How To Think Like An Economist

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

ISBN: 9780324015751 | 0324015755
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 1/9/2004

Rent

(Recommended)

$28.47

Term

Due

Price

Semester

Dec 12

$31.63

Quarter

Sep 6

$30.05

Short Term

Aug 13

$28.47

*This item is part of an exclusive publisher rental program and requires an additional convenience fee. This fee will be reflected in the shopping bag.
Buy New

Currently Available, Usually Ships in 24-48 Hours

$40.50

How to Think Like an Economist is a new text designed as a supplement for introductory courses in economics. With its economics stories and real-world applications, this text helps readers recognize how economics affects their everyday lives. The author has used these stories and real-world applications in his classes to help hundreds of students make the connection between economics and their lives. This book is an original, class-tested success!

Preface
Can You Get Too Much of a Good Thing?
The Price of a Good	p. 2
Life Is Full of Tradeoffs	p. 2
Can There Ever Be Too Little of a Bad Thing?	p. 2
Actions Speak Louder Than Words	p. 3
What the Economist Thinks	p. 3
Questions to Answer	p. 4
There Is a Right Amount of Everything
Benefits and Costs	p. 5
Total and Marginal Magnitudes	p. 6
Finding the Optimum by Thinking in Terms of Marginal Benefits and Marginal Costs	p. 6
Hitting Yourself in the Head With a Hammer	p. 7
The Right Amount of Time to Play Tennis	p. 7
A View of Life	p. 9
What the Economist Thinks	p. 10
Questions to Answer	p. 10
Have a Question, Build a Theory
If You Are Eight, Then You Should See	p. 13
There Is Cause for Concern if a Theory Cannot Be Falsified	p. 14
What the Economist Thinks	p. 15
Questions to Answer	p. 15
Change Often Begets Change
The Way Things Could Be	p. 16
Why Dieters Often Don't Lose Weight	p. 18
Price Ceilings	p. 18
One Change Begets Another Change Begets the Need for Empirical Evidence	p. 19
To Tell the Whole Story, We Need to Identify All the Changes	p. 20
What the Economist Thinks	p. 21
Questions to Answer	p. 21
Why Is It Harder to Predict Than to Explain?
What Do You Need to Know to Make a Prediction?	p. 22
What Do You Need to Know to Give an Explanation?	p. 25
If You're So Smart, Then Why Aren't You Rich?	p. 26
What the Economist Thinks	p. 27
Questions to Answer	p. 27
Did You Really Mean to Pay for That?
Why Not Give Goods Instead of Money?	p. 30
Let's Change the Example and See if We Get Different Results	p. 30
Why Professors Might Say No to Review Sessions	p. 31
What the Economist Thinks	p. 32
Questions to Answer	p. 32
Is the Grass Really Greener on the Other Side of the Fence?
Which Stock Is Better?	p. 33
Let's Summarize Our Analysis	p. 34
Now Let's Look at House Prices	p. 35
Which Is the "Greener" Side of the Fence?	p. 36
A Pinch of Reality	p. 37
Are Physicians Really Rich?	p. 38
Trying to Stop the Adjustment Process	p. 39
What the Economist Thinks	p. 40
Questions to Answer	p. 40
Why There Will Always Be Lies and Liars
We Lie to Ourselves All the Time	p. 42
Why Do People Lie?	p. 42
What Are People Most Likely to Lie About?	p. 43
Reducing the Number of Lies	p. 44
What the Economist Thinks	p. 45
Questions to Answer	p. 45
How Things Will Turn Out
The Economist's Mindset	p. 46
Our Divorce Situation	p. 49
An Important Condition Is Necessary to Reach Our Conclusion	p. 49
What the Economist Thinks	p. 50
Questions to Answer	p. 50
What Kinds of Explanations Do Economists Use?
Grapes in California and New York	p. 54
Use What Works Often and Well	p. 55
What the Economist Thinks	p. 55
Questions to Answer	p. 56
Good Things Can Just Happen
What Are the Benefits of Money?	p. 58
Money Was Not Invented	p. 58
What the Economist Thinks	p. 59
Questions to Answer	p. 59
Winners and Losers
Positive-Sum Games	p. 60
Negative-Sum Games	p. 61
Zero-Sum Games	p. 61
How the Economist Thinks About the Various Games	p. 62
What the Economist Thinks	p. 63
Questions to Answer	p. 63
Life Is Just One Big Real Estate Market
What Does Superior Market Position Imply?	p. 65
What the Economist Will Do at This Point	p. 66
The College Market	p. 66
The Dating Market	p. 67
The Marriage Market	p. 69
What the Economist Thinks	p. 69
Questions to Answer	p. 70
Rational Men and Women
What the Economist Thinks	p. 73
Questions to Answer	p. 74
Rationing Devices
Many Arguments in Life Are About Rationing Devices	p. 75
"That's Not Fair"	p. 76
No Matter What the Rationing Device, People Will Compete for It	p. 76
The Beauty of Money Price as a Rationing Device	p. 77
What the Economist Thinks	p. 78
Questions to Answer	p. 78
Where's Waldo? Where's the Economics?
Aisle, Window, and Middle-of-the-Row Seats	p. 79
Overhead Compartments	p. 81
Will More Overhead Compartment Space Do the Trick?	p. 81
Going to the Restroom	p. 82
The Curtain	p. 82
Airline Magazines	p. 83
What the Economist Thinks	p. 84
Questions to Answer	p. 84
Drug Busts and SUVs, or the Importance of Thinking in Threes
Drug Busts and Crime	p. 85
SUVs and Terrorism	p. 86
What the Economist Thinks	p. 88
Questions to Answer	p. 88
Is It the Same Everywhere? Is It the Same All the Time?
New York Apartments	p. 90
The Question the Economist Asks	p. 92
Gas Prices and Another Question the Economist Asks	p. 92
What the Economist Thinks	p. 94
Questions to Answer	p. 95
Gifts, Trades, and Transfers
Gifts	p. 96
Trades	p. 97
Transfers	p. 97
Looking for Gifts, Trades, and Transfers	p. 98
What the Economist Thinks	p. 99
Questions to Answer	p. 99
There Are No $10 Bills on the Sidewalk
How Does the $10 Bill Principle Help the Economist?	p. 101
The $10 Bill Principle and the Law of Demand	p. 102
The $10 Bill Principle and Cheating on Cartel Agreements	p. 102
The $10 Bill Principle and Hiring	p. 103
Is It Over Yet?	p. 104
What the Economist Thinks	p. 104
Questions to Answer	p. 105
Ratios: More Than Twice As Good
Ratio of Percentage Change in Dollar Income to Percentage Change in Prices	p. 107
Ratio of Quantity Demanded to Quantity Supplied	p. 107
Ratio of Prices in One Year to Prices in Another Year	p. 107
Ratio of Percentage Change in Quantity Demanded to Percentage Change in Price	p. 108
Ratio of Average Variable Cost to Price	p. 109
Ratio of Marginal Revenue to Marginal Cost	p. 109
Will It Last?	p. 110
Another Will-It-Last Ratio	p. 111
Buddha's Ratio	p. 111
Finding Your Own Ratios	p. 112
What the Economist Thinks	p. 112
Questions to Answer	p. 112
More Than Common Sense Is Needed
How Would You Answer This Question?	p. 113
Why Didn't Ricardo Simply Rely on His Common Sense? Or, How Can We Become Ricardians?	p. 116
Adam Smith Had a Puzzle Too	p. 116
Common Sense and a Ratio	p. 118
How Do I Know When I'm Wrong?	p. 118
What the Economist Thinks	p. 120
Questions to Answer	p. 120
Did I Ask for This? Would I Have Asked for This?
We Sometimes Constrain Ourselves for a Good Reason	p. 122
Do Students Want Challenging Exams?	p. 123
Are Speeding Tickets a Bad?	p. 124
Bosses and Workers	p. 125
What the Economist Thinks	p. 127
Questions to Answer	p. 127
Right for Me, Right for You, But Wrong for Us
The Cold War	p. 128
Disneyland	p. 129
Self-Interest and Group Outcome	p. 129
Analysis of a Negative Outcome-The Free Rider	p. 130
What the Economist Thinks	p. 132
Questions to Answer	p. 132
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Please wait while the item is added to your bag...

FREE SHIPPING

Rent More, Save More! Use code: BBRENTAL

5% off 1 book, 7% off 2 books, 10% off 3+ books

How To Think Like An Economist

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

FREE SHIPPING

Rent More, Save More! Use code: BBRENTAL

5% off 1 book, 7% off 2 books, 10% off 3+ books

How To Think Like An Economist

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Digital License