Help your students visualize economics in action with the most pedagogically-rich, complete text on the market: Irvin Tucker's ECONOMICS FOR TODAY, Eighth Edition. A quick look at this engaging, dynamic text will show you why this is the book that is famous for helping students at all levels of skill and preparation.
Written by an award-winning educator recognized for his work in relating basic economic principles to global issues, Irvin Tucker's ECONOMICS FOR TODAY continues its strong tradition of presentation using a unique textual and visual learning system. This edition concisely presents and reinforces core concepts, then immediately assesses student comprehension to ensure understanding. The latest information on federal deficits, the stimulus package, environmental issues, and other developments in economics today is presented in an engaging, easy-to-follow format that students can quickly grasp and apply to everyday life.
Key Features
- Chapter Previews pique student interest in specific chapter topics: Each chapter begins with an intriguing Preview that reinforces how the chapter topics work within the overall presentation of the book. Students become economics detectives as they work to solve several engaging economic puzzles within each Preview that require them to actively learn and practice concepts from the chapter.
- Margin definitions provide quick reference to key concepts: To ensure students have an immediate understanding of the most important economic concepts, key topics are highlighted with bold type, defined in the text, and defined again in the margins for easy review and reference.
- Conclusion Statements relate key concepts to other economic concepts: To ensure students truly understand and can apply the main concepts within each chapter, highlighted Conclusion Statements at the end of each chapter section place the material just learned into a larger context and relate it to other chapter concepts. A summary of these
- "Economics in Practice" emphasizes the relevance of concepts to everyday life: These intriguing boxed inserts introduce student to timely, real-world extensions of economic theory and provide the acid test of "relevance to everyday life." Students explore memorable examples, such as Fred Smith's economics term paper that led to the creation of FedEx. To ensure students clearly understand the economic theories in practice, all applicable concepts are listed. Engaging quotes from newspaper articles over the years demonstrate how economics concepts remain relevant over time.
- "International Economics" highlights the global reach of today's economics: This edition carefully integrates international topics throughout the text using a highly readable, accessible approach specifically designed for students with no previous exposure to international economics. A special global icon in the margin clearly identifies sections that present international economics. Intriguing "International Economics" boxes and the final three chapters of this edition focus entirely to the challenges of international economics.
- "Analyze the Issue" requires students to test their understanding of principles: These challenging features follow each "Economics in Practice" or "International Economics" insert and test the students' understanding of how content specifically relates to practical economic concepts. Specific, thought-provoking questions can prompt meaningful classroom discussions or be assigned for homework. You will find answers in your Instructor's Manual.
- Unique, fun "Checkpoints" generate student interest and prompt critical thinking: Who says learning economics cannot be fun? The unique, engaging "Checkpoints" throughout this edition spark students' interest while checking their progress using challenging economics puzzles in a game-like style. Your students will enjoy analyzing and answering the intriguing questions, and checking answers at the end of the chapter. Students gain personal satisfaction as they realize they have truly mastered a concept.
- Point-by-point visual summaries highlight key concepts: Each chapter ends with a brief point-by-point summary of key concepts, including miniaturized versions of important graphs and causation chains that illustrate concepts.
- These useful, quick-reference visual reminders summarize concepts as students finish chapters and offer ideal tools for efficient review and study for quizzes and exams.
- Variety of study questions and problems offer range of difficulty for practice and review: Proven end-of-chapter questions and problems range from straightforward recall of concepts to deeper, thought-provoking applications. Answers to odd-numbered questions and problems appear in the back of the text to give students immediate feedback.
- Practice quizzes and website provide opportunities for student review: Your students can easily prepare for success on quizzes and tests with multiple-choice sections at the end of each chapter that offer questions similar to those in the Test Bank. Students can check answers at the back of the text. The text's Companion Website (http://www.cengage.com/economics/tucker) also provides student tutorials with visual explanations of each correct answer and corresponding page reference from the text. Students even see graphs shift as arrows point to key changes in prices, output and other variables.
New to This Edition
- NEWLY UPDATED Chapter 9 focuses on power of monopolies: Concepts of monopoly become clear as this edition's Chapter 9 illustrates the concepts of network good, linking economies of scale and monopoly power to student-relevant examples: Facebook and Match.com.
- NEW "Global Economics" feature explores environmental challenges: Your students examine the challenges of resolving green issues as a new "Global Economics" feature in Ch. 14, "Why is the Climate Change Problem So Hard to Solve?" delves into this topic of growing, critical importance.
- NEWLY UPDATED Appendix fully explains opposing self-correction model: You have the flexibility of exploring certain concepts in more depth. The new Chapter 20 Appendix fully develops and explains the opposing self-correction model based on downward flexibility of prices and wages and a downward-shifting short-run aggregate supply curve.
- NEW clear explanation of stimulus package and spending multiplier process: New content on Fiscal Policy (Ch. 21) uses real-world numbers to clarify and fully explain the stimulus package and spending multiplier process.
- The latest information on federal debt ensures students understand recent, contemporary developments: Up-to-the-minute, updated data and exhibits throughout this edition's chapter titled Federal Deficits, Surpluses, and the National Debt (Ch. 23) gives students a better understanding of these critical issues and their impact in economics today.
- NEWLY UPDATED PowerPoint® slides engage students and bring concepts to life: New author-developed, classroom-tested PowerPoint® lecture slides capture students' attention while providing further clarification of the key economic concepts throughout this edition.
- InfoTrac® Student Collections are specialized databases expertly drawn from the Gale Academic One library. Each InfoTrac® Student Collection enhances the student learning experience in the specific course area related to the product. These specialized databases allow access to hundreds of scholarly and popular publications - all reliable sources - including journals, encyclopedias, and academic reports.
Contents
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS.
- 1. Introducing the Economic Way of Thinking.
- Appendix: Applying Graphs to Economics.
- 2. Production Possibilities, Opportunity Cost, and Economic Growth.
PART II: MICROECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS.
- 3. Market Demand and Supply.
- Appendix: Consumer Surplus, Producer Surplus, and Market Efficiency.
- 4. Markets in Action.
- Appendix: Applying Supply and Demand Analysis to Health Care.
- 5. Price Elasticity of Demand and Supply.
- 6. Consumer Choice Theory.
- Appendix: Indifference Curve Analysis.
- 7. Production Costs.
PART III. MARKET STRUCTURES.
- 8. Perfect Competition.
- 9. Monopoly.
- 10. Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly.
- 11. Labor Markets.
PART IV: MICROECONOMIC POLICY ISSUES.
- 12. Income Distribution, Poverty, and Discrimination.
- 13. Antitrust and Regulation.
- 14. Environmental Economics.
PART V: MACROECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS.
- 15. Gross Domestic Product.
- Appendix: A Four-Sector Circular Flow Model.
- 16. Business Cycles and Unemployment.
- 17. Inflation.
PART VI: MACROECONOMIC THEORY AND POLICY.
- 18. The Keynesian Model.
- 19. The Keynesian Model in Action.
- 20. Aggregate Demand and Supply.
- Appendix: The Self-Correcting Aggregate Demand and Supply Model.
- 21. Fiscal Policy.
- 22. The Public Sector.
- 23. Federal Deficits, Surpluses, and the National Debt.
PART VII: MONEY, BANKING, AND MONETARY POLICY.
- 24. Money and the Federal Reserve System.
- 25. Money Creation.
- 26. Monetary Policy.
- Appendix: Policy Disputes Using the Self-Correcting Aggregate Demand and Supply Model.
- 27. The Phillips Curve and Expectations Theory.
PART VIII: THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY.
- 28. International Trade and Finance.
- 29. Economies in Transition.
- 30. Growth and the Less-Developed Countries.
Appendices
- Appendix A Answers to Odd-Numbered Study Questions and Problems.
- Appendix B Answers to Practice Quizzes.
- Appendix C Answers to Road Map Questions.
About the Authors
- Dr. Irvin B. Tucker brings more than thirty years of experience teaching introductory economics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte to this text. Dr. Tucker earned his B.S. in economics at N.C. State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Tucker was a longtime member of the National Council on Economic Education and former Director of the Center for Economic Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Recognized for his ability to relate basic economic principles to global issues and public policy, Dr. Tucker's work has received national recognition throughout his career. He is the recipient of the Meritorious Leavy Award for Excellence in Private Enterprise Education, the Federation of Independent Business Award for Postsecondary Educator of the Year in Entrepreneurship and Economic Education, and the Freedom Foundation's George Washington Medal for Excellence in Economic Education. In addition, he has published numerous professional journal articles on topics including industrial organization, entrepreneurship, and sports economics. Dr. Tucker is also the author of the highly successful SURVEY OF ECONOMICS, a text for the one-term survey of economics course, published by Cengage Learning.
Book Details
- Hardcover: 944 pages
- Publisher: Cengage Learning; 8 edition (2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1133190103
- ISBN-13: 978-1133190103
- Product Dimensions: 1.4 x 8.3 x 10.2 inches
- List Price: $329.95