Econversations Today's Students Discuss Today's Issues

by Walters, John J.; Appel, Christopher D.; Callahan, Crystal A.; Centanni, Nicholas L.; Maex, Steven A.; O'Neill, Daniel G.; Walters, Stephen J.K.

• ISBN13: 9780132544665
• ISBN10: 0132544660
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-16
• Publisher: Savvas Learning Company

Summary

Student's burning questions about the economy, tied together in a discussion-provoking text. Econversations: Today's Students Discuss Today's Issuesa book for students, by studentscontains short chapters, covering the topics you'd find in the average economics principles textbook. These topics, however, are approached from a more accessible perspectivethe perspective of students themselves. The goal of this text is to spark interest in these topics and start conversations that will unearth new solutions to old problems, helping readers see they really can make a difference in the world of economics.

Table of Contents

Student Foreword	p. xi
Instructor Foreword	p. xiii
A Note to Instructors: Suggestions for Use	p. xvi
Acknowledgments	p. xviii
About the Authors	p. xix
About the Editor	p. xx
Live Together, Die Alone: Competition, Cooperation, and International Trade	p. 1
Chapter Highlights
Gains from Trade
Competition
Protectionism
The Law of Comparative Advantage
Rumble in the Bronx	p. 3
Change	p. 4
Isolation Nation	p. 7
Read On/Join Up	p. 10
Questions for Discussion	p. 10
The War on the Economy: Stimulus Spending and Job "Creation"	p. 12
Chapter Highlights
Opportunity Cost
Economic Stimulus
Business Cycles
Gross Domestic Product
The Keynesian Multiplier
Maynard City: Where Destruction Brings Prosperity	p. 14
Jobs, Baby, Jobs!	p. 15
World War II: The Great Employment Program	p. 18
Read On/Join Up	p. 21
Questions for Discussion	p. 21
(Don't) Give Us Your Tired, Your Poor ...: Labor Migration in the Land of the Free and Beyond	p. 23
Chapter Highlights
Immigrations Policy
Economic Growth
Unemployment
Aggregate Demand and Supply
Marginal Revenue Product of Labor
Spain's Big Idea	p. 25
Pizza and the Economy	p. 28
Everybody ♥ NY	p. 29
Immigration Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery	p. 30
People Are Not the Problem	p. 32
Read On/Join Up	p. 33
Questions for Discussion	p. 33
Profits in the Political Marketplace: Is Government Regulation the Secret to Competitive Success?	p. 35
Chapter Highlights
Competitive Strategy
Product Differentiation
Public Choice Theory
Antitrust
Rent Seeking
Shopping at the Political Marketplace	p. 36
Ignorance Is Bliss Rational (Sometimes)	p. 38
The In Crowd	p. 38
Got Milk?	p. 39
Some Better Advice	p. 41
Read On/Join Up	p. 43
Questions for Discussion	p. 44
The $1,200 Sticks: Supply, Demand, and the Economics of Prohibition	p. 45
Chapter Highlights
Externalities
Laws of Supply and Demand
Price Elasticity of Demand and Expenditure
Rational Choice
The Law of Unintended Consequences
It's Good to Be a Gangsta	p. 46
Tradeoffs and Spillovers	p. 48
The Real Fairy Tale	p. 50
The More Things Change...	p. 51
Read On/Join Up	p. 52
Questions for Discussion	p. 53
All You Can Eat: Demand and Supply at the Healthcare Buffet	p. 54
Chapter Highlights
Marginal Benefits and Costs
Health Economics
Moral Hazard
Adverse Selection
The Samaritan's Dilemma
The Systems of Our Neighbors	p. 55
Healthcare Quality and Access in America	p. 57
The French Connection	p. 57
People Making Bad Decisions	p. 58
"Free" Lunches and Behavior	p. 59
People Are like Porsches-or Hondas	p. 61
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act	p. 62
A Separate Issue	p. 63
Read On/Join Up	p. 64
Questions for Discussion	p. 65
Green Is the New Black: Environmental Problems and Policy	p. 66
Chapter Highlights
The Tragedy of the Commons
The Coase Theorem
Negative and Positive Externalities
Environmental Regulation
Cost-Benefit Analysis
The World Cafeteria	p. 67
Everything Costs Something	p. 68
Costs Are Never Irrelevant	p. 69
One Size Does Not Fit All	p. 70
Ideas Have Consequences-and Side Effects	p. 71
Green Jobs: The Key that Unlocks All?	p. 72
The Power of Profit	p. 73
Getting Beyond Fear and Fashion	p. 75
Read On/Join Up	p. 75
Questions for Discussion	p. 76
Santa, Inc.: Firm Decisions and the Pursuit of Profit	p. 78
Chapter Highlights
Profit (Economic vs. Accounting)
Predatory Pricing
Monopoly
Scale Economies and Diseconomies
Price Fixing
Mom-and-Pop Shops	p. 79
The Song Remains the Same	p. 82
Cheaper, Faster, Better, Bigger	p. 84
Risky Business	p. 86
Overlooked Benefits	p. 87
Read On/Join Up	p. 89
Questions for Discussion	p. 90
Spiking the Punch: Financial Markets, Principals, Agents, and Moral Hazard	p. 92
Chapter Highlights
Financial Markets
Interest Rates and Risk
Principal-Agent Problems
Incentives
Moral Hazard
The Wonders of Wall Street	p. 94
The Secondary Market	p. 95
Paper Pushers	p. 97
"Wall Street Got Drunk"	p. 98
It's Not that I'm Lazy ...	p. 98
'Who Spiked the Punch?	p. 99
Freddie, Fannie, and Not-Very-Secure Securities	p. 100
Sobering Up	p. 102
Read On/Join Up	p. 103
Questions for Discussion	p. 104
Stairway to ... Sweatshops?: What Foreign Factories Mean for You, Me, and the Developing World	p. 106
Chapter Highlights
Market Competition
Outsourcing
Economic Development
Costs and Production
Fair Trade
How to Make Cheap Stuff	p. 107
An "Alternative" View of Sweatshops	p. 109
Step Right up to Development	p. 111
Buy Mexican	p. 113
Read On/Joint Up	p. 115
Questions for Discussion	p. 116
Why Men Love Tools: Poverty at the Personal and National Levels	p. 118
Chapter Highlights
Poverty Threshold/Poverty Rate
Investment
Physical Capital
Human Capital
Economic Freedom and Growth
It's All Relative ... Except When It's Absolute	p. 119
Pain Meds for a Broken Bone	p. 120
Personal Investing 101	p. 121
Change Comes from Within	p. 123
The (Only) Simple Solution	p. 124
Let's Not Get Ahead of Ourselves	p. 125
Read On/Join Up	p. 126
Questions for Discussion	p. 126
Land of the Free: Regulation, Redistribution, and Rights	p. 128
Chapter Highlights
Tradeoffs
Optimization vs. Maximization
Equity vs. Efficiency
Income Redistribution
Insurance
Bargain Hunters	p. 129
The Big (X-ray) Picture	p. 131
Homerun!	p. 132
The "Moral" of the Story	p. 134
Read On/Join Up	p. 135
Questions for Discussion	p. 136
Index	p. 138
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