McConnell economics, principles, problems and policies 18e

PART ONEIntroduction to Economics and the PART TWO 6 Elasticity, Consumer Surplus, and Producer Surplus 113 11w Technology, R&D, and Efficiency WEB CHAPTER , PART THREE Microeconomic

Principles, Problems, and Policies

EIGHTEENTH EDITION

Economics

Frank and Bernanke

Principles of Economics, Principles

of Microeconomics, Principles of

Macroeconomics

Fourth Edition

Frank and Bernanke

Brief Editions: Principles of Economics,

Principles of Microeconomics, and

Principles of Macroeconomics

First Edition

McConnell, Brue, and Flynn

Economics, Microeconomics, and

Samuelson and Nordhaus

Economics, Microeconomics, and economics

Sharp, Register, and Grimes

Economics of Social Issues

MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS

Baye

Managerial Economics and Business Strategy

Sixth Edition

Brickley, Smith, and Zimmerman

Managerial Economics and Organizational

McConnell, Brue, and Macpherson

Contemporary Labor Economics

Field and Field

Environmental Economics: An Introduction

King and King

International Economics, Globalization, and Policy: A Reader

Fifth Edition

Pugel

International Economics

Fourteenth Edition

Go to www.brue2e.com for sample chapters, the text preface, and more information.

Instructors teaching a concise and digitally integrated principles course

welcome the Brief Editions

The Brief Editions of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics simplify the core concepts and remodel the s

examples presented in Economics, 18e Not just cut-and-paste books, the Brief Editions are concise, highly integrated principles textbooks distinct in purpose, style, and coverage from Economics, 18e.

Microeconomics, Brief Edition

For instructors teaching a one-semester Micro-Macro survey course, we

present Essentials of Economics, 2e

Go to www.mcconnellbriefmacro1e.com for sample chapters, the text preface, and more information.

Macroeconomics, Brief Edition

Go to www.mcconnellbriefmicro1e.com for sample chapters, the text preface, and more information.

Principles, Problems, and Policies

ECONOMICS: PRINCIPLES, PROBLEMS, AND POLICIES

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1 Economics I Brue, Stanley L., 1945- II Flynn, Sean Masaki III Title.

About the Authors

Campbell R McConnell

earned his Ph.D from the University of Iowa after re-ceiving degrees from CornellCollege and the University

of Illinois He taught at theUniversity of Nebraska–

Lincoln from 1953 until hisretirement in 1990 He is also

coauthor of Contemporary

Labor Economics, eighth

edi-tion, and Essentials of Economics, second edition (both

The McGraw-Hill Companies), and has edited ers for the principles and labor economics courses

read-He is a recipient of both the University of Nebraska Distinguished Teaching Award and the James A LakeAcademic Freedom Award and is past president of the Midwest Economics Association ProfessorMcConnell was awarded an honorary Doctor of Lawsdegree from Cornell College in 1973 and receivedits Distinguished Achievement Award in 1994 His primary areas of interest are labor economics andeconomic education He has an extensive collection

of jazz recordings and enjoys reading jazz history

Stanley L Bruedid his undergraduate work at Augustana College (South Dakota) and received its Distinguished Achievement Award in 1991 He received his Ph.D from the University

of Nebraska–Lincoln He is a professor at Pacific LutheranUniversity, where he has beenhonored as a recipient of the Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award Professor Brue has also received the national Leavey Award for excellence in economic education He has served as national president and chair of the Board

of Trustees of Omicron Delta Epsilon International

vii

Sean M Flynndid his undergraduate work at the University of Southern California before com-pleting his Ph.D at U.C.Berkeley, where he served

as the Head Graduate Student Instructor for theDepartment of Economics after receiving the Out-standing Graduate Student Instructor Award He teaches at Vassar College

in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is also the author

of Economics for Dummies (Wiley) and s Essentials

of Economics, second edition (The McGraw-Hill

Companies) His research interests include finance and behavioral economics An accomplished mar-tial artist, he has represented the United States ininternational aikido tournaments and is the author

of Understanding Shodokan Aikido (Shodokan Press).

Other hobbies include running, travel, and ethnic food

viii

Economics Honorary He is coauthor of Economic

Scenes, fifth edition (Prentice-Hall), Contemporary Labor Economics, eighth edition, Essentials of Econom- ics, second edition (both The McGraw-Hill Compa-

nies), and The Evolution of Economic Thought, seventh

edition (South-Western) For relaxation, he enjoysinternational travel, attending sporting events, andskiing with family and friends

List of Key Graphs 1.2 The Production Possibilities Curve 12

2.2 The Circular Flow Diagram 40

3.6 Equilibrium Price and Quantity 55

7.1 Total and Marginal Utility 136

8.2 The Law of Diminishing Returns 160

8.5 The Relationship of the Marginal-CostCurve to the Average-Total-Cost and Average-Variable-Cost Curves 164

8.8 The Long-Run Average-Total-Cost Curve:

Unlimited Number of Plant Sizes 167

9.3 Short-Run Profi t Maximization for aPurely Competitive Firm 184

9.6 The P = MC Rule and the Competitive P

Firm’s Short-Run Supply Curve 187

9.12 Long-Run Equilibrium: A Competitive

10.4 Profi t Maximization by a Pure Monopolist 208

11.1 A Monopolistically Competitive Firm:

Short Run and Long Run 226

11.2 The Kinked-Demand Curve 235

13.3 Labor Supply and Labor Demand in(a) a Purely Competitive Labor Market and (b) a Single Competitive Firm 274

27.2 (a) Consumption and (b) Saving Schedules 544

27.5 The Investment Demand Curve 550

33.5 Monetary Policy and Equilibrium GDP 674

33.6 The AD-AS Theory of the Price Level, Real Output, and Stabilization Policy 680

37.2 Trading Possibility Lines and theGains from Trade 748

38.1 The Market for Foreign Currency (Pounds) 770

ix

Welcome to the eighteenth edition of Economics, the

best-selling economics textbook in the world An estimated 14

million students have used Economics or its companion edi- s

tions, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics Economics has s

been adapted into Australian and Canadian editions and

translated into Italian, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish,

Portuguese, and other languages We are pleased that

Economics continues to meet the market test: nearly one out s

of four U.S students in principles courses used the

seven-teenth edition

A Note about the Cover

and New Coauthor

In the tradition of the previous two covers, the cover for

this edition includes a photograph of steps The new

edi-tion’s cover is a metaphor for the step-by-step approach that

we use to present basic economic principles It also

repre-sents the simplicity, beauty, and power of basic economic

models We have chosen a highly modern photo to reflect

the addition of our new coauthor, Sean M Flynn, who has

helped modernize the content of the book from cover to

cover Sean did his undergraduate work at USC, received

his Ph.D from U.C Berkeley (in 2002), teaches principles

at Vassar, and is the author of Economics for Dummies We

are greatly pleased to have Sean working on the text since

he shares our commitment to present economics in a way that is understandable to all

Fundamental Objectives

We have three main goals for Economics :

• Help the beginning student master the principles essential for understanding the economizing problem, specific economic issues, and the policy alternatives

• Help the student understand and apply the economic perspective and reason accurately and objectively about economic matters

• Promote a lasting student interest in economics andthe economy

What’s New and Improved?

One of the benefits of writing a successful text is the tunity to revise—to delete the outdated and install the new,

oppor-to rewrite misleading or ambiguous statements, oppor-to duce more relevant illustrations, to improve the organiza-tional structure, and to enhance the learning aids

intro-This is the most significant revision of Economics since s

the fourteenth edition It has greatly benefited from theaddition of our new coauthor The more significant changes include the following

Micro First Organization

Perhaps most noticeably, we changed the book’s tion to micro first in keeping with how contemporary econ-omists view the direction of linkage between the two parts

organiza-of the subject All the new principles texts introduced ing the past two decades have been organized as micro-first texts and colleges have increasingly changed their coursenumbering (sequencing) to micro first

dur-As it relates to the actual principles course, however,this change in ordering is mainly symbolic Micro andmacro courses are still taught separately and independently,with no prerequisite on either Also, students increasingly use the split micro and macro versions of our main text, even in schools that adopt our book for all sections of bothmicro and macro principles We therefore think that most instructors will find it relatively easy to make the transition

to the new ordering

Fully Updated, Totally Contemporary Macroeconomics

We recast the entire macro analysis in terms of the modern, dominant paradigm of macroeconomics, using economic

x

growth as the central backdrop and viewing business

fluc-tuations as significant and costly variations in the rate of

growth In this paradigm, business cycles result from

demand shocks (or, less often, supply shocks) in conjunction

with inflexible short-run product prices and wages The

degree of price and wage stickiness decreases with time

In our models, the immediate short run is a period in which

the price level and wages are not only sticky, but stuck; the

short run is a period in which product prices are flexible

and wages are not; and the long run is a period in which

both prices and wages are fully flexible Each of these three

periods—and thus each of the models based on them—is

relevant to understanding the actual macro economy and

its occasional difficulties

New Chapter 23 introduces the macro framework in

a lively, intuitive way, using an example of a hypothetical

single-firm economy It also makes a clear, critical

distinc-tion between the broader concept of financial investment

and the narrower subset of investment called economic

investment in a way that allows us to use both ideas A

chap-ter on the measurement of nominal and real GDP follows

With real GDP clearly defined and measured, we

pres-ent a chapter on economic growth This early placempres-ent

of the growth chapter allows students to understand the

importance of economic growth and the factors that drive

it This growth chapter is followed by a chapter that

intro-duces business fluctuations along the economy’s growth

path and the problems of unemployment and inflation that

may result

Following this set of core beginning chapters, we

diately begin to build models of the economy for the

imme-diate short run and the short run Students are therefore

quickly introduced to models in which recessions and

infla-tion can occur This approach allows us to use the short-run

AD-AS model to address fiscal policy and monetary policy

relatively earlier in the macro Students are made fully aware

from the start of the macro that the rate of economic growth

is fundamentally important for standards of living Yet, the

quick introduction of sticky price models enables students to

understand demand shocks, recession, stimulatory fiscal

pol-icy, Fed monetary policy actions, and other topics that

domi-nate the news about the macro economy

Because Chapter 5 provides an early introduction to

international trade and international finance, we are able to

integrate the global economy from the start of the macro

analysis Then, after eventually developing the long-run

AD-AS model, we directly link this long-run analysis back

to our earlier discussions of growth We finish the macro

with two chapters that provide further analysis of

interna-tional trade, balance of payments, exchange rates, and trade

imbalances The macro ends with a bonus Web chapter on

the requisites for, and impediments to, economic growth in developing nations

Although the framework in which the macro is built

is extensively revised, the revisions were made to preserve the main elements of the chapters in the previous edition

We simply have wrapped the macroeconomics analysis into

a modern package of growth, expectations, shocks, pricestickiness, time horizons, and international linkages

Our macro content is also fully modern in terms of its coverage of contemporary problems and policies Forexample, we cover the mortgage debt crisis, the recent eco-nomic slowdown, the Fed’s reductions of the Federal funds rate, the Fed’s term auction facility, the stimulus tax pack-age of 2008, and more

Four New Chapters

Four chapters—two micro and two macro—are new to

the print version of Economics. Our common purpose forall four chapters is to incorporate contemporary analytical themes and address current economic issues

Chapter 15: Natural Resource and Energy Economics Thisnew micro chapter—brought from our Web site for theseventeenth edition—is now in Part 3 (Microeconomics of Resource Markets) This chapter addresses the question of whether the world is becoming overpopulated and rapidly running out of resources It covers topics such as declin-ing fertility rates, the optimal rate of resource extraction,resource substitution, resource sustainability, oil prices, andalternative energy sources An understanding of the basic economic principles of natural resource economics will be critical to future voters and leaders This micro treatment

of natural resource and energy topics is particularly timely since many students are regularly exposed to alarmist views

inter-Chapter 23: An Introduction to Macroeconomics. As viously noted, this new chapter introduces the revisedmacroeconomic content in an interesting, concise way It motivates the study of macroeconomics and establishes the analytical framework to the subject that we use throughout the macro portion of the book

pre-PREFACE

Chapter 34: Financial Economics This new macro

chap-ter examines ideas such as compound inchap-terest, present

value, arbitrage, risk, diversification, and the risk-return

relationship Students need a better grounding in such

ideas to truly understand the modern economy In view of

the problems in the financial markets over the recent past,

we think that integrating financial economics more directly

in the macro principles course makes good sense For

many students, this course will be their only (classroom!)

opportunity to learn that promises of high, unguaranteed

returns reflect high, uninsured risk Even if instructors

cannot find time to assign and cover the entire chapter,

they may want to discuss the beginning portion, which

addresses the time value of money and provides

easy-to-understand real-world examples of present value

To make room for our four new chapters, we had to

make certain accommodations Specifically, we moved our

micro chapter “Technology, R & D, and Efficiency” to the

book’s Web site, where it joins the chapter “The Economics

of Developing Countries.” Both chapters are available free

to students for full-color viewing and can be printed for

off-computer study Furthermore, these chapters are fully

sup-ported by all the supplementary materials such as the Study

Guide and Test Banks Instructors who wish to cover the

R&D chapter, rather than, for example, the new resource

chapter, can easily make the substitution

We also deleted the chapter “Labor Market Issues and

Institutions: Unions, Discrimination, and Immigration.”

The core of the union content is now is an appendix to the

wage determination chapter; the discrimination material is

consolidated and placed in the chapter “Income Inequality,

Poverty, and Discrimination,” and the immigration

con-tent now is part of the full new chapter on this subject

Also, we deleted the mainly macro chapter on the

bal-ance of payments, exchanges rates, and trade deficits from

the micro split version of Economics. It continues to be in

Economics and the macro split s

Our explicit discussion of Keynesian versus Classical

macroeconomics in the chapter on macro theories and

issues has been deleted since we integrated the graphical

analysis into earlier chapters Finally, we have deleted the

lengthy historical discussions of the gold standard and the

Bretton Woods System from the chapter on exchange rates

and placed it as supplemental material for the chapter at

our Web site Other, lesser deletions or abridgements have

occurred throughout the book

Three New Appendixes

Three additional chapter appendixes are available for

optional assignment in this edition All are supported by

the supplementary materials The concise new dixes are:

appen-Chapter 3: Additional Examples of Supply and Demand

At the end of Chapter 3 we provide several additional ples of supply and demand, including concrete examples of simultaneous shifts in supply and demand curves Products covered include lettuce, corn and ethanol, pink salmon, gas-oline, and sushi We also use the Olympic Games to illus-trate examples of preset prices, shortages, and surpluses

exam-Chapter 11: Additional Game Theory Applications Weplaced several applications of game theory in a new appen-dix at the end of the micro chapter on monopolistic com-petition and oligopoly Instructors who like to stress gametheory in dealing with oligopoly now have strong backup support from the textbook for their efforts The appendix discusses concepts such as dominant strategies, Nash equi-librium, repeated games, and first-mover advantages

Chapter 13: Labor Unions and Their Impacts. This pact appendix covers union membership, the decline of unions, collective bargaining, and the economic effects

anal-“McHits” and “McMisses”demonstrate the idea of consumer sovereignty These brief vignettes, eachaccompanied by a photo,illustrate key points in a lively, colorful, and easy-to-remember way

New or relocated sider This” boxes includesuch disparate topics as

“Con-an economic comparison of the two Koreas (Chapter 2),

“buying American” (Chapter 5), the prisoner’s dilemma (Chapter 11), govern-ment policies and birthrates (Chapter 15), turning

PREFACE

CONSIDER THIS

Did Gates, Winfrey, and Rodriguez Make Bad Choices?

Opportunity costs come into play in decisions well beyond simple buying decisions Con- sider the different choices people make with respect to college College graduates more during their lifetimes school diplomas For most capable students, “Go to college, stay in college, and earn a degree” is very sound advice

Yet Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and talk show host Oprah Winfrey * both dropped out of college, and baseball star Alex Rodriguez (“A-Rod”) never even bothered to start classes What were they thinking? Unlike most students, Gates faced enor- for his company, and his starting work young helped ensure Mi- sion news when she was a teenager, eventually producing and

So Gates, Winfrey, and Rodriguez understood opportunity costs and made their choices accordingly The size of opportu- nity costs greatly matters in making individual decisions

*Winfrey eventually went back to school and earned a degree from Tennessee State University when she was in her thirties

mcc75691_ch01.indd Page 9 9/5/08 7:29:16 AM user

entrails into oil (Chapter 15), putting corn in our gas tanks

(Chapter 19), consumption inequality (Chapter 20), the

can-cer fight that is going nuclear (Chapter 21), the

contribu-tions of past immigrants to the U.S economy (Chapter 22),

patent reform in India (Chapter 25), and the relative

returns on standard versus ethical investing (Chapter 34)

Our “Last Word” pieces are lengthier applications and

case studies located toward the end of chapters New or

relocated Last Words include those on fair trade products

(Chapter 5); insights from behavioral economics (Chapter 7);

the link between economic growth and environmental

protection (Chapter 15); past and current, and proposed

U.S immigration laws (Chapter 22); the role of inventory

management in moderating recessions (Chapter 23); the

Fed’s response to the mortgage debt crisis (Chapter 33); the

relative performance of index funds versus actively managed

funds (Chapter 34); and Bastiat’s “Petition of the

Candlemakers” (Chapter 37)

Contemporary Discussions and

Examples

The eighteenth edition refers to and discusses many current

topics Examples include the cost of the war in Iraq; surpluses

and shortages of tickets at the Olympics; the myriad impacts

of ethanol subsides; offshoring of American jobs; trade

adjust-ment assistance; the additions of countries to the European

Union and to the euro zone; normal trade relations status;

aspects of behavioral economics; game theory; the most

rap-idly expanding and disappearing U.S jobs; oil and

gaso-line prices; climate change; The Food, Conservation, and

Energy Act of 2008; consumption versus income inequality;

prescription drug coverage under Medicare; Health Savings

China’s rapid growth rate; the business downturn of late

2007 and early 2008; the stimulus package of 2008; Federal budget deficits; the mortgage debt crisis; recent Fed mon-etary policy; the Fed’s new term auction facility; the Taylorrule; U.S trade deficits; and many more

Distinguishing Features Comprehensive Explanations at an

analytical, and challenging yet fully accessible to a wide range of students The thoroughness and accessibility en-able instructors to select topics for special classroom em-phasis with confidence that students can read and comprehend other independently assigned material in the book Where needed, an extra sentence of explanation isprovided Brevity at the expense of clarity is false economy

economies throughout the world are still making difficult transitions from planning to markets while a handful of othercountries such as Venezuela seem to be trying to reestablishgovernment-controlled, centrally planned economies Our detailed description of the institutions and operation of themarket system in Chapter 2 is therefore even more relevant than before We pay particular attention to property rights, entrepreneurship, freedom of enterprise and choice, com-petition, and the role of profits because these concepts are often misunderstood by beginning students worldwide

Early and Full Integration of International Economics We give the principles and institutions of the global economy early treatment Chapter 5 examines the growth of world trade and its major participants, spe-cialization and comparative advantage, the foreign ex-change market, tariffs and subsidies, and various tradeagreements This strong introduction to international economics permits “globalization” of later discussions in both the micro and the macro chapters Then, we delve into the more difficult, graphical analysis of internationaltrade and finance in Chapters 37 and 38

Early and Extensive Treatment of

modern capitalism This book introduces the economicfunctions of government early and accords them system-atic treatment in Chapter 4 Chapter 16 examines public goods and externalities in further detail, and Chapter 17 looks at salient facets of public choice theory and taxation Both the micro and the macro sections of the text includeissue- and policy-oriented chapters

PREFACE

Pitfalls to Sound Economic Reasoning

Here are some common pitfalls to avoid in successfully applying

the economic perspective

Biases Most people bring a bundle of biases and preconceptions

to the field of economics For example, some might think that

corporate profits are excessive

or that lending money is always

superior to borrowing money

Others might believe that

gov-cient than businesses or that

more government regulation is

always better than less Biases

cloud thinking and interfere

with objective analysis All of us

must be willing to shed biases

and preconceptions that are not

supported by facts

Loaded Terminology The

minology

economi

media is sometimes emotionally biased, or loaded The writer

or spokesperson may have a cause to promote or an ax to grind and may slant comments accordingly High profits may be labeled “obscene,” low wages may be called “exploitive,” or may be referred to as “mindless bureaucrats” and those favor- ing stronger government regulations may be called “socialists.”

to reject or discount such terminology

Fallacy of Composition An other pitfall in economic think- ing is the assumption that what is

-a whole is necess-arily true for -a group of individuals or the whole This is a logical fallacy

called the fallacy of composition; the assumption is not correct A statement that is valid for an in- dividual or part is not necessarily valid for the larger group or whole You may see the action better if you leap to your feet to

l

Because They Affect Us So Personally, We Often

Have Diffi culty Thinking Accurately and Objectively

About Economic Issues

xiv PREFACE

given much attention to microeconomics in general and

to the theory of the firm in particular, for two reasons

First, the concepts of microeconomics are difficult for

most beginning students; abbreviated expositions

usu-ally compound these difficulties by raising more

ques-tions than they answer Second, we wanted to couple

analysis of the various market structures with a discussion

of the impact of each market arrangement on price,

out-put levels, resource allocation, and the rate of

techno-logical advance

previous edition, our macro continues to be distinguished

by a systematic step-by-step approach in developing ideas

and building models Explicit assumptions about price and

wage stickiness are posited and then systematically peeled

away, yielding new models and extensions, all in the broader

context of growth, expectations, shocks, and degrees of

price and wage stickiness over time

In crafting this step-by-step macro approach, we took

care to preserve the “two-path macro” that many

instruc-tors appreciated Instrucinstruc-tors who so choose can bypass the

immediate short-run model (Chapter 28) and can

pro-ceed without loss of continuity directly to the short-run

AD-AS model (Chapter 29), fiscal policy, money and

bank-ing, monetary policy, and the long-run analysis

Emphasis on Technological Change and

em-phasize economic growth Chapter 1 uses the production

possibilities curve to show the basic ingredients of growth

Chapter 25 explains how growth is measured and presents

the facts of growth It also discusses the causes of growth,

looks at productivity growth, and addresses some

contro-versies surrounding economic growth Chapter 25’s Last

Word examines the rapid economic growth in China

Chapter 39Web focuses on developing countries and the

growth obstacles they confront Chapter 11Web provides

an explicit and cohesive discussion of the microeconomics

of technological advance, including topics such as

inven-tion, innovainven-tion, and diffusion; start-up firms; R&D

deci-sion making; market structure and R&D effort; and creative

destruction

many students, the micro chapters on antitrust, agriculture,

income inequality, health care, and immigration, along with

the macro chapters on fiscal policy and monetary policy, are

where the action is centered We guide that action along

logical lines through the application of appropriate

analyti-cal tools In the micro, we favor inclusiveness; instructorscan effectively choose two or three chapters from Part 5

its Web site are highly integrated through in-text Web buttons, Web-based end-of-chapter questions, bonus Web chapters, multiple-choice self-tests at the Web site, mathnotes, and other features Our Web site is part and parcel

of our student learning package, customized to the book.The in-text Web buttons (or indicators) merit special mention Three differing colors of rectangular indicatorsappear throughout the book, informing readers that com-plementary content on a subject can be found at our Web

site, www.mcconnell18e.com The indicator types are:

Worked Problems Written by Norris Peterson of Pacifi s fic Lutheran University (WA), these pieces consist of side-by-side

computational questions and computational proce-dures used to derive the answers In essence, they extend the textbook’sexplanation involving computations—for example, of real GDP, real GDP per capita, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, per-unit flproduction costs, economic profit, and more From a stu-fident’s perspective, they provide “cookbook” help for prob-lem solving

Interactive Graphs These pieces (developed under the super- s

vision of Norris Peterson) depict 30 major graphs and

in-struct students to shift the curves, observe the out-comes, and derive rele-vant generalizations This hands-on graph work willgreatly reinforce the graphs and their meaning

Origin of the Ideas These pieces, written by Randy Grant of s

Linfi eld College (OR), are brief histories of 70 major ideasfiidentifi ed in the book They identify the particular econo-fi

mists who developed ideas such as opportunity costs, equilibrium price, the multiplier, comparativeadvantage, and elasticity

Origin of the term “Economics”

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA

PREFACE

We chose to move from microeconomics to

macroeco-nomics because this is consistent with how contemporary

economists view the direction of linkage between the two

components The introductory material of Part 1, however,

can be followed immediately by the macroanalysis of Parts

6 and 7 Similarly, the two-path macro enables covering the

full aggregate expenditures model or advancing directly

from the basic macro relationships chapter to the AD-AS

model

Some instructors will prefer to intersperse the

micro-economics of Parts 3 and 4 with the problems chapters of

Part 5 Chapter 19 on agriculture may follow Chapter 9

on pure competition; Chapter 18 on antitrust and

regula-tion may follow Chapters 10, 11, and 11Web on imperfect

competition models and technological advance Chapter

22 on immigration may follow Chapter 13 on wages; and

Chapter 20 on income inequality may follow Chapters 13

and 14 on distributive shares of national income

Instructors who teach the typical two-semester course

and feel comfortable with the book’s organization will

find that, by putting Parts 1 to 5 in the first semester and

Parts 6 to 10 in the second, the material is divided logically

between the two semesters

Pedagogical Aids

Economics is highly student-oriented The “To the Student” s

statement at the beginning of Part 1 details the book’s

many pedagogical aids The eighteenth edition is also

accompanied by a variety of high-quality supplements

that help students master the subject and help instructors

implement customized courses

Supplements for Students and

Instructors

Study Guide One of the world’s leading experts on

economic education, William Walstad of the University of

Nebraska–Lincoln, prepared the eighteenth edition of the

Study Guide Many students find the Study Guide

indis-pensable Each chapter contains an introductory

state-ment, a checklist of behavioral objectives, an outline, a list

of important terms, fill-in questions, problems and

proj-ects, objective questions, and discussion questions

The Guide comprises a superb “portable tutor” for the

principles student Separate Study Guides are available for s

the macro and micro paperback editions of the text

at the Online Learning Center, offers a range of dynamic

study aids to the student Narrated PowerPoint

presenta-tions enable students tosee key concepts and hear the explanation si-multaneously The Sol-man Videos, a set of more than 250 minutes

of video created by Paul

Hour with Jim Lehrer,

cover core economic concepts such as elasticity, tion, and perfect competition These study aids plus pre- and post-tests and chapter quizzes can be purchased and downloaded to an iPod, MP3 player, or desktop computer Premium Content enables the student to study and self-test

deregula-on his or her computer or deregula-on the go

Con-nect Economics is a complete, online supplement systemthat duplicates and expands upon the textbook’s end-of chapter material and test banks Nearly all the questions

from the text, including the merous graphing exercises, arepresented in an autogradableformat and tied to the text’s learning objectives Instructorsmay edit existing questions and author entirely new problems Connect Economics can be used for student practice, homework, quizzes, and formal examinations.Detailed grade reports enable instructors to see how each student performs on a particular problem, a full as-signment, and in the context of the overall class The Connect Economics grade reports can be easily inte-grated with WebCT and Blackboard Connect Econom-ics is also available with an integrated online version of the textbook With a single access code, students can read the eBook, work through practice problems, dohomework, and take exams

cost of a print book, you can reduce your impact on the

environment by buying McConnell, Brue, and Fly-

nn’s Economics, 18e eText

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Manual.

The revised Instructor’s Manual includes: l

• Chapter summaries

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The Instructor’s Manual is available on the instructor’s side l

of the Online Learning Center

multiple-choice and true-false questions, most of which were

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multiple-choice and true-false questions, updated by Michael

Youngblood of Rock Valley College All Test Bank I and II

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Test Bank III, written by William Walstad, contains more

than 600 pages of short-answer questions and problems

cre-ated in the style of the book’s end-of-chapter questions Test

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es-say and problem questions are included In all, more than

14,000 questions give instructors maximum testing flexibility

while ensuring the fullest possible text correlation

Test Banks I and II are available through EZ Test

Online as well as in MS Word EZ Test allows professors

to created customized tests that contain both questions

that they select from the test banks as well as questions

that they craft themselves Test Bank III is available in MS

Word on the password-protected instructor’s side of the

Online Learning Center, and on the Instructor Resource

CD, both of which we will describe shortly

the University of Central Florida updated the PowerPoint

Presentations for the eighteenth edition Each chapter, in- s

cluding the Web chapters, is accompanied by a concise yet thorough tour of the key concepts Instructors can use theslides in the classroom while students can use the slides to study Students can view a second, distinct set of slides—

the Narrated PowerPoint Presentations—on the site or

download the material to their video iPod The content iscorrelated to the Learning Objectives This exceptional study aid, updated by Darlene DeVera of Deanza College,

is a part of the Premium Content package

the text is available on the instructor’s side of the Web siteand on the Instructor’s Resource CD-ROM

Online Learning Center

is a central resource for students and instructors alike Theoptional Web Chapters: “Technology, R&D, and Efficiency,”

“The Economics of Developing Countries,” and Chapter 38

Web supplement: “Previous International Exchange-Rate Systems” are posted as full-color PDF files As previously mentioned, the three in-text Web buttons alert the students

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Instructor’s Manual, all three Test Banks, and links to EZTest Online, PowerPoint Presentations, and Digital Image Library

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Classroom Performance Systems by struction This is a revolutionary system that brings

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PREFACE

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Instructors can access eInstruction questions in two

formats—CPS and PowerPoint Motivate student

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learning is an important element of many accreditation

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Acknowledgments

We give special thanks to Norris Peterson of PacificLutheran University and Randy Grant of Linfield College,who created the “button” content on our Web site We again thank James Reese of the University of SouthCarolina at Spartanburg, who wrote the original Internet exercises Although many of those questions were replaced

or modified in the typical course of revision, several remain virtually unchanged We also thank Nora Underwood at the University of Central Florida for updating the PowerPoint slides for the eighteenth edition and Darlene DeVera of Deanza College for the Narrated PowerPoint presentations Shawn Knabb of Western Washington University deserves

a great thanks for updating the Instructor’s Manual as well as l

for accuracy checking the many parts making up 18e andthe ancillies Thanks to Mohammad Bajwa of Northampton Community College, who accuracy checked both Test Banks I and II, and to Benjamin Pappas, who updated theart in both Test banks Finally, we thank William Walstad and Tom Barbiero (the coauthor of our Canadian edition)for their helpful ideas and insights

We are greatly indebted to an all-star group of fessionals at McGraw-Hill—in particular Douglas Reiner,Elizabeth Clevenger, Harvey Yep, Melissa Larmon, and Brent Gordon—for their publishing and marketing expertise

pro-We thank Keri Johnson for her selection of the Consider This and Last Word photos and Cara Hawthorne for the design

of perceptive formal reviews The contributors, listed at the end of the Preface, were a rich source of suggestions for this revision To each of you, and others we may have inadvertently overlooked, thank you for your considerable

help in improving Economics.

Stanley L Brue Sean M Flynn Campbell R McConnell

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CONTRIBUTORS

PART ONE

Introduction to Economics and the

PART TWO

6 Elasticity, Consumer Surplus, and Producer Surplus 113

11w Technology, R&D, and Efficiency (WEB CHAPTER ,

PART THREE

Microeconomics of Resource Markets 252

20 Income Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination 409

Macroeconomic Models and Fiscal Policy 540

PART EIGHTMoney, Banking, and Monetary Policy 628

PART NINE

PART TEN

38 The Balance of Payments, Exchange

38w Previous International Exchange-Rate Systems

39w The Economics of Developing Countries

Brief Contents

xxi

Scarcity and Choice / Purposeful Behavior / Marginal Analysis: Benefi ts and Costs

Consider This: Free for All? 4 Consider This: Fast-Food Lines 5

Microeconomics / Macroeconomics / Positive and Normative Economics

Limited Income / Unlimited Wants / A Budget Line

Consider This: Did Gates, Winfrey, and Rodriguez

Make Bad Choices? 9

Scarce Resources / Resource Categories

Production Possibilities Table / Production Possibilities Curve / Law of Increasing Opportunity Costs / Optimal Allocation

Consider This: The Economics of War 14

A Growing Economy / Present Choices and Future Possibilities / A Qualifi cation: International Trade

Last Word: Pitfalls to Sound Economic Reasoning 16

Chapter 1 Appendix: Graphs and Their Meaning 22

Chapter 2

The Command System / The Market System

Private Property / Freedom of Enterprise and Choice / Self-Interest / Competition / Markets and Prices / Technology and Capital Goods / Specialization / Use of Money / Active, but Limited Government

What Will Be Produced? / How Will the Goods and Services Be Produced? / Who Will Get the Output? / How Will the System Accommodate Change? / How Will the System Promote Progress?

Consider This: McHits and McMisses 35

The “Invisible Hand” 38

The Coordination Problem / The Incentive Problem

Consider This: The Two Koreas 39

Resource Market / Product Market

Last Word: Shuffl ing the Deck 41

Chapter 3

Law of Demand / The Demand Curve / Market

Demand / Change in Demand / Changes in

Quantity Demanded

Law of Supply / The Supply Curve / Market

Supply / Determinants of Supply / Changes in

Supply / Changes in Quantity Supplied

Equilibrium Price and Quantity / Rationing Function of

Prices / Effi cient Allocation / Changes in Supply, Demand,

and Equilibrium

Consider This: Ticket Scalping: A Bum Rap! 56

Consider This: Salsa and Coffee Beans 59

Price Ceilings on Gasoline / Rent Controls / Price Floors

on Wheat

Last Word: A Legal Market for Human Organs? 60

Chapter 3 Appendix: Additional Examples of

Chapter 4

The U.S Economy: Private and Public Sectors 72

The Functional Distribution of Income / The Personal

Distribution of Income

Personal Taxes / Personal Saving / Personal Consumption

Expenditures

Advantages of Corporations / The Principal-Agent

Problem

Consider This: Unprincipled Agents 77

Providing the Legal Structure / Maintaining

Competition / Redistributing Income / Reallocating

Resources / Promoting Stability / Government’s Role: A

Qualifi cation

Consider This: Street Entertainers 81

Government Purchases and Transfers

CONTENTS xxiii

Federal Expenditures / Federal Tax Revenues

Last Word: Financing Social Security 86

State Finances / Local Finances

Chapter 5

Volume and Pattern / Rapid Trade Growth / Participants in International Trade

Comparative Advantage: Production Possibilities Analysis

Consider This: A CPA and House Painter 97

Dollar-Yen Market / Changing Rates: Depreciation and Appreciation

Trade Impediments and Subsidies / Why Government Trade Interventions? / Costs to Society

Consider This: Buy American? 102

Multilateral Trade Agreements and Free-Trade Zones 102

Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act / General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade / World Trade Organization / The European Union / North American Free Trade Agreement

Trade Adjustment Assistance / Offshoring of Jobs

Last Word: Fair-Trade Products 106

The Price-Elasticity Coeffi cient and

Formula / Interpretations of E d d / The Revenue Test / Price Elasticity and the Total- Revenue Curve / Determinants of Price Elasticity of Demand / Applications of Price Elasticity of Demand

Total-Consider This: A Bit of a Stretch 116

Price Elasticity of Supply: The Market Period / Price Elasticity

of Supply: The Short Run / Price Elasticity of Supply: The Long Run / Applications of Price Elasticity of Supply

Cross Elasticity and Income Elasticity of Demand 124

Cross Elasticity of Demand / Income Elasticity of Demand

Consumer and Producer Surplus 126

Consumer Surplus / Producer Surplus / Effi ciency

Revisited / Effi ciency Losses (or Deadweight Losses)

Last Word: Elasticity and Pricing Power: Why Different

Consumers Pay Different Prices 130

Chapter 7

Terminology / Total Utility and

Marginal Utility / Marginal Utility and Demand

Consider This: Vending Machines and Marginal Utility 135

Consumer Choice and Budget Constraint /

Utility-Maximizing Rule / Numerical Example / Algebraic

Generalization

Utility Maximization and the Demand Curve 140

Deriving the Demand Schedule and Curve / Income and

Substitution Effects

iPods / The Diamond-Water Paradox / The Value of Time /

Medical Care Purchases / Cash and Noncash Gifts

Last Word: M&M’s, Final Exams, and Retirement Savings:

Insights from Behavioral Economics 142

Chapter 7 Appendix: Indifference Curve Analysis 147

Chapter 8

Explicit and Implicit Costs / Normal Profi t as a Cost /

Economic Profi t (or Pure Profi t) / Short Run and Long Run fi

Law of Diminishing Returns

Consider This: Diminishing Returns from Study 157

Fixed, Variable, and Total Costs / Per-Unit, or Average,

Costs / Marginal Cost / Shifts of the Cost Curves

Firm Size and Costs / The Long-Run Cost Curve /

Economies and Diseconomies of Scale / Minimum Effi cient

Scale and Industry Structure

The Doubling of the Price of Corn / Successful

Start-Up Firms / The Verson Stamping Machine / The Daily

Newspaper / Aircraft and Concrete Plants

Last Word: Don’t Cry over Sunk Costs 172

Chapter 9

Pure Competition: Characteristics and Occurrence 177

Demand as Seen by a Purely Competitive Seller 178

Perfectly Elastic Demand / Average, Total, and Marginal

Consider This: The Still There Motel 185

Generalized Depiction / Diminishing Returns, Production Costs, and Product Supply / Changes in Supply / Firm and Industry:

Equilibrium Price

Assumptions / Goal of Our Analysis / Long-Run Equilibrium / Long-Run Supply for a Constant-Cost Industry / Long-Run Supply for an Increasing-Cost Industry / Long-Run Supply for a Decreasing-Cost Industry

Productive Effi ciency: P ⫽ Minimum ATC / Allocative Effi ciency: P ⫽ MC / Maximum Consumer and Producer Surplus / Dynamic Adjustments / “Invisible Hand”

Examples of Monopoly / Dual Objectives of the Study

of Monopoly

Economies of Scale / Legal Barriers to Entry: Patents and Licenses / Ownership or Control of Essential Resources / Pricing and Other Strategic Barriers to Entry

Marginal Revenue Is Less Than Price / The Monopolist Is

a Price Maker / The Monopolist Sets Prices in the Elastic Region of Demand

Cost Data / MR ⫽ MC Rule / No Monopoly Supply Curve / Misconceptions Concerning Monopoly Pricing / Possibility of Losses by Monopolist

Price, Output, and Efficiency / Income Transfer / fi Cost Complications / Assessment and Policy Options

Socially Optimal Price: P ⫽ MC / Fair-Return Price:

P ⫽ ATC / Dilemma of Regulation

Last Word: De Beers’ Diamonds: Are Monopolies Forever? 218

CONTENTS

xxiv

Chapter 11

Relatively Large Number of Sellers / Differentiated

Products / Easy Entry and Exit / Advertising /

Monopolistically Competitive Industries

Price and Output in Monopolistic Competition 225

The Firm’s Demand Curve / The Short Run: Profi t or

Loss / The Long Run: Only a Normal Profi t

Monopolistic Competition and Effi ciency fi 227

Neither Productive nor Allocative Effi ciency / Excess

Capacity

Benefi ts of Product Variety / Further Complexity

A Few Large Producers / Homogeneous or Differentiated

Products / Control over Price, but Mutual Interdependence /

Entry Barriers / Mergers / Oligopolistic Industries

Oligopoly Behavior: A Game-Theory Overview 232

Mutual Interdependence Revisited / Collusion /

Incentive to Cheat

Consider This: Creative Strategic Behavior 233

Kinked-Demand Theory: Noncollusive Oligopoly /

Cartels and Other Collusion / Price Leadership

Model

Consider This: The Prisoner’s Dilemma 234

Positive Effects of Advertising / Potential Negative Effects

of Advertising

Productive and Allocative Effi ciency / Qualifi cations

Last Word: Oligopoly in the Beer Industry 242

Chapter 11 Appendix: Additional Game

WEB Chapter 11 www.mcconnell18e.com

Invention, Innovation, and Diffusion 11 W W -2

Invention / Innovation / Diffusion / R&D

Expenditures / Modern View of Technological Advance

Role of Entrepreneurs and Other Innovators 11W-4

Forming Start-Ups / Innovating within Existing

Firms / Anticipating the Future / Exploiting University

and Government Scientifi c Research

Interest-Rate Cost of Funds / Expected Rate of

Return / Optimal R&D Expenditures

Increased Revenue via Product Innovation / Reduced

Cost via Process Innovation

Benefi ts of Being First

Consider This: Trade Secrets 11W-12

Market Structure and Technological Advance /

Inverted-U Theory of R&D / Market Structure and Technological Advance: The Evidence

Productive Effi ciency / Allocative Effi fi fi ciency / Creative Destruction

Last Word: On the Path to the Personal Computer and Internet 11W-16

PART THREE

Microeconomics of Resource Markets 252

Chapter 12

Marginal Productivity Theory of Resource Demand 254

Resource Demand as a Derived Demand / Marginal Revenue Product / Rule for Employing Resources: MRP ⫽ MRC / MRP as Resource Demand Schedule / Resource Demand under Imperfect Product Market

Competition / Market Demand for a Resource

Consider This: Superstars 258

Changes in Product Demand / Changes in Productivity / Changes in the Prices of Other Resources / Occupational Employment Trends

The Least-Cost Rule / The Profit-Maximizing fi Rule / Numerical Illustration

Marginal Productivity Theory of Income Distribution 265

Last Word: Input Substitution: The Case of ATMs 266

Chapter 13

Role of Productivity / Real Wages and Productivity / Long-Run Trend of Real Wages

Market Demand for Labor / Market Supply of Labor / Labor Market Equilibrium

Upward-Sloping Labor Supply to Firm / MRC Higher Than the Wage Rate / Equilibrium Wage and Employment / Examples of Monopsony Power

Demand-Enhancement Model / Exclusive or Craft Union Model / Inclusive or Industrial Union Model / Wage Increases and Unemployment

Indeterminate Outcome of Bilateral Monopoly / Desirability of Bilateral Monopoly

CONTENTS

Case against the Minimum Wage / Case for the Minimum

Wage / Evidence and Conclusions

Marginal Revenue Productivity / Noncompeting

Groups / Compensating Differences / Market

Imperfections

Consider This: My Entire Life 284

The Principal-Agent Problem Revisited / Addenda:

Negative Side Effects of Pay for Performance

Last Word: Are Chief Executive Offi cers (CEOs) Overpaid? 287

Chapter 13 Appendix: Labor Unions and Their Impacts 290

Chapter 14

Perfectly Inelastic Supply / Equilibrium Rent and

Changes in Demand / Land Rent: A Surplus

Payment / Application: A Single Tax on Land /

Productivity Differences and Rent Differences /

Alternative Uses of Land

Loanable Funds Theory of Interest / Extending the

Model / Time-Value of Money / Range of Interest

Rates / Pure Rate of Interest / Role of the Interest

Rate / Application: Usury Laws

Consider This: That Is Interest 303

Role of the Entrepreneur / Sources of Economic

Profi t / Functions of Profi t

Last Word: Determining the Price of Credit 308

Chapter 15

Population Growth / Resource Consumption per

Person

Consider This: Can Governments Raise Birthrates? 314

Effi cient Energy Use / Running Out of Energy?

Consider This: Turning Entrails (and Nearly Anything Else)

into Oil 320

Using Present Values to Evaluate Future Possibilities 321

Present Use versus Future Use / Incomplete Property Rights

Lead to Excessive Present Use / Applications

Forest Management / Optimal Forest Harvesting /

Optimal Fisheries Management / Policies to Limit

Revealing Preferences through Majority Voting 357

Ineffi cient Voting Outcomes / Paradox of Voting / Median-Voter Model

Special Interests and Rent Seeking / Clear Benefits, Hidden fi Costs / Limited and Bundled Choice / Bureaucracy and Ineffi ciency / Imperfect Institutions

Benefi ts Received versus Ability to Pay / Progressive, Proportional, and Regressive Taxes

Elasticity and Tax Incidence / Efficiency Loss of a Tax / Probable fi Incidence of U.S Taxes / The U.S Tax Structure

Last Word: “Government Failure” in the News 370

PART FIVE

Microeconomic Issues and Policies 374

Chapter 18

Historical Background / Sherman Act of 1890 / Clayton Act of 1914 / Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 / Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950

CONTENTS

Issues of Interpretation / Issues of

Enforcement / Effectiveness of Antitrust Laws

Consider This: Of Catfi sh and Art (and Other Things

in Common) 381

Natural Monopoly / Problems with Industrial

Regulation / Legal Cartel Theory

Distinguishing Features / The Optimal Level of Social

Regulation / Two Reminders

Last Word: United States v Microsoft 386

Chapter 19

The Short Run: Price and Income Instability / The Long Run:

A Declining Industry / Farm-Household Income

Consider This: Risky Business 396

Rationale for Farm Subsidies / Background: The

Parity Concept / Economics of Price Supports / Reduction

of Surpluses

Consider This: Putting Corn in Your Gas Tank 401

Criticisms of the Parity Concept / Criticisms of the

Price-Support System / The Politics of Farm Policy

Last Word: The Sugar Program: A Sweet Deal 404

Freedom to Farm Act of 1996 / The Food, Conservation, and

Energy Act of 2008

Chapter 20

Income Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination 409

Distribution by Income Category / Distribution by Quintiles

(Fifths) / The Lorenz Curve and Gini Ratio / Income

Mobility: The Time Dimension / Effect of Government

Redistribution

Ability / Education and Training / Discrimination /

Preferences and Risks / Unequal Distribution of

Wealth / Market Power / Luck, Connections,

and Misfortune

Rising Income Inequality since 1970 / Causes of Growing

Inequality

Consider This: Laughing at Shrek 416

The Case for Equality: Maximizing Total Utility / The

Case for Inequality: Incentives and Effi ciency / The

Equality-Effi ciency Trade-off

Consider This: Slicing the Pizza 418

Defi nition of Poverty / Incidence of Poverty / Poverty Trends / Measurement Issues

Social Insurance Programs / Public Assistance Programs

Taste-for-Discrimination Model / Statistical Discrimination / Occupational Segregation: The Crowding o Model / Cost to Society as Well as to Individual

Last Word: U.S Family Wealth and Its Distribution 427

Chapter 21

Health Care Spending / Quality of Care: Are We Healthier? / Economic Implications of Rising Costs / Too Much Spending?

Peculiarities of the Health Care Market / The Increasing Demand for Health Care / Role of Health Insurance / Supply Factors in Rising Health Care Prices / Relative Importance

Consider This: Cancer Fight Goes Nuclear 441

Universal Access / Cost Containment: Altering Incentives / Recent Laws and Proposals

Last Word: Mandatory Health Insurance: Play to Stay 446

Chapter 22

Legal Immigrants / Illegal Immigrants

Earnings Opportunities / Moving Costs / Factors Affecting Costs and Benefi ts

Personal Gains / Impacts on Wage Rates, Effi ciency and Output / Income Shares / Complications and Modifications / Fiscal fi Impacts / Research Findings

Consider This: Stars and Stripes 454

Employment Effects / Wage Effects / Price Effects / Fiscal Impacts on Local and State Governments / Other Concerns

Last Word: Immigration Reform: The Beaten Path to

the Current Stalemate 461

CONTENTS

Savings, Investment, and Choosing between Present and

Future Consumption / Banks and Other Financial

Institutions

Demand Shocks and Flexible Prices / Demand Shocks and

Sticky Prices

Last Word: Will Better Inventory Management Mean

A Monetary Measure / Avoiding Multiple Counting /

GDP Excludes Nonproduction Transactions /

Two Ways of Looking at GDP: Spending and

Income

Personal Consumption Expenditures ( C ) / Gross Private Domestic

Investment ( (( I I I ) / Government Purchases ( g gg G ) / Net Exports

( X

( X X ) / Putting It All Together: GDP n ⫽ C ⫹ I I I g ⫹ G ⫹ X X n

Consider This: Stock Answers about Flows 484

Compensation of Employees / Rents / Interest l

Proprietors’ Income / Corporate Profits / Taxes on fi

Production and Imports / From National Income to

GDP

Net Domestic Product / National Income /

Personal Income / Disposable Income / The

Circular Flow Revisited

Adjustment Process in a One-Product Economy /

An Alternative Method / Real-World Considerations

and Data

Nonmarket Activities / Leisure / Improved

Product Quality / The Underground Economy /

GDP and the Environment / Composition

and Distribution of Output / Noneconomic Sources

Growth as a Goal / Arithmetic of Growth / Growth

in the United States

The Uneven Distribution of Growth / Catching

Up Is Possible

Consider This: Economic Growth Rates Matter! 503

Institutional Structures That Promote Growth 504

Consider This: Patents and Innovation 505

Supply Factors / Demand Factor / Effi ciency fi Factor

Growth and Production Possibilities / Labor and Productivity

Labor Inputs versus Labor Productivity / Technological Advance / Quantity of Capital / Education and Training / Economies of Scale and Resource Allocation

Consider This: Women, the Labor Force, and Economic Growth 509

Reasons for the Productivity Acceleration / Implication:

More Rapid Economic Growth / Skepticism about Permanence / What Can We Conclude?

The Antigrowth View / In Defense of Economic Growth

Last Word: Economic Growth in China 516

Chapter 26

Business Cycles, Unemployment, and Infl ation 520

Phases of the Business Cycle / Causation: A First Glance / Cyclical Impact: Durables and Nondurables

Measurement of Unemployment / Types of Unemployment / Defi nition of Full Employment / Economic Cost of Unemployment / Noneconomic

Costs / International Comparisons

Consider This: Why Is the Unemployment Rate in Europe So High? 529

Meaning of Infl ation / Measurement of Infl ation / Facts of Infl ation / Types of Infl ation / Complexities

Consider This: Clipping Coins 531

Who Is Hurt by Infl ation? / Who Is Unaffected or Helped

by Infl ation? / Anticipated Infl ation / Other Redistribution Issues

Cost-Push Infl ation and Real Output / Demand-Pull Infl ation and Real Output / Hyperinfl ation

Last Word: The Stock Market and the Economy 536

The Income-Consumption and Income-Saving

The Consumption Schedule / The Saving Schedule /

Average and Marginal Propensities / Nonincome

Determinants of Consumption and Saving / Other Important

Considerations

Consider This: What Wealth Effect? 548

The Interest-Rate–Investment Relationship 548

Expected Rate of Return / The Real Interest

Rate / Investment Demand Curve / Shifts of the Investment

Demand Curve / Instability of Investment

Rationale / The Multiplier and the Marginal

Propensities / How Large Is the Actual Multiplier Effect?

Last Word: Squaring the Economic Circle 557

Chapter 28

Tabular Analysis / Graphical Analysis

Saving Equals Planned Investment / No Unplanned Changes

in Inventories

Changes in Equilibrium GDP and the Multiplier 567

Net Exports and Aggregate Expenditures / The Net Export

Schedule / Net Exports and Equilibrium GDP /

International Economic Linkages

Government Purchases and Equilibrium GDP / Taxation and

Equilibrium GDP

Recessionary Expenditure Gap / Infl ationary

Expenditure Gap / Application: The U.S Recession of

2001 / Application: Full-Employment Output, with Large

Negative Net Exports

Last Word: Say’s Law, the Great Depression, and Keynes 578

Chapter 29

Aggregate Demand Curve

Consumer Spending / Investment Spending / Government

Spending / Net Export Spending

Aggregate Supply in the Immediate Short Run / Aggregate Supply in the Short Run / Aggregate Supply in the Long Run / Focusing on the Short Run

Input Prices / Productivity / Legal-Institutional Environment

Increases in AD: Demand-Pull Infl ation / Decreases in AD:

Recession and Cyclical Unemployment / Decreases in AS:

Cost-Push Infl ation / Increases in AS: Full Employment with Price-Level Stability

Consider This: Ratchet Effect 598 Last Word: Has the Impact of Oil Prices Diminished? 599

Chapter 29 Appendix: The Relationship of the Aggregate Demand Curve to the Aggregate

Chapter 30

Expansionary Fiscal Policy / Contractionary Fiscal Policy / Policy Options: G or T ?

Automatic or Built-In Stabilizers

Standardized Budget / Recent U.S Fiscal Policy / Budget Defi cits and Projections / Social Security Considerations

Problems of Timing / Political Considerations / Future Policy Reversals / Offsetting State and Local Finance / Crowding-Out Effect / Current Thinking on Fiscal Policy

Ownership / Debt and GDP / International Comparisons / Interest Charges

Last Word: The Leading Indicators 623

PART EIGHT

Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy 628

Chapter 31

Money Defi nition M 1 / Money Defi nition M 2M

Consider This: Are Credit Cards Money? 633

Money as Debt / Value of Money / Money and Prices /

Stabilizing Money’s Purchasing Power

The Federal Reserve and the Banking System 636

Historical Background / Board of Governors / The 12

Federal Reserve Banks / FOMC / Commercial Banks and

Thrifts / Fed Functions and the Money Supply / Federal

Reserve Independence

The Relative Decline of Banks and Thrifts /

Consolidation among Banks and Thrifts / Convergence

of Services Provided by Financial Institutions /

Globalization of Financial Markets / Electronic

Payments

Last Word: The Global Greenback 642

Chapter 32

Illustrating the Idea: The Goldsmiths / Signifi cant

Characteristics of Fractional Reserve Banking

Transaction 1: Creating a Bank / Transaction 2: Acquiring Property

and Equipment / Transaction 3: Accepting Deposits / Transaction

4: Depositing Reserves in a Federal Reserve Bank / Transaction 5:

Clearing a Check Drawn against the Bank

Money-Creating Transactions of a Commercial Bank 650

Transaction 6: Granting a Loan / Transaction 7: Buying

Government Securities / Profi ts, Liquidity, and the Federal

Funds Market

The Banking System: Multiple-Deposit Expansion 653

The Banking System’s Lending Potential / The

Monetary Multiplier / Reversibility: The Multiple

The Demand for Money / The Equilibrium Interest

Rate / Interest Rates and Bond Prices

The Consolidated Balance Sheet of the Federal

Assets / Liabilities

Open-Market Operations / The Reserve

Ratio / The Discount Rate / Term Auction

Facility / Relative Importance

Expansionary Monetary Policy / Restrictive Monetary

Policy / The Taylor Rule

Consider This: The Fed as a Sponge 673

Monetary Policy, Real GDP, and the Price Level P 673

Cause-Effect Chain / Effects of an Expansionary Monetary

Policy / Effects of a Restrictive Monetary Policy y

Recent U.S Monetary Policy / Problems and Complications

Consider This: Pushing on a String 678 Last Word: The Mortgage Debt Crisis:

The Fed Responds 682

Stocks / Bonds / Mutual Funds / Calculating Investment Returns / Asset Pricies and Rates of Return

Diversifi cation / Comparing Risky Investments / Relationship fi

of Risk and Average Expected Rates of Return / The Risk-Free Rate of Return

Consider This: Does Ethical Investing Increase Returns? 700

Last Word: Why Do Index Funds Beat Actively Managed Funds? 701

PART NINE

Chapter 35

Extending the Analysis of Aggregate Supply 707

Short-Run Aggregate Supply / Long-Run Aggregate Supply / Long-Run Equilibrium in the AD-AS Model

Demand-Pull Infl ation in the Extended AD-AS Model / Cost-Push Infl ation in the Extended AD-AS

Model / Recession and the Extended AD-AS Model / Ongoing Inflation in the Extended AD-AS Model fl

The Phillips Curve / Aggregate Supply Shocks and the Phillips Curve

Short-Run Phillips Curve / Long-Run Vertical Phillips Curve / Disinfl ation

Taxes and Incentives to Work / Incentives to Save and Invest / The Laffer Curve / Criticisms of the Laffer Curve / Rebuttal and Evaluation

Consider This: Sherwood Forest 721 Last Word: Do Tax Increases Reduce Real GDP? 722

CONTENTS

Chapter 36

Current Issues in Macro Theory and Policy 726

Mainstream View / Monetarist View / Real-Business-Cycle

View / Coordination Failures

New Classical View of Self-Correction / Mainstream

View of Self-Correction

In Support of Policy Rules / In Defense of Discretionary

Stabilization Policy / Increased Macro Stability

Consider This: On the Road Again 734

Last Word: The Taylor Rule: Could a Robot Replace

Comparative Advantage: Graphical Analysis 745

Two Isolated Nations / Specializing Based on

Comparative Advantage / Terms of Trade / Gains

from Trade / Trade with Increasing Costs / The Case

for Free Trade

Supply and Demand Analysis of Exports and Imports 750

Supply and Demand in the United States / Supply and

Demand in Canada / Equilibrium World Price, Exports,

and Imports

Economic Impact of Tariffs / Economic Impact of

Quotas / Net Costs of Tariffs and Quotas

The Case for Protection: A Critical Review 756

Military Self-Suffi ciency Argument / Diversifi

cation-for-Stability Argument / Infant Industry Argument /

Protection-against-Dumping Argument /

Increased Domestic Employment Argument /

Cheap Foreign Labor Argument

Consider This: Shooting Yourself in the Foot 756

Last Word: Petition of the Candlemakers, 1845 760

Chapter 38

The Balance of Payments, Exchange Rates,

Current Account / Capital and Financial Account / Why the Balance of Payments Balances / Payments, Defi cits, and Surpluses

Depreciation and Appreciation / Determinants of Exchange Rates / Flexible Rates and the Balance of Payments / Disadvantages of Flexible Exchange Rates

Consider This: The Big Mac Index 772

Use of Reserves / Trade Policies / Exchange Controls and Rationing / Domestic Macroeconomic Adjustments

The Current Exchange Rate System: The Managed

Causes of the Trade Defi cits / Implications of U.S Trade Defi cits

Last Word: Speculation in Currency Markets 780

WEB Supplement 38 www.mcconnell18e.com

Previous International Exchange-Rate Systems 785

The Gold Standard: Fixed Exchange Rates 38S-2

Gold Flows / Domestic Macroeconomic Adjustments / Collapse of the Gold Standard

IMF and Pegged Exchange Rates / Fundamental Imbalances: Adjusting the Peg / Demise of the Bretton Woods System

Classifi cations / Comparisons / Growth, Decline, and Income Gaps / The Human Realities

of Poverty

Natural Resources / Human Resources / Capital Accumulation / Technological Advance / Sociocultural and Institutional Factors

A Positive Role / Public Sector Problems

Expanding Trade / Foreign Aid: Public Loans and Grants / Flows of Private Capital

DVC Policies for Promoting Growth / IAC Policies for Fostering DVC Growth

Last Word: Famine in Africa 39W-16

CONTENTS

To the Student

This book and its ancillaries contain several features

T • Web buttons (indicators) A glance through

the book reveals many pages with rectangular icons in

the margins These “buttons” alert you to helpful

learning aids available with the book The blue green

button denotes “Interactive Graphs” found at the text’s

Web site, www.mcconnell18e.com Brief exercises

have you interact with the graphs, for example,

by clicking on a specificcurve and dragging it to

a new location Theseexercises will enhanceyour understanding of the underlying concepts

The blue button symbolizes “Worked Problems.” Numeric problems are presentedand then solved, side-by-side, step-by-step Seeing how the problems areworked will help you solve similar problems

on quizzes and exams The green button stands for

“Origin of the Idea.” Each of these pieces traces a

particular idea to the person or persons who first

developed it

After reading a chapter, thumb back through it to

note the Web buttons and their associated numbers

On the home page of our Internet site select Student

Edition and use the pull-down list under “Choose

one” to find the Web button content for each chapter

• Other Internet aids s Our Internet site contains many

other aids In the Student Edition you will find

self-testing multiple-choice quizzes, PowerPoint

presentations, and much more For those of you with

a very strong mathematics background, be sure to

note the “See the Math” section on the Web site

There you will find nearly 50 notes that develop the

algebra and, in a few cases, the calculus that underlie

the economic concepts

• Appendix on graphs s Be assured, however, that you

will need only basic math skills to do well in the

principles course In particular, you will need to be

comfortable with basic graphical analysis and a few

quantitative concepts The appendix at the end of Chapter 1 reviews graphs and slopes of curves Youmay want to read it before starting Chapter 1

• Reviews s Each chapter contains two to four Quick Reviews and an end-of-chapter summary Thesereviews will help you focus on essential ideas and study for exams

• Key terms and Key Graphs s Key terms are set inboldface type within the chapters, listed at the end of each chapter, and again defined in the glossary at theend of the book Graphs with special relevance are labeled Key Graphs, and each includes a multiple-choice Quick Quiz Your instructor may or may not emphasize all of these figures, but you should pay special attention to those that are discussed in class; youcan be certain there will be exam questions on them

• Consider This and Last Word boxes s Many chapters include a Consider This box These brief piecesprovide commonplace analogies, examples, and storiesthat help you understand and remember central economic ideas Each chapter concludes with a Last Word box Some of them are revealing applications of economic ideas; others are short case studies While it

is tempting to ignore in-text boxes, don’t Most are fun

to read, and all will improve your grasp of economics

• Questions s A comprehensive list of study questions is located at the end of each chapter Each question is keyed to a particular learning objective (LO) in thelist of LOs at the beginning of the chapter Several of the questions are designated Key Questions andtherefore are particularly important At the Internet site is a multiple-choice quiz for each chapter

• Study Guide We enthusiastically recommend the

Study Guide accompanying this text This “portable

tutor” contains not only a broad sampling of various kinds of questions but a host of useful learning aids

Software-driven tutorials (Homework Manager for ((

Economics, for example) are also available with the text

Our two main goals are to help you understand andapply economics and help you improve your analyticalskills An understanding of economics will enable you tocomprehend a whole range of economic, social, and politi-cal problems that otherwise would seem puzzling and per-plexing Also, your study will enhance reasoning skills that are highly prized in the workplace

Good luck with your study We think it will be wellworth your time and effort

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL LEARN:

1 The defi nition of economics and the features of the

economic perspective

2 The role of economic theory in economics

3 The distinction between microeconomics and

macroeconomics

4 The categories of scarce resources and the nature

of the economizing problem

5 About production possibilities analysis, increasing

opportunity costs, and economic growth

6 (Appendix) About graphs, curves, and slopes as they

relate to economics

(An appendix on understanding graphs follows this chapter If you need a quick review of this

mathematical tool, you might benefit by reading the appendix first.) People’s wants are numerous

and varied Biologically, people need only air, water, food, clothing, and shelter But in modern society

people also desire goods and services that provide a more comfortable or affluent standard of living

We want bottled water, soft drinks, and fruit juices, not just water from the creek We want salads,

burgers, and pizzas, not just berries and nuts We want jeans, suits, and coats, not just woven reeds

We want apartments, condominiums, or houses, not just mud huts And, as the saying goes, “that is

not the half of it.” We also want flat-panel TVs, Internet service, education, homeland security, cell

phones, health care, and much more

Fortunately, society possesses productive resources, such as labor and managerial talent, tools and

machinery, and land and mineral deposits These resources, employed in the economic system (or

sim-ply the economy), help us produce goods and services that satisfy many of our economic wants

Limits, Alternatives, and Choices

3

The Economic Perspective

Economists view things from a unique perspective This

economic perspective, or economic way of thinking , has

several critical and closely interrelated features

Scarcity and Choice

From our definition of economics, we can easily see why

economists view the world through the lens of scarcity

Scarce economic resources mean limited goods and

ser-vices Scarcity restricts options and demands choices

Because we “can’t have it all,” we must decide what we willhave and what we must forgo

At the core of economics is the idea that “there is nofree lunch.” You may be treated to lunch, making it “free” from your perspective, but someone bears a cost Because all resources are either privately or collectively owned by members of society, ultimately society bears the cost Scarce inputs of land, equipment, farm labor, the labor of cooks and waiters, and managerial talent are required Becausesociety could have used these resources to produce some-thing else, it sacrifices those other goods and services inmaking the lunch available Economists call such sacrifices

opportunity costs: To obtain more of one thing, society

forgoes the opportunity of getting the next best thing That sacrifice is the opportunity cost of the choice

or service They allocatetheir time, energy, and money to maximize theirsatisfaction Because they weigh costs and benefits, their economic decisions are “purposeful” or “rational,” not

“random” or “chaotic.”

Consumers are purposeful in deciding what goods andservices to buy Business firms are purposeful in deciding what products to produce and how to produce them Government entities are purposeful in deciding what pub-lic services to provide and how to finance them

“Purposeful behavior” does not assume that peopleand institutions are immune from faulty logic and there-fore are perfect decision makers They sometimes makemistakes Nor does it mean that people’s decisions are unaf-fected by emotion or the decisions of those around them

“Purposeful behavior” simply means that people make decisions with some desired outcome in mind

Rational self-interest is not the same as selfishness Inthe economy, increasing one’s own wage, rent, interest, or

But the blunt reality is that our economic wants far exceed the productive capacity of our scarce (limited) resources We are forced to make choices

This unyielding truth underlies the definition of economics, which is the

social science concerned with how individuals, institutions, and society make optimal (best) choices under conditions of scarcity

4

O 1.1

Origin of the term “Economics”

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA

CONSIDER THIS

Free for All?

Free products are seemingly every- where Sellers of- fer free software, free cell phones, and free checking accounts Den- tists give out free toothbrushes At state visitor centers, there are free brochures

and maps

Does the presence of so many free products contradict the

economist’s assertion “There is no free lunch”? No! Resources

are used to produce each of these products, and because those

resources have alternative uses, society gives up something

else to get the “free” good Where resources are used to

pro-duce goods or services, there is no free lunch

So why are these goods offered for free? In a word: marketing!

Firms sometimes offer free products to entice people to try them,

hoping they will then purchase those goods later The free

soft-ware may eventually entice you to buy the producer’s upgraded

software In other instances, the free brochures contain advertising

for shops and restaurants, and that free e-mail program is filled

with ads In still other cases, the product is free only in conjunction

with a larger purchase To get the free bottle of soda, you must buy

the large pizza To get the free cell phone, you need to sign up for

a year’s worth of cell phone service

So “free” products may or may not be truly free to

individu-als They are never free to society

O 1.2

Utility

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA

CHAPTER 1 Limits, Alternatives, and Choices 5

profit normally requires identifying and satisfying somebody

else’s wants! Also, people make personal sacrifices to others s

They contribute time and money to charities because they

derive pleasure from doing so Parents help pay for their

children’s education for the same reason These

self-interested, but unselfish, acts help maximize the givers’

satisfaction as much as any personal purchase of goods orservices Self-interested behavior is simply behavior designed

to increase personal satisfaction, however it may be derived

Marginal Analysis:

Benefi ts and Costs

The economic perspective focuses largely on marginal analysis—comparisons of marginal benefits and marginal

costs, usually for decision making To economists, ginal” means “extra,” “additional,” or “a change in.” Most choices or decisions involve changes in the status quo, meaning the existing state of affairs

“mar-Should you attend school for another year? “mar-Should you study an extra hour for an exam? Should you supersizeyour fries? Similarly, should a business expand or reduceits output? Should government increase or decrease itsfunding for a missile defense system?

Each option involves marginal benefits and, because of scarce resources, marginal costs In making choices ratio-nally, the decision maker must compare those two amounts.Example: You and your fiancée are shopping for an engage-ment ring Should you buy a _ 1

dia-benefit is the perceived lifetime pleasure (utility)from the larger-size stone

If the marginal benefit of the larger diamond exceeds its marginal cost (and you canafford it), buy the larger stone But if the marginal cost is more than the marginal benefit, buy the smaller diamondinstead, even if you can afford the larger stone!

In a world of scarcity, the decision to obtain the ginal benefit associated with some specific option alwaysincludes the marginal cost of forgoing something else.The money spent on the larger-size diamond means for-going some other product An opportunity cost—the value

mar-of the next best thing forgone—is always present

when-ever a choice is made (Key Question 3)

Theories, Principles, and Models

Like the physical and life sciences, as well as other social

sciences, economics relies on the scientific method That

procedure consists of several elements:

• Based on those observations, formulating a possibleexplanation of cause and effect (hypothesis)

CONSIDER THIS

Fast-Food Lines

The economic perspective is useful in analyzing all sorts of behav- iors Consider an everyday exam- ple: the behavior

of fast-food tomers When customers enter the restaurant, they go to the

cus-shortest line, believing that line will minimize their time cost of

obtaining food They are acting purposefully; time is limited, and

people prefer using it in some way other than standing in line

If one fast-food line is temporarily shorter than other lines,

some people will move to that line These movers apparently view

the time saving from the shorter line (marginal benefit) as

exceed-ing the cost of movexceed-ing from their present line (marginal cost) The

line switching tends to equalize line lengths No further movement

of customers between lines occurs once all lines are about equal

Fast-food customers face another cost-benefit decision

when a clerk opens a new station at the counter Should they

move to the new station or stay put? Those who shift to the

new line decide that the time saving from the move exceeds

the extra cost of physically moving In so deciding, customers

must also consider just how quickly they can get to the new

station compared with others who may be contemplating the

same move (Those who hesitate in this situation are lost!)

Customers at the fast-food establishment do not have

per-fect information when they select lines Thus, not all decisions

turn out as expected For example, you might enter a short line

and find someone in front of you is ordering hamburgers and

fries for 40 people in the Greyhound bus parked out back (and

the employee is a trainee)! Nevertheless, at the time you made

your decision, you thought it was optimal

Finally, customers must decide what food to order when

they arrive at the counter In making their choices, they again

compare marginal costs and marginal benefits in attempting to

obtain the greatest personal satisfaction for their expenditure

Economists believe that what is true for the behavior of

customers at fast-food restaurants is true for economic

behav-ior in general Faced with an array of choices, consumers,

work-ers, and businesses rationally compare marginal costs and

marginal benefits in making decisions

O 1.3

Marginal analysis

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA

PART ONE

Introduction to Economics and the Economy

6

• Testing this explanation by comparing the outcomes

of specific events to the outcome predicted by the

hypothesis

• Accepting, rejecting, and modifying the hypothesis,

based on these comparisons

• Continuing to test the hypothesis against the facts As

favorable results accumulate, the hypothesis evolves

into a theory A very well-tested and widely accepted

theory is referred to as an economic law or an

economic principle—a statement about economic

behavior or the economy that enables prediction of

the probable effects of certain actions Combinations

of such laws or principles are incorporated into

models, which are simplified representations of how

something works, such as a market or segment of the

economy

Economists develop theories of the behavior of

indi-viduals (consumers, workers) and institutions (businesses,

governments) engaged in the production, exchange, and

consumption of goods and services Theories, principles,

and models are “purposeful simplifications.” The full

scope of economic reality itself is too complex and

bewildering to be understood as a whole In developing

theories, principles, and models economists remove the

clutter and simplify

Economic principles and models are highly useful in

analyzing economic behavior and understanding how

the economy operates They are the tools for

ascertain-ing cause and effect (or action and outcome) within the

economic system Good theories do a good job of

explaining and predicting They are supported by facts

concerning how individuals and institutions actually

behave in producing, exchanging, and consuming goods

and services

There are some other things you should know about

economic principles

• Generalizations s Economic principles are

general-izations relating to economic behavior or to the

economy itself Economic principles are expressed

as the tendencies of typical or average consumers,

workers, or business firms For example, economists

say that consumers buy more of a particular product

when its price falls Economists recognize that some

consumers may increase their purchases by a large

amount, others by a small amount, and a few not

at all This “price-quantity” principle, however,

holds for the typical consumer and for consumers as

a group

• Other-Things-Equal Assumption In constructing

their theories, economists use the ceteris paribus or s

other-things-equal assumption—the assumption

that factors other than those being considered do not change They assume that all variables except those under immediate consideration are held constant for a particular analysis For example, consider the relationship between the price of Pepsi and the amount of it purchased Assume that of allthe factors that might influence the amount of Pepsi purchased (for example, the price of Pepsi, the price

of Coca-Cola, and consumer incomes and

preferences), only theprice of Pepsi varies This is helpful becausethe economist can then focus on the relationship between the price of Pepsi and purchases of Pepsi inisolation without being confused by changes in other variables

• Graphical Expression Many economic models areexpressed graphically Be sure to read the specialappendix at the end of this chapter as a review of graphs

Microeconomics and Macroeconomics

Economists develop economic principles and models at two levels

Microeconomics Microeconomics is the part of economics concerned

with individual units such as a person, a household, a firm, or an industry At this level of analysis, the econo-mist observes the details of an economic unit, or very small segment of the economy, under a figurative micro-scope In microeconomics we look at decision making by individual customers, workers, households, and businessfirms We measure the price of a specific product, the number of workers employed by a single firm, the reve-nue or income of a particular firm or household, or theexpenditures of a specific firm, government entity, or family In microeconomics, we examine the sand, rock, and shells, not the beach

Macroeconomics Macroeconomics examines either the economy as a whole

or its basic subdivisions or aggregates, such as the

govern-ment, household, and business sectors An aggregate is a

collection of specific economic units treated as if they were one unit Therefore, we might lump together the millions

O 1.4

Ceteris paribus

ORIGIN OF THE IDEA

CHAPTER 1 Limits, Alternatives, and Choices 7

of consumers in the U.S economy and treat them as if

they were one huge unit called “consumers.”

In using aggregates, macroeconomics seeks to

obtain an overview, or general outline, of the structure

of the economy and the relationships of its major

aggregates Macroeconomics speaks of such economic

measures as total output, total employment, total

income, aggregate expenditures, and the general level of

prices in analyzing various economic problems No or

very little attention is given to specific units making up

the various aggregates

Figuratively, macroeconomics looks at the beach, not

the pieces of sand, the rocks, and the shells

The micro–macro distinction does not mean that

eco-nomics is so highly compartmentalized that every topic

can be readily labeled as either micro or macro; many

topics and subdivisions of economics are rooted in both

Example: While the problem of unemployment is usually

treated as a macroeconomic topic (because unemployment

relates to aggregate production), economists recognize

that the decisions made by individual workers on how long l

to search for jobs and the way specific clabor markets

encour-age or impede hiring are also critical in determining the

unemployment rate (Key Question 5)

Positive and Normative Economics

Both microeconomics and macroeconomics contain

ele-ments of positive economics and normative economics

Positive economics focuses on facts and cause-and-effect

relationships It includes description, theory development,

and theory testing (theoretical economics) Positive

eco-nomics avoids value judgments, tries to establish scientific

statements about economic behavior, and deals with what

the economy is actually like Such scientific-based analysis

is critical to good policy analysis

Economic policy, on the other hand, involves

nor-mative economics, which incorporates value judgments

about what the economy should be like or what particular

policy actions should be recommended to achieve a

desir-able goal (policy economics) Normative economics looks

at the desirability of certain aspects of the economy It

underlies expressions of support for particular economic

policies

Positive economics concerns what is, whereas

norma-tive economics embodies subjecnorma-tive feelings about what

ought to be Examples: Positive statement: “The

unemploy-ment rate in France is higher than that in the United

States.” Normative statement: “France ought to undertake

policies to make its labor market more flexible to reduce

unemployment rates.” Whenever words such as “ought”

or “should” appear in a sentence, you are very likely encountering a normative statement

Most of the disagreement among economists involves normative, value-based policy questions Of course, econ-omists sometime disagree about which theories or modelsbest represent the economy and its parts, but they agree

on a full range of economic principles Most economic controversy thus reflects differing opinions or value judg-ments about what society should be like

• Economics examines how individuals, institutions, and ety make choices under conditions of scarcit

soci-• The economic perspective stresses (a) resource scarcity and the necessity of making choices, (b) the assumption of pur - poseful (or rational) behavior, and (c) comparisons of mar- ginal benefit and marginal cost.

costs—the value of their next-best option.

•

• Economists u u se t t he s s cientific c method to t establish h economic ic theories—cause-effect generalizations about the economic

behavior of individuals and institutions

• Microeconomics focuses on specific decision-making units

of the economy, macroeconomics examines the economy as

a whole.

• Positi ve econo mi cs d ea ls w ith fact ua l stat emen ts (“what is”) ;

normative economics involves value judgments (“what ought

to be”)

QUICK REVIEW 1.1

Individuals’ Economizing Problem

A close examination of the economizing problem—the

need to make choices because economic wants exceed economic means—will enhance your understanding of economic models and the difference between microeco-nomic and macroeconomic analysis Let’s first build amicroeconomic model of the economizing problem faced

by an individual

Limited Income

We all have a finite amount of income, even the wealthiest among us Even Donald Trump must decide how to spendhis money! And the majority of us have much more limitedmeans Our income comes to us in the form of wages, in-terest, rent, and profit, although we may also receive mon-

ey from government programs or family members As Global Perspective 1.1 shows, the average income of Americans in 2006 was $44,970 In the poorest nations, it was less than $500