Table of Contents
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Chapter 1: Economic Thinking
- Why It Matters: Economic Thinking
- Outcome: What Is Economics?
- Video: Scarcity and Choice
- Reading: Understanding Economics and Scarcity
- Video: Resources
- Reading: The Concept of Opportunity Cost
- Reading: Labor, Markets, and Trade
- Video: Micro vs. Macro
- Reading: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics
- Outcome: Economic Models
- Reading: Using Economic Models
- Outcome: Math in Economics
- Reading: Purpose of Functions
- Reading: Solving Simple Equations
- Outcome: Graphs in Economics
- Video: Graph Review
- Reading: Creating and Interpreting Graphs
- Reading: Interpreting Slope
- Reading: Types of Graphs
- Problem Set: Math in Economics
- Problem Set: Graphs in Economics
- Putting It Together: Economic Thinking
- Glossary: Economic Thinking
Chapter 2: Choice in a World of Scarcity
- Why It Matters: Choice in a World of Scarcity
- Outcome: The Cost of Choices
- Reading: Budget Constraints and Choices
- Reading: Calculating Opportunity Cost
- Outcome: The Production Possibilities Frontier
- Video: Society's Production Possibilities Curve
- Reading: The Production Possibilities Frontier
- Reading: Productive Efficiency and Allocative Efficiency
- Outcome: Economic Rationality
- Reading: Rationality and Self-Interest
- Reading: Rationality in Action
- Outcome: Marginal Analysis
- Reading: Marginal Analysis
- Outcome: Positive and Normative Statements
- Video: Positive and Normative Analysis
- Reading: Positive and Normative Statements
- Problem Sets: Budget Constraints and Opportunity Cost
- Problem Set: Marginal Analysis
- Putting It Together: Choice in a World of Scarcity
- Glossary: Choice in a World of Scarcity
- Discussion: Is Economics a Science?
Chapter 3: Supply and Demand
- Why It Matters: Supply and Demand
- Outcome: Economic Systems
- Reading: Economic Systems
- Outcome: Demand
- Reading: What Is Demand?
- Video: Change in Demand vs. Change in Quantity Demanded
- Reading: Factors Affecting Demand
- Worked Example: Shift in Demand
- Reading: Summary of Factors That Change Demand
- Simulation: Demand for Food Trucks
- Self Check: Demand
- Outcome: Supply
- Reading: What Is Supply?
- Reading: Factors Affecting Supply
- Worked Example: Shift in Supply
- Reading: Summary of Factors That Change Supply
- Simulation: Supply of Food Trucks
- Self Check: Supply
- Outcome: Equilibrium
- Reading: Equilibrium, Surplus, and Shortage
- Video: Market Equilibrium
- Reading: Changes in Equilibrium
- Worked Example: Supply and Demand
- Simulation: Food Trucks and Changes in Equilibrium
- Self Check: Equilibrium
- Problem Set: Supply and Demand 1
- Problem Set: Supply and Demand 2
- Problem Set: Supply and Demand 3
- Putting It Together: Supply and Demand
- Glossary: Supply and Demand
- Discussion: Supply and Demand
Chapter 4: Elasticity
- Why It Matters: Elasticity
- Outcome: Explaining Elasticity
- Reading: Introduction to Elasticity
- Video: Price Elasticity of Demand
- Reading: Examples of Elastic and Inelastic Demand
- Outcome: Calculating Price Elasticity
- Reading: Calculating Percentage Changes and Growth Rates
- Reading: Calculating Price Elasticities
- Reading: Three Categories of Elasticity
- Reading: Polar Cases of Elasticity
- Outcome: Other Elasticities
- Reading: Other Types of Elasticity
- Worked Example: Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand
- Self Check: Other Elasticities
- Outcome: Price Elasticity and Total Revenue
- Reading: Elasticity and Total Revenue
- Reading: Elasticity, Costs, and Customers
- Problem Set: Elasticity
- Putting It Together: Elasticity
- Glossary: Elasticity
- Discussion: Price Elasticity of Demand
Chapter 5: Government Action
- Why It Matters: Government Action
- Outcome: Price Ceilings
- Reading: Price Ceilings
- Outcome: Price Floors
- Reading: Price Floors
- Case in Point: Organic Foods
- Self Check: Impact of Binding Price Ceilings or Price Floors
- Outcome: Tax Incidence
- Reading: Tax Incidence
- Outcome: Taxation
- Reading: Financing Government
- Reading: Types of Taxes
- Reading: Taxation
- A Worked Example: Price Controls
- Putting It Together: Government Action
- Glossary: Government Action
- Discussion: Junk Food and Government Action
Chapter 6: Surplus
Chapter 7: Macroeconomic Measures: GDP and Unemployment
- Why It Matters: GDP and Unemployment
- Outcome: Economic Indicators
- Reading: The Macroeconomic Perspective
- Outcome: Calculating GDP
- Reading: Calculating GDP
- Reading: Measuring Total Output
- Outcome: GDP and Income
- Reading: Alternative Ways to Measure the Economy
- Reading: Gross National Product: An Alternative Measure of Output
- Outcome: The Unemployment Rate
- Reading: Unemployment
- Reading: Calculating Unemployment
- Reading: Criticisms of Measuring Unemployment
- Reading: Difficulties Measuring Unemployment
- Outcome: Types of Unemployment
- Reading: Types of Unemployment
- Reading: Patterns of Unemployment
- Reading: Changes in Unemployment over the Short Run
- Reading: Changes in Unemployment over the Long Run
- Putting It Together: Macroeconomic Measures of Performance
- Glossary: Macroeconomic Measures of Performance
- Discussion: State of the Macroeconomy
Chapter 8: Macroeconomic Measures: Inflation and Price Indexes
- Why It Matters: Inflation and Price Indexes
- Outcome: Rate of Inflation
- Reading: Introduction to Inflation
- Reading: Computing the Rate of Inflation
- Reading: Tracking Inflation
- Reading: How Changes in the Cost of Living are Measured
- Outcome: Consequences of Price Instability
- Reading: The Confusion Over Inflation
- Reading: Why Care about Inflation?
- Outcome: Price Indexes
- Reading: Price Indexes
- Reading: The CPI and PCE
- Outcome: Price Indexes and Real Data
- Reading: Nominal and Real Values
- Reading: Computing Real Values Using Price Indexes
- Outcome: Defining the GDP Price Index
- Reading: The Implicit Price Deflator
- Outcome: Nominal and Real GDP
- Reading: Real GDP
- Reading: Converting Nominal to Real GDP
- Putting It Together: Inflation and Price Indexes
- Glossary: Inflation and Price Indexes
Chapter 9: Macro Workings
- Why It Matters: Macro Workings
- Outcome: The Business Cycle
- Reading: Tracking Real GDP Over Time
- Reading: Phases of the Business Cycle
- Reading: Overheating and Stagflation
- Video: The Business Cycle
- Self Check: The Business Cycle
- Outcome: Defining Economic Growth
- Reading: Introduction to Economic Growth
- Reading: Economic Growth
- Reading: The Significance of Economic Growth
- Reading: Rule of Law and Economic Growth
- Reading: Labor Productivity and Economic Growth
- Reading: The "New Economy" Controversy
- Reading: Components of Economic Growth
- Reading: Determinants of Economic Growth
- Self Check: Sources of Economic Growth
- Outcome: The Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model
- Reading: The Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model
- Reading: Macroeconomic Perspectives on Demand and Supply
- Video: Overview of Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply Model
- Reading: Building a Model of Aggregate Supply and Aggregate Demand
- Reading: Aggregate Demand
- Reading: Shifts in Aggregate Supply
- Reading: The Long Run and the Short Run
- Reading: Shifts in Aggregate Demand
- Reading: Growth and Recession in the AS–AD Diagram
- Simulation: Spend or Save—Government Edition
- Self Check: The AD-AS Model and Growth, Recession, Expansion, and Inflation
- Putting It Together: Macro Workings
- Glossary: Macro Workings
- Discussion: Business Cycle
Chapter 10: Keynesian and Neoclassical Economics
- Why It Matters: Keynesian and Neoclassical Economics
- Outcome: Keynesian Economics and the AD-AS Model
- Reading: Introduction to the Keynesian Perspective
- Reading: Keynes' Law and Demand
- Reading: Aggregate Demand in Keynesian Analysis
- Reading: The Building Blocks of Keynesian Analysis
- Reading: The Phillips Curve
- Reading: The GDP Gap
- Reading: The Keynesian Perspective on Market Forces
- Outcome: The Expenditure Output Model
- Reading: The Expenditure-Output Model
- Reading: Using an Algebraic Approach to the Expenditure-Output Model
- Reading: Equilibrium and The Expenditure-Output Model
- Reading: The Multiplier Effect
- Outcome: Neoclassical Economics and the AD-AS Model
- Reading: Introduction to the Neoclassical Perspective
- Reading: Say’s Law and the Macroeconomics of Supply
- Reading: The Neoclassical Perspective and Aggregate Demand and Supply
- Reading: The Neoclassical Perspective and Flexible Prices
- Outcome: Applying the Keynesian and Neoclassical Perspectives
- Reading: Keynes’ Law and Say’s Law in the AD/AS Model
- Video: Macroeconomic Perspectives
- Reading: Speed of Macroeconomic Adjustment
- Reading: Balancing Keynesian and Neoclassical Models
- Putting It Together: Keynesian and Neoclassical Economics
- Glossary: Keynesian and Neoclassical Economics
- Discussion Topic: Keynesian vs. Neoclassical Economics
Chapter 11: Fiscal Policy
- Why It Matters: Fiscal Policy
- Outcome: The Federal Budget
- Reading: Introduction to Government Budgets and Fiscal Policy
- Reading: Federal Government Spending
- Reading: Federal Taxes
- Outcome: State and Local Budgets
- Reading: State and Local Government Spending
- Reading: State and Local Taxes
- Outcome: Fiscal Policy and Tax Rates
- Reading: Fiscal Policy
- Outcome: Expansionary and Contractionary Fiscal Policies
- Reading: Using Fiscal Policy to Fight Recession, Unemployment, and Inflation
- Outcome: Discretionary and Automatic Fiscal Policy
- Reading: Fiscal Policy and Stabilizers
- Reading: Counterbalancing Recession and Boom
- Reading: The Standardized Employment Deficit or Surplus
- Outcome: Changes in Tax and Spending
- Reading: Tax Changes
- Video: Tax Cuts During the Recession
- Putting It Together: Fiscal Policy
- Self Check: Changes in Tax and Spending
- Glossary: Fiscal Policy
- Discussion: Economic Impact of Lower Corporate Tax Rate
Chapter 12: Monetary Policy
- Why It Matters: Monetary Policy
- Outcome: Defining Money
- Reading: Introduction to Money and Banking
- Reading: Defining Money by Its Functions
- Reading: Measuring Money: Currency, M1, and M2
- Video: What is Money?
- Self Check: Defining Money
- Outcome: Defining Credit
- Reading: Credit
- Outcome: Banks
- Reading: The Role of Banks
- Outcome: Lending and Money Creation
- Reading: How Banks Create Money
- Reading: Money Creation
- Outcome: The Federal Reserve
- Reading: The Federal Reserve Banking System and Central Banks
- Reading: The Money Multiplier and a Multi-Bank System
- Outcome: Defining Monetary Policy
- Reading: Monetary Policy
- Reading: Goals of Monetary Policy
- Reading: Tools of Monetary Policy
- Outcome: Interest Rates
- Reading: Defining Interest Rates
- Reading: Federal Funds, Prime, and Discount Interest Rates
- Outcome: The Equilibrium Rate
- Reading: Demand and Supply in Financial Markets
- Reading: The Demand for Money
- Outcome: Open Market Operations
- Reading: Monetary Policy and Interest Rates
- Outcome: Monetary Policy and GDP
- Reading: Monetary Policy and Aggregate Demand
- Putting It Together: Monetary Policy
- Glossary: Monetary Policy
- Discussion: Impact of Low Interest Rates on Monetary Policy
Chapter 13: Policy Application
- Why It Matters: Policy Application
- Outcome: Keynesian Policy Prescriptions
- Reading: Keynesian View on Changes in Government Spending and Taxation
- Reading: Liquidity Trap
- Reading: The Expenditure Multiplier
- Reading: Crowding Out
- Outcome: Neoclassical Policy Prescriptions
- Reading: Effects of Tax and Spending Policy from a Neoclassical Perspective
- Reading: Supply-Side Economics
- Reading: Policy Implications of the Neoclassical Perspective: Policy Lags
- Reading: Policy Implications: No Phillips Curve Tradeoff
- Reading: New Classical Economics and Rational Expectations
- Reading: Ricardian Equivalence: How Government Borrowing Affects Private Saving
- Reading: Policy Implications: Inflation, Recession, and Unemployment
- Outcome: Real World Macro Policy Options
- Reading: Introduction to Real World Macro Policy Options
- Reading: Lessons from the 1970s
- Reading: Crowding Out Revisited
- Reading: Practical Problems with Discretionary Fiscal Policy
- Putting It Together: Policy Application
- Glossary: Policy Application
- Discussion: Macropolicy
Chapter 14: Globalization, Trade and Finance
- Why It Matters: Globalization, Trade and Finance
- Outcome: Comparative and Absolute Advantage
- Reading: Introduction to International Trade
- Reading: Absolute and Comparative Advantage
- Reading: Absolute Advantage
- Reading: Intra-Industry Trade
- Reading: Reducing Barriers to Trade
- Outcome: Impact of International Trade
- Reading: Demand and Supply Analysis of International Trade
- Outcome: Impact of Government Regulations
- Reading: Restrictions on International Trade
- Reading: Justifications for Trade Restriction
- Video: Types of Trade Restrictions
- Case in Point: Outsourcing, Insourcing, and Employment
- Outcome: Trade Policy and Agreements
- Reading: The Tradeoffs of Trade Policy
- Reading: How Trade Policy Is Enacted
- Videos: Trade Agreements
- Self Check: Trade Policy and Agreements
- Outcome: Exchange Rates and International Finance
- Reading: Exchange Rates and International Capital Flows
- Reading: The Foreign Exchange Market
- Reading: Strengthening and Weakening Currency
- Reading: Demand and Supply Shifts in Foreign Exchange Markets
- Outcome: The Balance of Trade
- Reading: Macroeconomic Effects of Exchange Rates
- Reading: Exchange-Rate Policies
- Outcome: Globalization
- Reading: Introduction to Globalization
- Reading: Trade Winds
- Simulation: International Trade
- Putting It Together: Globalization, Trade and Finance
- Self Check: Globalization
- Glossary: International Trade
- Discussion: Absolute and Comparative Advantage
Course Information
Module 1: Introduction to Macroeconomics
Module 2: The Market System
Module 3: Government and the Economy
Module 4: Measuring the Economy
Module 5: Unemployment and Inflation
Module 6: Money and Banking
Module 7: World Poverty and Underdevlopment
Module 8: International Trade
Final Examination