Looking for engaging content for your economics courses? The Institute for Humane Studies has curated this collection of educational resources to help economics professors enrich their curriculum. Find videos, interactive games, reading lists, and more on everything from opportunity costs to trade policy. This collection is updated frequently with new content, so watch this space!

Recognizing that a course in economics may seem daunting to some students, we have tried to make the writing clear and engaging. Clarity comes in part from the intuitive presentation style, but we have also integrated a number of pedagogical features that we believe make learning economic concepts and principles easier and more fun. These features are very student-focused. The chapters themselves are written using a “modular” format. In particular, chapters generally consist of three main content sections that break down a particular topic into manageable parts. Each content section contains not only an exposition of the material at hand but also learning objectives, summaries, examples, and problems. Each chapter is introduced with a story to motivate the material and each chapter ends with a wrap-up and additional problems. Our goal is to encourage active learning by including many examples and many problems of different types.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Economics: The Study of Choice
Chapter 2: Confronting Scarcity: Choices in Production
Chapter 3: Demand and Supply
Chapter 4: Applications of Demand and Supply
Chapter 5: Macroeconomics: The Big Picture
Chapter 6: Measuring Total Output and Income
Chapter 7: Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
Chapter 8: Economic Growth
Chapter 9: The Nature and Creation of Money
Chapter 10: Financial Markets and the Economy
Chapter 11: Monetary Policy and the Fed
Chapter 12: Government and Fiscal Policy
Chapter 13: Consumption and the Aggregate Expenditures Model
Chapter 14: Investment and Economic Activity
Chapter 15: Net Exports and International Finance
Chapter 16: Inflation and Unemployment
Chapter 17: A Brief History of Macroeconomic Thought and Policy
Chapter 18: Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination
Chapter 19: Economic Development
Chapter 20: Socialist Economies in Transition

Principles of Macroeconomics 2e covers the scope and sequence of most introductory economics courses. The text includes many current examples, which are handled in a politically equitable way. The outcome is a balanced approach to the theory and application of economics concepts. The second edition has been thoroughly revised to increase clarity, update data and current event impacts, and incorporate the feedback from many reviewers and adopters.Changes made in Principles of Macroeconomics 2e are described in the preface and the transition guide to help instructors transition to the second edition.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain demand, quantity demanded, and the law of demandIdentify a demand curve and a supply curveExplain supply, quantity supplied, and the law of supplyExplain equilibrium, equilibrium price, and equilibrium quantity

In this chapter, you will learn about:Macroeconomic Perspectives on Demand and SupplyBuilding a Model of Aggregate Demand and Aggregate SupplyShifts in Aggregate SupplyShifts in Aggregate DemandHow the AD/AS Model Incorporates Growth, Unemployment, and InflationKeynes’ Law and Say’s Law in the AD/AS Model

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain Say’s Law and understand why it primarily applies in the long runExplain Keynes’ Law and understand why it primarily applies in the short run

This module covers:Measuring the Size of the Economy: Gross Domestic ProductAdjusting Nominal Values to Real ValuesTracking Real GDP over TimeComparing GDP among CountriesHow Well GDP Measures the Well-Being of Society

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Identify the components of GDP on the demand side and on the supply sideEvaluate how economists measure gross domestic product (GDP)Contrast and calculate GDP, net exports, and net national product