In recent years, innovative texts in mathematics, science, foreign languages, and other fields have achieved dramatic pedagogical gains by abandoning the traditional encyclopedic approach in favor of teaching a shorter list of core principles in depth. Two well-respected writers and researchers, Bob Frank and Ben Bernanke, have shown that the less-is-more approach affords similar gains in introductory economics. The authors introduce a coherent short list of core principles and reinforce them by illustrating and applying each in numerous contexts. With engaging questions, explanations and exercises, the authors help students relate economic principles to a host of everyday experiences such as going to the ATM or purchasing airline tickets. Throughout this process, the authors encourage students to become “economic naturalists:” people who employ basic economic principles to understand and explain what they observe in the world around them.
Principles of Microeconomics, fifth edition, is thoroughly updated with examples that connect to current events such as the financial crisis of 2008 and Great Recession of 2007-2009 as well as other topics commonly discussed in the media. In addition, the text is paired with McGraw-Hill’s market-leading online assignment and assessment solution Connect Economics, providing tools to enhance course management and student learning.
Contents
Part 1 Introduction
- Chapter 1. Thinking Like an Economist
- Chapter 2. Comparative Advantage
- Chapter 3. Supply and Demand
Part 2 Competition and the Invisible Hand
- Chapter 4. Elasticity
- Chapter 5. Demand
- Chapter 6. Perfectly Competitive Supply
- Chapter 7. Efficiency, Exchange, and the Invisible Hand in Action
Part 3 Market Imperfections
- Chapter 8. Monopoly, Oligopoly, and Monopolistic Competition
- Chapter 9. Games and Strategic Behavior
- Chapter 10. Externalities and Property Rights
- Chapter 11. The Economics of Information
Part 4 Economics of Public Policy
- Chapter 12. Labor Markets, Poverty, and Income Distribution
- Chapter 13. The Environment, Health, and Safety
- Chapter 14. Public Goods and Tax Policy
About the Author
- Robert H. Frank received his B.S. in mathematics from Georgia Tech in 1966, then taught math and science for two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Nepal. He received his M.A. in statistics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971, and his Ph.D. in economics in 1972, also from U.C. Berkeley. He is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Economics at Cornell University, where he has taught since 1972 and where he currently holds a joint appointment in the department of economics and the Johnson Graduate School of Management. During leaves of absence from Cornell, he served as chief economist for the Civil Aeronautics Board from 1978 to 1980 and was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1992-93. He has published on a variety of subjects, including price and wage discrimination, public utility pricing, the measurement of unemployment spell lengths, and the distributional consequences of direct foreign investment. For the past several years, his research has focused on rivalry and cooperation in economic and social behavior. His books on these themes include Choosing the Right Pond: Human Behavior and the Quest for Status (Oxford University Press, 1985) and Passions Within Reason: The Strategic Role of the Emotions (W.W. Norton, 1988). He and Philip Cook are co-authors of The Winner-Take-All Society (The Free Press, 1995) , which received a Critic’s Choice Award and appeared on both the New York Times Notable Books list and Business Week Ten Best list for 1995. His most recent general interest publication is Luxury Fever (The Free Press, 1999). Professor Frank’s books have been translated into eight languages. He has been awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Professorship (1987 – 1990), a Kenan Enterprise Award (1993), and a Merrill Scholars Program Outstanding Educator Citation (1991).
- Professor Bernanke received his B.A. in Economics from Harvard University in 1975 and his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1979. He taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business from 1979 to 1985 and moved to Princeton University in 1985, where he was named the Howard Harrison and Gabrielle Snyder Beck Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, where he served as Chairman of the Economics Department. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Econometrics Society. He was named a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in 2002 and became the chairman of the President's council of Economic Advisers in 2005. In 2006 Ben Bernanke was selected to be the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Professor Bernanke's intermediate textbook, with Andrew Abel, Macroeconomics, Fifth Edition (Addison-Wesley, 2004) is a best seller in its field. He has authored more than 50 scholarly publications in macroeconomics, macroeconomic history, and finance. He has done significant research on the causes of the Great Depression, the role of financial markets and institutions in the business cycle, and measuring the effects of monetary policy on the economy. His two most recent books, both published by Princeton University Press, include Inflation Targeting: Lessons from the International Experience (with coauthors) and Essays on the Great Depression. He has served as editor of the American Economic Review and was the founding editor of the International Journal of Central Banking. Professor Bernanke has taught principles of economics at both Stanford and Princeton.
Book Details
- Paperback: 608 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; 5 edition
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 007731851X
- ISBN-13: 978-0077318512
- Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 0.6 x 10.8 inches
- List Price: $209.00