,

Introduction

Supplementary materials for popular college textbooks used in courses in the Principles of Economics, Microeconomics, Price Theory, and Macroeconomics are suggested by topic. A few of these textbooks include

• N. Gregory Mankiw,Principles of Economics
• McConnell, Brue, and Flynn,Economics
• David Colander,Microeconomics
• Paul Heyne,The Economic Way of Thinking
• Irvin Tucker,Macroeonomics for Today
• Edwin G. Dolan,Introduction to Macroeconomics

Materials include podcasts, topical articles, encyclopedia entries, educational blog posts, and more. All materials have been selected for authoritativeness, quality of writing and speaking, liveliness, and ease of understanding. Additional advanced resource links include primary source materials that are available online or graduate level readings.*

List of Topics

Part I: Introduction to the Principles of Economics

Overview: Basics and a Taste of What’s to Come

What is economics? Definitions of economics, the economy, political economy. Economics is about making choices, not just about making money.

• What Is Economics?
• Wellbeing and Welfare

We face tradeoffs every day

• Scarcity
• Cost-benefit analysis

The cost of something is what you give up to get it

• Opportunity cost
• Real, relative, and nominal prices

People respond to incentives

• Incentives

Think about small changes first

• Margins and Thinking at the Margin

Trade makes everyone better off

• Exchange and Trade
• Comparative Advantage and the Benefits of Trade

Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity

• Efficiency

Governments sometimes improve on market outcomes

• Market Failures, Public Goods, and Externalities

Governments sometimes make conditions worse than market outcomes

• Government Failures, Rent Seeking, and Public Choice

A country’s standard of living depends on its ability to produce goods and services

• Economic Growth
• Division of Labor and Specialization

Prices rise when the government prints too much money

• Inflation

Economists agree about the principles, but differ about government policy recommendations.

• Economic Systems

Thinking Like an Economist

Read and Listen Critically to the News

• material to come

Supply and Demand Applies to Surprising Situations

• Human Capital

The Roles of Graphs, Math, Equations, and Science in Economics

• • Is Economics a Science?
  • Measuring Economic Data

GDP

The Role of Institutions, Property Rights, Laws, and Customs

• Economic Institutions
• Property Rights

Part II: Microeconomics

Supply and Demand: How Markets Work

Supply and Demand Basics

• Demand
• Supply
• Supply and Demand, Markets and Prices. Putting supply and demand together, markets and prices.

Elasticity and Its Application

• Elasticity of Demand

Supply, Demand, and Government Policies

• Price Controls, Price Ceilings, and Price Floors

Markets and Evaluating How Well-Off We Are: Consumers, Producers, Efficiency, Welfare, Well-being

Consumers, Producers and the Efficiency of Markets

• Consumers
• Producers
• Entrepreneurs
• Profit
• Efficiency
• Behavioral Economics (more to come)

• Application: The Costs of Taxation (more to come)
• Application: International Trade (more to come)

The Economics of the Public Sector

Externalities, Public Goods, and Common Resources

• Roles of Government
• Market Failures, Public Goods, and Externalities

Rent Seeking and Public Choice

• Government Failures, Rent Seeking, and Public Choice
• Economic Institutions
• Property Rights

The Tax System

• Social Security
• Health Care

Firm Behavior and the Organization of Industry

The Costs of Production

• Costs of Production

Firms in Competitive Markets

• Competition and Market Structures
• Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition (more to come)

The Economics of Labor Markets

Labor Costs, including Labor Unions

• Labor Costs

Employment versus Unemployment

• Employment and Unemployment

Productivity

• Productivity

Earnings and Discrimination

• more to come

The Distribution of Income

• Income Distribution
• Income Inequality

Advanced Topics in Microeconomics

• The Theory of Consumer Choice

Part III: Macroeconomics

Measuring Macroeconomic Data

Measuring a Country’s Income and Growth

• MeasuringGDP and growth
• Measuring the Cost of Living (Consumer Price Index, CPI)
• MeasuringEmployment and Unemployment
• MeasuringInflation
  • Measuring a country’s Money Supply
• Measuring a Country’s Debt
  • Government Budget Deficits and Government Debt
  • International debt (more to come)

The Real Economy in the Long Run

Production and Growth

• Productive Resources
• Costs of Production
  • Environmentalism
• Human Capital
• Technology
• Productivity
• Economic Growth

Saving, Investment, and Personal Financial Decisions

• Credit
• Compound Interest
• Financial Markets
• Saving and Investing
• Risk and Return
• Insurance
• Money Management and Budgeting

Employment, Unemployment, and the Natural Rate of Unemployment

• Employment and Unemployment

Money and Prices in the Long Run

The Monetary System

• Money
• Monetary Policy and the Federal Reserve
• Banks and Financial Institutions

Money Growth and Inflation

• Inflation

Business Cycles, Financial Crises, and Short-Run Economic Fluctuations

Business Cycles, Recessions, Financial Crises

• Business Cycles
• Some specific business cycles
  • Financial Crisis of 2008. The Great Recession.
  • The Great Depression. (SeeBusiness Cycles.)
• Employment and Unemployment

Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply

• Aggregate Demand
• Aggregate Supply

The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand

• Fiscal Policy
• Government Budget Deficits and Government Debt
• The Phillips’ Curve: A Short-Run Tradeoff between Inflation and Unemployment

International Economics and the Macroeconomics of Open Economies

Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts

• Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments
• Foreign Currency Markets and Exchange Rates

Open Economy Macroeconomics

• Barriers to Trade
• Economic Development

Ongoing Debates

Debates over Macroeconomic Policy

• Economic Systems

* Introductions to selected College Economics Topics materials were written by

• Lauren F. Landsburg.
• Arnold S. Kling (Costs of Production)