3 Review(s)

Popular for its coverage of modern policy issues, this clearly written text was the first to discuss long-run (macro) fundamentals before exploring short-term economic fluctuations. The Sixth Edition maintains the text's modern approach with concise yet thorough coverage of current economic theories. New co-author Akila Weerapana brings attention to the needs of today's students by thoroughly refreshing examples, applications, and end-of-chapter problems throughout the text. Streamlined content and pedagogy and the simplification of advanced topics make the material more accessible. Chapter 3, for example, now focuses solely on supply, demand, and market equilibrium, and boxed features have been realigned to maximize accessibility. John B. Taylor's recent service as Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs strengthens the text's focus on policy issues and the international sector. Proven pedagogy includes Taylor/Weerapana's trademark Conversation boxes, providing students with succinct, step-by-step guidance through particularly difficult concepts. Key Feature More than half of the Economics in the News boxes are new and many of the Economics in Action boxes have been revised, providing both instructors and students with fresh applications to discuss. A new threaded example--the fluctuating price of gasoline--has been added to Chapter 2 to describe an economic event, including how it affects consumer behavior and factors that explain it. Chapter 5, "The Demand Curve and the Behavior of Consumers," now includes a more detailed discussion of some important properties of utility, including its ordinal nature, its reflection of individual preferences, the concept of diminishing marginal utility and the property of nonsatiation. The discussion on the efficiency of competitive markets in Chapter 7 has been enhanced with explicit analysis of deadweight loss associated with price ceilings and floors in addition to taxation. New examples have been added that draw on Taylor's experience as Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, including discussions of the history of money, and of the new Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) program, through which the U.S. gives assistance to less developed countries. Chapter 19, Transition Economies, has been eliminated and Chapter 18, International Trade Policy, is the new capstone chapter.