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Summary

If you think economics is a complicated discipline that's reserved for theorists and the intellectual elite and has nothing to do with you, think again. Economics impacts every aspect of our lives, from what we eat, to how we dress, to where we live. Economics might be complicated, but it has everything to do with you.Economics For Dummies helps you see how your personal financial picture is influenced by the larger economic picture. When you understand how what happens on Wall Street affects Main Street and how policies emanating from the White House impact the finances in your house, you'll be able to: Learn how government economic decisions affect you and your family Make better spending decisions and improve your personal finances Maximize your business profits Make wiser investmentsWritten by Sean M. Flynn, PhD, Assistant Professor of Economics at Vassar College, Economics For Dummies covers all the basics of micro- and macroeconomic theory. The next time you need to understand an economic theory or calculation, whether it's on the nightly news or on a spreadsheet at work, you'll no longer be in the dark. Economics For Dummies covers all the history, principles, major theories, and terminology, including: How economics affect governments, international relations, business, and even environmental issues like global warming and endangered species How the government fights recessions and unemployment using monetary and fiscal policy How and why international trade is good for you even if you don't appreciate French champagne, Irish crystal, or Swiss watches How the law of supply and demand can explain the prices of everything from comic books to open heart surgeries How the Federal Reserve controls the money supply, interest rates, and inflation Basic theories such as Keynesian economics, the Laffer Curve, and Adam Smith's Invisible HandPresenting complex theories in simple terms and helping you decode the jargon, understand the equations, and debunk the common misconceptions, Economics For Dummies could be a big boon to your personal economy!

Introduction
Economics - The Science of How People Deal with Scarcity
What Does Economics Study? And Why Should You Care?
Cookies or Ice Cream? Tracking Consumer Choices
Producing the Right Stuff the Right Way to Maximize Human Happiness
Macroeconomics - The Science of Economic Growth and Stability
Measuring the Macroeconomy: How Economists Keep Track of Everything
Inflation Frustration: Why More Money Isn't Always a Good Thing
Understanding Why Recessions Happen
Fighting Recessions with Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Microeconomics - The Science of Consumer and Firm Behavior
Supply and Demand Made Easy
Getting to Know Homo Economicus, the Utility-Maximizing Consumer
The Core of Capitalism: The Profit-Maximizing Firm
Why Economists Love Free Markets and Competition
Monopolies: How Badly Would You Behave If You Had No Competition?
Oligopoly and Monopolistic Competition: Middle Grounds
Property Rights and Wrongs
Market Failure: Asymmetric Information and Public Goods
The Part of Tens
Ten (Or So) Famous Economists
Ten Seductive Economic Fallacies
Ten Economic Ideas to Hold Dear
Appendix
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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