Economics is a subject you learn by doing. Essential Foundations of Economics breaks the mold of a traditional text and becomes a practice-oriented learning system. Each chapter uses a Checklist to focus readers' attention on the most important key concepts. A discrete section introduces each of these core concepts and is immediately followed by a Checkpoint, a full page of practice that applies the concept. The result is a patient, confidence-building approach that prepares readers to use economics in their lives, regardless of what their future career will be.

Introduction: Getting Started; The U.S. and Global Economies; The Economic Problem; Demand and Supply. A Closer Look at Markets: Elasticities of Demand and Supply; Efficiency and Fairness of Markets; Markets in Action; Global Markets in Action. Prices, Profits, and Industry Performance: Externalities; Production and Cost; Perfect Competition; Monopoly; Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly. Monitoring the Macroeconomy: GDP and the Standard of Living; The CPI and the Cost of Living; Jobs and Unemployment. Understanding the Macroeconomy: Potential GDP and Economic Growth; The Monetary System; AS-AD and the Business Cycle; Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy.

For all readers interested in economics.