. These features, integrated throughout this edition, highlight the lives of major economists and focus on how their work has contributed to the development of economics.
NEW "MYTHS OF ECONOMICS" ARTICLES CORRECT COMMON ECONOMIC FALLACIES. These boxed articles dispel commonly held fallacies of economic reasoning. Because students are tomorrow’s leaders, it is imperative that they are aware of common economic misperceptions that can hamper a nation’s economic progress.
CHAPTER FOCUS QUESTIONS AND CLOSING KEY POINT SUMMARIES. Each chapter begins with four or five questions that summarize the focus of the chapter. At the end of each chapter, the Key Points section provides students with a concise overview of the material covered in the chapter and revisits the chapter learning objectives. These two features help students better integrate the material into the broader economic picture.
NEW CRITICAL ANALYSIS QUESTIONS CHALLENGE STUDENTS TO APPLY WHAT THEY’VE LEARNED. Each chapter concludes with a set of discussion questions and problems designed to test the student’s ability to analyze economic issues and to apply economic theory to real-world events. Appendix B at the end of the text contains suggested answers for approximately half of these questions.
UPDATED TABLES, GRAPHS, AND ECONOMIC APPLICATION BOXED FEATURES REFLECT THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE FIELD. These visual reinforcements and opportunities for practical application throughout the book have been thoroughly updated to ensure your students are working with the latest information.
EXPANDED COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF POLITICAL ACTION IN ECONOMICS. With approximately 40 percent of national income allocated through the political process, this book now clearly demonstrates the significant impact today’s political decisions have on current and future economic developments.
COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS REVIEWS THE PROLONGED LOW INTEREST RATES OF THE PAST DECADE. Students closely examine the factors that influence interest rates and examine why rates have remained consistently low throughout the past 10 years.
NEW COVERAGE EXAMINES THE IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON ECONOMICS TODAY. Readers review the influences and use of contemporary technology and its effect on GDP as a measure of economic well-being.
TIMELY MATERIAL COMPARES COST OF LIVING DIFFERENCES. Students examine how cost of living differences across cities and states affect real earnings.
NEW COVERAGE EXAMINES OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING. Students study this government regulation in detail and review its impact on earnings.
UP-TO-DATE COVERAGE SCRUTINIZES THE ECONOMICS OF HEALTH CARE. Students review this timely topic from a unique economic perspective.
UPDATES ASSESS CONTEMPORARY CHANGES IN FEDERAL RESERVE POLICY. Readers study how the Federal Reserve Policy has been modified in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
REVISED MATERIAL ANALYZES MINIMUM WAGE. Readers review the impact of minimum wage, including increases at the city level.
UP-TO-DATE COVERAGE ADDRESSES INCOME INEQUALITY AND POVERTY. This edition delves into the details of these pressing economic issues and recent developments that have affected them.