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Throughout Macroeconomics, authors Daron Acemoglu, David Laibson, and John List use real economic questions and data to help students learn about the world around them. Taking a fresh approach, the authors use the themes of optimization, equilibrium and empiricism to illustrate the power of simple economic ideas, and their ability to explain, predict, and improve what happens in the world. Each chapter begins with an empirical question that is later answered using data in the Evidence-Based Economics feature. As a result of the text’s practical emphasis, students will learn to apply economic principles to guide the decisions they make in their own lives. Features: Three key principles — optimization, equilibrium, and empiricism — lie at the heart of the authors’ approach. 1. Optimization. The first principle — that people try to choose the best available option — is optimization. Economists believe that optimization explains most choices people make, including minor decisions like deciding whether to eat a cheeseburger, and major decisions like deciding whom to date or marry. When people fail to optimize perfectly, economic reasoning can be used to analyze the mistake and to suggest a better course of action. 2. Equilibrium. Economic systems tend toward equilibrium, wherein each economic actor feels that he or she cannot do any better by picking another course of action. This principle highlights the connections among economic actors and their choices. In a state of equilibrium, consumers and purveyors of goods and services are simultaneously optimizing, and their behaviors are consequently intertwined. 3. Empiricism. While the first two key principles are conceptual, the third is methodological. Economists use data to test economic theories, learn about the world, and speak to policymakers. The emphasis on matching theories with real-world data to answer specific questions helps to show students the evidence behind the theory, making economics concrete, interesting, and fun. Table of Contents: I. Introduction to Economics1. The Principles and Practice of Economics2. Economic Methods and Economic Questions3. Optimization: Doing the Best You Can4. Demand, Supply, and EquilibriumII. Introduction to Macroeconomics5. The Wealth of Nations: Defining and Measuring Macroeconomic Aggregates6. Aggregate IncomesIII. Long-Run Growth and Development7. Economic Growth8. Why Isn't the Whole World Developed? IV. Equilibrium in the Macroeconomy9. Employment and Unemployment10. Credit Markets11. The Monetary SystemV. Short-Run Fluctuations and Macroeconomic Policy12. Short-run Fluctuations13. Countercyclical Macroeconomic PolicyVI. Macroeconomics in a Global Economy14. Macroeconomics and International Trade15. Open Economy MacroeconomicsWeb Chapter 1. Financial Decision MakingWeb Chapter 2. Economics of Life, Health, and the EnvironmentWeb Chapter 3. Political Economy