Economics, theory and practice / Patrick J. Welch, Gerry F. Welch.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine derived contents note: Preface. -- PART ONE: Introduction to Economics. -- CHAPTER 1. Introduction to Economics. -- What Is Economics? -- Economics and Scarcity. -- Scarcity and Choice. -- Application 1.1: The Cost of Holding a Job. -- Efficiency and Equity. -- Factors of Production. -- Factors and Income. -- Scarce Resources. -- Economic Theory and Policy. -- Application 1.2: How Much Do I needto be Happy? -- Economic Theory. -- Application 1.3: OK, What Are They? -- Economic Policy. -- Up for Debate: Should the City Council of Webster Groves, Missouri, Change Its Ordinances to Permit the Sale of Beer in Gasoline Stations? -- Tools of the Economist. -- Words, Graphs, and Mathematical Equations. -- Scarcity, Model Building, and Graphs. -- Modeling Scarcity. -- Interpreting the Model. -- Test Your Understanding: Production Possibilities. -- Macroeconomics and Microeconomics. -- Critical Thinking Case 1: Rethinking Medical Care. -- CHAPTER 1. APPENDIX Graphing. -- CHAPTER 2. Economic Decision Makingand Economic Systems. -- Scarcity and Society's Basic EconomicDecisions. -- Economic Systems and the Three Basic Economic Decisions. -- Traditional or Agrarian Economies. -- Economic Decisions in a Traditional Economy. -- Up for Debate 2.1: Is Western-Style Development Appropriate for Other Cultures? -- Market Economies. -- The Operation of a Market Economy. -- Economic Decisions in a Market Economy. -- Application 2.1: Missing the Market. -- Evaluating Market Economies. -- Government Intervention in a Market Economy: A Mixed Economy. -- Planned Economies. -- Economic Decisions in a Planned Economy. -- Evaluating Planned Economies. -- Mixed Economies. -- Test Your Understanding: Economic Decision Making and the Circular Flow. -- Changing Economic Systems. -- The Realities of Economic Change. -- Application 2.2: The People's Republic of China. -- The U.S. Economic System. -- The British Foundations of the U.S. Economy. -- Historical Highlights in the Development of the U.S. Economy. -- Application 2.3: The Factory Girl's Last Day. -- Critical Thinking Case 2: Judging Economies. -- CHAPTER 3. Demand, Supply, and Price Determination. -- Demand and Supply. -- Demand: The Buyer's Side. -- Supply: The Seller's Side. -- Market Demand, Market Supply, and Price Setting. -- Market Demand and Market Supply. -- Markets and Price Setting. -- Application 3.1: The Laws of Demand and Supply. -- Equilibrium Price and Equilibrium Quantity. -- Changes in Quantity Demanded and Quantity Supplied. -- Changes in Demand and Supply. -- Changes in Demand. -- Changes in Supply. -- Application 3.2: The Rise and Fall of Low Carbs. -- Changes in Quantity Demanded or Supplied versus Changes in Demand or Supply: A Crucial Distinction. -- Changes in Equilibrium Price and Equilibrium Quantity. -- Effect of an Increase in Demand. -- Effect of a Decrease in Demand. -- Effect of an Increase in Supply. -- Effect of a Decrease in Supply. -- Effect of Changes in both Demand and Supply. -- Test Your Understanding: Changes in Demand and Supply. -- Limiting Price Movements. -- Price Ceilings. -- Price Floors. -- Application 3.3: Is Rent Control a Good Thing or a Bad Thing? -- Up for Debate: Is It a Mistake to Raise the Minimum Wage? -- Price Elasticity of Demand and Supply. -- Price Elasticity of Demand. -- Price Elasticity of Supply. -- Application 3.4: Moving in a New Direction. -- Critical Thinking Case 3: How Do Supply and Demand Work in Health Care? -- CHAPTER 3. APPENDIX Measuring Price Elasticity. -- PART TWO: The Macroeconomy. -- CHAPTER 4. Goals and Problems of the Macroeconomy: Employment, Prices, and Production. -- Unemployment and Full Employment. -- Consequences of Unemployment. -- Types of Unemployment. -- Application 4.1: What's at Stake When a Job Is Lost? -- Employment and Unemployment: Measures and Statistics. -- The Goal of Full Employment. -- Inflation and Stable Prices. -- Consequences of Inflation. -- Causes of Inflationary Pressure. -- Measures of Inflation. -- Deflation and Disinflation. -- Application 4.2: When Will This End? -- Production. -- Full Production and Economic Growth. -- Measures of Production. -- Does GDP Tell the Whole Story? -- Test Your Understanding: Calculating Price Indexes and GDP. -- Application 4.3: The Ballad of Joe and Mary. -- Productivity. -- Up for Debate: Do Economic Statistics Tell Us How We Are Doing? -- A Possible Policy Problem. -- Critical Thinking Case 4: Statistics and Decision Making. -- CHAPTER 5. Foundations of the Macroeconomy. -- Changes in Macroeconomic Activity. -- Business Cycles. -- Causes of Economic Fluctuations. -- Total Spending and Macroeconomic Activity. -- The Household Sector. -- The Business Sector. -- Up for Debate: Is Saving a Healthy Habit? -- Application 5.1: Interest Rates and Investment Spending. -- The Government Sector. -- The Foreign Sector. -- Summary of Aggregate Spending, Leakages, and Injections. -- The Multiplier Effect. -- Application 5.2: What's Causing the Economy to Change? -- Application 5.3: Ripples through the Economy. -- AWord about Inflation. -- AWord about Expectations. -- Test Your Understanding: Changes in Economic Activity. -- Macroeconomic Policies. -- Critical Thinking Case 5: President Truman's Desperate Wish. -- CHAPTER 6. The Role of Government in the Macroeconomy. -- Government Expenditures and Revenues. -- Government Expenditures. -- Government Revenues. -- Progressive, Proportional, and Regressive Taxes. -- Up for Debate: Should the Federal Income Tax Be Changed to a Flat Tax? -- Application 6.1: A Chronology of Federal Income Tax Policies. -- Tax Reform and Issues. -- Fiscal Policy. -- The Mechanics of Fiscal Policy. -- Discretionary and Automatic Fiscal Policy. -- Government Budgets. -- Types of Budgets. -- Application 6.2: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. -- The Budget and Fiscal Policy: Tying Them Together. -- The Realities of Fiscal Policy and the Federal Budget. -- Test Your Understanding: Government's Impact on the Macroeconomy. -- The National Debt. -- Financing the National Debt. -- Application 6.3: U.S. Treasury Securities. -- Size of the National Debt. -- Assessing the Debt. -- Crowding Out. -- Critical Thinking Case 6: NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). -- CHAPTER 7. Money, Financial Institutions, and the Federal Reserve. -- Money. -- The Definition and Functions of Money. -- Application 7.1: Fixed Assets, or: Why a Loan in Yap Is Hard to Roll over. -- The Money Supply. -- Financial Depository Institutions. -- Commercial Banks. -- Application 7.2: Am I Covered? -- Other Financial Depository Institutions. -- The Federal Reserve System. -- Organization of the Federal Reserve System. -- Functions of the Federal Reserve Banks. -- Test Your Understanding: Changes in a Bank's Reserve Account. -- Recent Trends in Financial Institutions. -- Legislative Changes. -- Up for Debate: Do We Want Banks Moving into Nonbanking Activities? -- Structural Changes. -- Application 7.3: 500 Billion Dollars. -- Critical Thinking Case 7: Cigarette Money. -- CHAPTER 8. Money Creation, Monetary Theory, and Monetary Policy. -- The Money Supply and the Level of Economic Activity. -- The Equation of Exchange. -- Money Creation. -- The Process of Money Creation. -- Application 8.1: Questions and Answers about Reserves and Loans. -- The Multiple Expansion of Money. -- Excess Reserves, Interest Rates, and the Level of Spending. -- Determining Interest Rates on Loans. -- Application 8.2: An Interest Rate Primer. -- The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy. -- Monetary Policy Tools. -- Test Your Understanding: Financial Depository Institution Calculations. -- Application 8.3: Who Is the Most Powerful Person in the United States? -- Government Deficits and Monetary Policy. -- Advantages and Disadvantages of Monetary Policy. -- Up for Debate: Should the Federal Reserve Be Placed under the Direct Control of Congress? -- Critical Thinking Case 8: The Fed and the Great Depression.

-- CHAPTER 9. Macroeconomic Viewpoints and Models. -- Macroeconomic Model Building. -- Application 9.1: Paying Close Attention to Models: It's Worth the Effort. -- Viewpoints and Models. -- Classical Economics. -- Application 9.2: The Academic Scribblers. -- Keynesian Economics. -- New Classical Economics. -- New Keynesian Economics. -- Monetarism. -- Supply-Side Economics. -- Up for Debate: Should Government's Role in Influencing Economic Activity Be Reduced? -- Inflation and Unemployment. -- The Phillips Curve. -- A Final Word on Macroeconomic Viewpoints. -- Test Your Understanding: Unemployment and Inflation. -- Critical Thinking Case 9: Does Anyone Care What Economists Think? -- PART THREE The Microeconomy. -- CHAPTER 10. Households and Businesses: An Overview. -- Overview of Households. -- Household Income and Expenditures. -- Goals and Decisions of Individuals in Households. -- Application 10.1: Family Gossip. -- Overview of Business. -- Application 10.2: You Decide. -- Legal Forms of Business. -- Numbers and Sizes of Businesses. -- Business Ownership of Business. -- Test Your Understanding: The Price of Stock Shares. -- Goals and Decisions of Business Firms. -- Application 10.3: Two Profiles: Starbucks and Kraft Foods. -- Up for Debate: Should Profitable Businesses Be Expected to Actively Participate in Improving Their Communities? -- Critical Thinking Case 10: Time to Maximize. -- CHAPTER 11. Benefits, Costs, and Maximization. -- Balancing Benefits and Costs: The Individual. -- Defining Benefits and.