Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Economics: The Study of Opportunity Cost Appendix 1A Graphing: Yes, You Can Chapter 2 Supply and Demand Chapter 3 The Concept of Elasticity and Consumer and Producer Surplus Chapter 4 Firm Production, Cost, and Revenue Chapter 5 Perfect Competition, Monopoly, and Economic versus Normal Profit Chapter 6 Every Macroeconomic Word You Ever Heard: Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Unemployment, Recession, and Depression Chapter 7 Interest Rates and Present Value Chapter 8 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply Chapter 9 Fiscal Policy Chapter 10 Monetary Policy Chapter 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 Rates Chapter 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 Change Chapter 23 Health Care Chapter 24 Government-Provided Health Insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Child Health Insurance Program Chapter 25 The Economics of Prescription Drugs Chapter 26 So You Want to Be a Lawyer: Economics and the Law Chapter 27 The Economics of Crime Chapter 28 The Economics of Race and Sex Discrimination Chapter 29 Income and Wealth Inequality Chapter 30 Farm Policy Chapter 31 Minimum Wage Chapter 32 Ticket Brokers and Ticket Scalping Chapter 33 Economics of K-12 Education Chapter 34 Economics of College and University Education Chapter 35 Poverty and Welfare Chapter 36 Social Security Chapter 37 Personal Income Taxes Chapter 38 Energy Prices Chapter 39 If We Build It, Will They Come? And Other Sports Questions Chapter 40 The Stock Market Crashes Chapter 41 Unions Chapter 42 Walmart: Always Low Prices (and Low Wages)- Always Chapter 43 The Economic Impact of Casino Gambling Web Chapters The International Monetary Fund: Doctor or Witch Doctor? The Cost of War and Occupation The Economics of Terrorism Rent Control Antitrust Head Start NAFTA, 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.