First Course In Modern Economics

This book started as a collection of my teaching notes for the ECON 52 course that I taught at Stanford University. The objective of that course, and of this book, is to introduce students to the ideas and way of thinking of modern macroeconomics in a unified way that is accessible with a moderate amount of maths. Modern macroeconomics emphasizes explicit microeconomic foundations and general equilibrium analysis, combined with various kinds of constraints and market imperfections. When preparing the class I thought none of the existing textbooks conveyed this in a way that I liked, so I prepared my own notes, which then grew into this book. While mostly self-contained, the book is probably most useful to students who are familiar with the basics of multivariable calculus and have taken a calculus-based microeconomics class.

The First Modern Economy provides a comprehensive economic history of the Netherlands during its rise to European economic leadership, the 'Golden Age', and subsequent decline (1500–1815). The authors argue that it was the first modern economy, and defend their position with detailed analyses of its major economic sectors, as well as investigations of social structure and macro-economic performance. Dutch economic history is placed in its European and world context, and inter-continental and colonial trade are discussed fully. Special emphasis is placed on the environmental context of economic growth and later decline, as well as on demographic developments. The authors also argue that the Dutch model of development and stagnation is applicable to currently maturing economies.

Here is a bold history of economics - the dramatic story of how the great economic thinkers built today's rigorous social science. Noted financial writer and economist Mark Skousen has revised and updated this popular work to provide more material on Adam Smith and Karl Marx, and expanded coverage of Joseph Stiglitz, 'imperfect' markets, and behavioral economics.This comprehensive, yet accessible introduction to the major economic philosophers of the past 225 years begins with Adam Smith and continues through the present day. The text examines the contributions made by each individual to our understanding of the role of the economist, the science of economics, and economic theory. To make the work more engaging, boxes in each chapter highlight little-known - and often amusing - facts about the economists' personal lives that affected their work.

A textbook that approaches modern macroeconomics through its microeconomic foundations, with an emphasis on financial market connections and policy applications. The modern study and analysis of macroeconomics begins by considering how microeconomic units—consumers and firms—make decisions, and then investigates how these choices interact to yield economy-wide outcomes. This innovative textbook takes this “modern” approach, teaching macroeconomics through its microeconomic foundations. It does so by adopting the representative agent paradigm. By modeling the representative consumer and the representative firm, students will learn to describe macroeconomic outcomes and consider the effects of macroeconomic policies. Unique in its coverage of monopolistic competition, financial markets, and the interaction of fiscal and monetary policy, Modern Macroeconomics is suitable for use in intermediate undergraduate, advanced undergraduate, and graduate level courses. The book first introduces the building blocks of macroeconomics, the heart of which is the representative consumer. It goes on to offer a brief history of macroeconomic thought, including supply-side economics, the Phillips curve, and the New Keynesian framework. It then covers two policy applications, monetary policy and the interaction of monetary and fiscal policy; optimal policy analysis for both the flexible price and the rigid price case; long-run steady states, treating the Solow growth framework and the neoclassical growth model; a search-and-matching framework for the analysis of unemployment; and the application of the tools of modern macroeconomics to “open economy,” or international macroeconomics. End-of-chapter problem sets enable students to apply the concepts they have learned. A separate Solutions Manual will be available for students to purchase. Teaching materials, including complete solutions and slides, will be available to qualified instructors.

This work provides a valuable review of the most important developments in economic theory and application over the last decade. Comprising twenty-seven specially commissioned overviews, the volume presents a comprehensive and student-friendly guide to contemporary economics. Previously published by Routledge as part of the Companion to Contemporary Economic Thought, these essays are made available here for the first time in a concise paperback edition. A Guide to Modern Economics will be a valuable guide to all those who wish to familiarize themselves with the most recent developments in the discipline.

An innovative textbook that provides a concise explanation of the foundations of modern macroeconomic theory and its methods.

Understanding Modern Economics is a fresh approach to the survey of economics course, blending just the right amount of theory with dozens of real-world examples to give students the key to modern economic reasoning. Miller's proven methodology harnesses the power of current events and issues to spark students' interest and pave the way to understanding modern economics. Through his use of real-world examples that whet student interest and make complex ideas easier to grasp, Miller gives students the tools they need to analyze supply and demand, the theory of the firm, taxation, inflation, unemployment, national income determination, fiscal and monetary policy, economic growth, and international trade and finance.

Paul Samuelson was at the heart of a revolution in economics. He was "the foremost academic economist of the 20th century," according to the New York Times, and the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. His work transformed the field of economics and helped give it the theoretical and mathematic rigor that increased its influence in business and policy making. In Founder of Modern Economics, Roger E. Backhouse explores the central importance of Samuelson's personality and social networks to understanding his intellectual development. This is the first of two volumes covering Samuelson's extended and productive life and career. This volume surveys Samuelson's early years growing up in the Midwest to his experiences at the University of Chicago and Harvard University, where leading scholars in economics and other disciplines stimulated and rewarded his curiosity. His thinking was influenced by the natural sciences and he understood that a critical, scientific approach increased insights into important social and economic questions. He realized that these questions could not be answered through rhetorical debate but required rigor. His "eureka" moment came, he said, when "a good fairy whispered to me that math was a skeleton key to solve age old problems in economics." Backhouse traces Samuelson's thinking from his early days to the publication of his groundbreaking book Foundations of Economic Analysis and Economics: An Introductory Analysis, which influenced generations of students. His work set the stage for economics to become a more cohesive and coherent discipline, based on mathematical techniques that provided surprising insights into many important topics, from business cycles to wage and unemployment rates, and from how competition influences trade to how tax rates affects tax collection. Founder of Modern Economics is a profound contribution to understanding how modern economics developed and the thinking of a revolutionary thinker.