Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Economics: The Study of Opportunity CostAppendix 1A Graphing: Yes, You CanChapter 2 Supply and DemandChapter 3 The Concept of Elasticity and Consumer and Producer SurplusChapter 4 Firm Production, Cost, and RevenueChapter 5 Perfect Competition, Monopoly, and Economic versus Normal ProfitChapter 6 Every Macroeconomic Word You Ever Heard: Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Unemployment, Recession, and DepressionChapter 7 Interest Rates and Present ValueChapter 8 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate SupplyChapter 9 Fiscal PolicyChapter 10 Monetary PolicyChapter 11 Federal Spending Chapter 12 Federal Deficits, Surpluses, and the National Debt Chapter 13 The Housing Bubble Chapter 14 The Recession of 2007-2009: Causes and Policy Responses Chapter 15 Japan's Lost Decade: Could it Happen to the United States? Chapter 16 Is the (Fiscal) Sky Falling: An Examination of Unfunded Social Security, Medicare, and State and Local Pension Liabilities Chapter 17 International Trade: Does It Jeopardize American Jobs? Chapter 18 International Finance and Exchange RatesChapter 19 The European Debt Crisis Chapter 20 Economic Growth and Development Chapter 21 The Line Between Legal and Illegal Goods Chapter 22 Natural Resources, the Environment, and Climate ChangeChapter 23 Health CareChapter 24 Government-Provided Health Insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Child Health Insurance ProgramChapter 25 The Economics of Prescription DrugsChapter 26 So You Want to Be a Lawyer: Economics and the LawChapter 27 The Economics of CrimeChapter 28 The Economics of Race and Sex DiscriminationChapter 29 Income and Wealth InequalityChapter 30 Farm PolicyChapter 31 Minimum WageChapter 32 Ticket Brokers and Ticket ScalpingChapter 33 Economics of K-12 EducationChapter 34 Economics of College and University EducationChapter 35 Poverty and WelfareChapter 36 Social SecurityChapter 37 Personal Income TaxesChapter 38 Energy PricesChapter 39 If We Build It, Will They Come? And Other Sports QuestionsChapter 40 The Stock Market CrashesChapter 41 UnionsChapter 42 Walmart: Always Low Prices (and Low Wages)- Always Chapter 43 The Economic Impact of Casino GamblingWeb ChaptersThe International Monetary Fund: Doctor or Witch Doctor?The Cost of War and OccupationThe Economics of Terrorism Rent ControlAntitrustHead StartNAFTA, GATT, WTO: Are Trade Agreements Good for Us?Health Care Reform: Was it the Right Reform?

About the Author

Dr. Robert C. Guell (pronounced "Gill") is a professor of economics at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana. He earned a B.A in statistics and economics in 1986 and an M.S. in economics one year later from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In 1991, he earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, where he discovered the thrill of teaching. He has taught courses for freshmen, upper-division undergraduates, and graduate students from the principles level, through public finance, all the way to mathematical economics and econometrics. Dr. Guell's passion for teaching economics led him to request an assignment with the largest impact. The one-semester general education basic economics course became the vehicle to express that passion. Unsatisfied with the books available for the course, he made it his calling to produce an all-in-one readable issues-based text.