ABSTRACT

Microeconomic Principles and Problems offers a comprehensive introduction to all major perspectives in modern economics, including mainstream and heterodox approaches. Through providing multiple views of markets and how they work, it will leave readers better able to understand and analyse the complex behaviours of consumers, firms, and government officials, as well as the likely impact of a variety of economic events and policies.

Most principles of microeconomics textbooks cover only mainstream economics, ignoring rich heterodox ideas. They also lack material on the great economists, including the important ideas of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek. Mainstream books neglect the kind of historical analysis that is crucial to understanding trends that help us predict the future. Moreover, they focus on abstract models more than existing economic realities. This engaging book addresses these inadequacies. Including explicit coverage of the major heterodox schools of thought, it allows the reader to choose which ideas they find most compelling in explaining modern economic realities.

Written in an engaging style focused on real world examples, this ground-breaking book brings economics to life. It offers the most contemporary and complete package for any pluralistic microeconomics class.

part |1 pages

Economics

chapter |18 pages

What is economics?

The answer depends on who you ask

chapter |20 pages

Scarcity, choice, and opportunity cost

The mainstream approach, the PPC model, the limits of this approach, and the importance of institutions

part |3 pages

The evolution of economic ideas and systems

chapter |23 pages

The evolution of pre-capitalist economic systems

From communal societies to empires, feudalism, and mercantilism

chapter |18 pages

Adam Smith and the rise of capitalism

The era of laissez-faire

chapter |19 pages

Karl Marx and the dark ages of capitalism

Historical materialism, surplus value, and the exploitation of labor

chapter |21 pages

Thorstein Veblen and monopoly capitalism

The rise of manufacturing and the fall of laissez-faire

chapter |24 pages

Keynes and mixed market capitalism

How to save capitalism from itself

chapter |21 pages

Modern economic systems

Market Dominated, Social Market, and State Dominated Economies

part |2 pages

Markets, supply, and demand

chapter |30 pages

Markets and how they work

The institutional foundations of markets, and the supply and demand model

chapter |30 pages

Applications of supply and demand

Wages, advertising, price floors and ceilings, excise taxes and subsidies, consumer and producer surplus, and elasticity

chapter |22 pages

Consumer and supplier behavior

The complexities of market analysis

part |2 pages

Market structures and corporations

chapter |24 pages

Different types of market structures

And how they affect market outcomes

chapter |22 pages

Perfect competition and competitive markets

The perfect, Smithian market structure

chapter |22 pages

Monopoly and monopoly power

Natural and non-natural monopolies and how the government regulates them

chapter |15 pages

Monopolistic competition

The market for local services and other easy-to-enter industries with unique products

chapter |19 pages

Oligopoly and strategic behavior

The nature of large firm competition and an introduction to game theory

chapter |19 pages

Corporations and their role in society

The good and bad side of limited liability corporations

part |2 pages

Government intervention in microeconomic markets

chapter |29 pages

Market failure and government failure

The primary role for government in microeconomic markets

chapter |20 pages

The economics of the environment and climate change

A key issue of our time

chapter |25 pages

Public goods and services

Do we have the right balance of public and private goods and services?

part |2 pages

Labor markets and inequality

chapter |32 pages

Working for a living

The labor market and the forces that affect your working life

chapter |27 pages

Inequality, a key modern issue

Class, race, gender, and distribution

part |2 pages

International microeconomics

chapter |24 pages

International microeconomics

Trade, protectionism, and exchange rates