Another wonderful free online textbook from the folks at North Georgia University. This one, written by John Scott, is a macroeconomics textbook that offers a thoughtful way of explaining core concepts of macroeconomics. Gone are the long-winded and thesaurus-busting virtually incomprehensible writings so often favored in textbooks about business. Scott has written a book that even this former STEM student can understand.
Original, narrative stories introduce each chapter and key concepts. Socialism is explained through an example about co-workers sharing a dinner out and being told what to eat in order to divide the cost equally. He uses a group of castaways to explain trade and production. A pizza shop, friends borrowing money from each other and a number of totally relatable narratives are cleverly placed among clearly written text to make this macroeconomics textbook excellent for self-study.
The Austrian School of economic thought is the basis for the research and information discussed in this macroeconomics textbook. The edition, we previewed, was published in 2015. Each chapter presents a number of “thinking exercises.” What’s great about these exercises is that through a series of questions, they guide the students towards a greater understanding of the material. Once the questions are posed, the author then takes students through a more thorough explanation of the terms and concepts presented.
Table of Contents for Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy
- Chapter 1 Economic Decisions
- Value/Benefit
- Cost
- Decisions
- Supply and Demand
- Overall Wellbeing
- Market Adjustments
- Chapter 2 Government Decision Making: Public Choice
- Incentives
- Knowledge in Society
- Public Choice
- Rational Ignorance
- Methods of Choosing Alternatives
- Interest Groups
- Regulation
- The Law of Unintended Consequences
- The News Media
- Chapter 3 Value Creation Through Production
- The Production Process
- Technology
- Production Possibilities Frontier
- Income and Wealth Determinants
- Chapter 4 Value Creation Through Trade
- Trade Based on Tastes
- Trade Based on The Division of Labor/Extent of the Market
- Trade Based on Abilities
- Summing Up Trade
- Trade and Money
- Chapter 5 Socialism and Capitalism
- Socialism
- Capitalism
- Chapter 6 Money and Prices
- A Current Definition of Money: M1
- The Fed and The Money Creation Process
- Prices and Inflation Definition
- Chapter 7 Causes and Effects of Inflation
- Where Inflation Comes From
- Effects of Inflation on the Economy
- Historical Inflation
- Chapter 8 Credit Markets
- Direct and Indirect Finance
- Supply and Demand for Loanable Funds
- Value in Credit Markets
- The 2008 Crisis and the Proposed Remedy
- Aftermath of the 2008 Crisis
- Chapter 9 Output, Income, and Economic Growth
- Gross Domestic Product
- Economic Growth
- Per Capita GDP
- Bureau of Economic Analysis Data
- Chapter 10 Labor Markets
- Free Markets
- Spontaneous Order, Planning and Make-Work Fallacy
- Labor Market Statistics
- Types of Unemployment/Full Employment
- Chapter 11 Macroeconomic Adjustment
- Say’s Law
- The Link Between the Labor Market and the Output Market
- Keyne’s View of Labor Markets
- Keynes’s Remedy and Its Problems
- The Great Depression
- Supply Side Economics
- Chapter 12 The Federal Budget
- Definitions and Recent History
- Historical Spending, Debt and Deficits
View this Free Online Material at the source:
Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy
