Brief Contents

1 Wants, Scarcity, and Choices
2 Economics Systems
3 Demand and Supply
4 Elasticity of Demand and Supply
5 Theory of Consumer Choice
6 Costs
7 Perfect Competition
8 Monopoly
9 Monopolistic Competition
10 Oligopoly
11 The Labor Market
12 Rent, Interest, and Profit
13 Income Distribution, Discrimination, and Poverty
14 International Trade
15 International Finance

Chapter Contents

Chapter 1 - Wants, Scarcity, and Choices
Unlimited Wants, Scarcity, and Choices
Economics Defined
Positive and Normative Economics
The Need to Economize
Scarcity, Trade-offs, and Opportunity Costs
The Production Possibilities Model
Law of Increasing Opportunity Cost
Productive Efficiency, Unemployment, Economic Growth, and Future Potential

Chapter 2 - Economic Systems
Five Basic Questions
Economic Systems and Role of Government
Capitalism or the Market System
The Command System
Shortcomings of the Market System
How to Make the Market System Work for Everybody?
Shortcomings of the Command System
The Circular Flow Model

Chapter 3 - Demand and Supply
What is a Market?
Demand
Supply
Market Equilibrium
Government Intervention in the Market

Chapter 4 - Elasticity of Demand and Supply
Price Elasticity of Demand
Income Elasticity of Demand
Cross Elasticity of Demand
Price Elasticity of Supply
Price Elasticity and Incidence of Taxation

Chapter 5 - Theory of Consumer Choice
Utility, Marginal Utility, and Total Utility
Utility Maximization and Consumer Equilibrium
From Consumer Equilibrium to the Law of Demand
Consumer and Producer Surplus

Chapter 6 - Costs
Explicit and Implicit Costs
Accounting and Economic Profit
The Short Run and the Long Run
Fixed Input and Variable Input
The Production Function
Marginal Product
The Law of Diminishing Returns
Costs
Marginal – Average Relationship
Short-Run versus Long-Run Costs
Long-Run Average Cost Curve as an Envelope to
Short-Run Average Cost Curves
Capacity versus Minimum Efficient Scale
Returns to a Factor versus Returns to Scale
Various Returns to Scale

Chapter 7 - Perfect Competition
Characteristics of Perfect Competition
Price and Quantity Determination in Perfect Competition
Conditions for Profit Maximization or Loss Minimization
In Perfect Competition
Decision to Operate or Shutdown in the Short Run
The Short-Run and the Long-Run Supply Curves
The Industry Supply Curve in Perfect Competition
Short-Run and Long-Run Equilibriums in Perfect Competition

Chapter 8 - Monopoly
Characteristics of Monopoly
Reasons for Impossible Entry
Price and Quantity Determination in Monopoly
Monopoly in the Short Run and in the Long Run
Price Discrimination
Economic Arguments against and for Monopoly

Chapter 9 - Monopolistic Competition
Characteristics of Monopolistic Competition
The Meaning and Implication of Product Differentiation
Price and Output Determination in Monopolistic Competition
Under-Production and Over-Pricing under
Monopolistically Competition

Chapter 10 - Oligopoly
Characteristics of Oligopoly
Price and Output Determination in Oligopoly

Chapter 11 - The Labor Market

Demand for Labor
Supply of Labor
Wage and Employment Determination under
Perfect Competition
Wage and Employment Determination under Monopsony
Wage and Employment Determination under
Bilateral Monopoly
Theories of Wages
Nominal versus Real Wage
Intervention in Labor Markets and its Effect on Wages
Effect of Minimum Wage

Chapter 12 - Rent, Interest, and Profit
Rent
Economic Rent
Determination of Rent
Effect on Rent of a Change in the Demand for Apartments
Interest
Profit
Theories of Profit
Corporate Profits

Chapter 13 - Income Distribution, Discrimination, and Poverty
Distribution of Income in the United States
Distribution of Wealth in the United States
Reason for Unequal Distribution of Wealth in the U.S.
Reasons for Unequal Distribution of Income in the U.S.
Discrimination
Equity versus Efficiency
Poverty
Causes of Poverty
How to Alleviate Poverty

Chapter 14 - International Trade
Economic Basis for Trade
Theory of Absolute Advantage
Theory of Comparative Advantage
Sources of Comparative Advantage
Comparative Advantage and Gains from Trade: A Production
Possibilities Curve Analysis
Free Trade versus Protectionism
Trade Barriers

Chapter 15 - International Finance
International Transaction
The Current Account, the Capital Account, and the
Balance of Payments
The Balance of Payments, Deficit, and Surplus
Determination of and Changes in Exchange Rates
Exchange Rate Systems: Past and Present
The Flexible Exchange Rate System
The Fixed Exchange Rate System
The Trend, Causes, and Implications of U.S. Trade Deficits

Microeconomics

Table of Contents for Microeconomics