Economics

Contents......Page 4
Introduction......Page 7
Definition......Page 14
Scarcity: Resource Limitations and Allocation......Page 17
The Price System......Page 18
The Basic Functions of Economic Systems......Page 19
Efficiency......Page 21
The Workings of the Price System......Page 24
Limitations and Failures of the Price System......Page 27
Externalities......Page 29
Noncapitalist Price Systems......Page 33
Supply and Demand......Page 34
Demand Curve......Page 35
Market Equilibrium......Page 37
Elasticity......Page 38
The Unintended Effects of Markets......Page 40
Adam Smith......Page 41
Construction of a System......Page 43
Marxism......Page 46
The Marginalists......Page 48
Marginal Utility......Page 49
The Critics......Page 53
Keynesian Economics......Page 55
John Maynard Keynes......Page 57
Postwar Developments......Page 59
Radical Critiques......Page 60
Chapter Three: Methodological Considerations in Contemporary Economics......Page 62
Methods of Inference......Page 63
Testing Theories......Page 64
Microeconomics......Page 66
Econometrics......Page 67
Theory of Choice......Page 69
Theory of Allocation......Page 72
Economic Rationality......Page 74
Macroeconomics......Page 75
Neoclassical Economics......Page 78
Money......Page 80
Growth and Development......Page 82
Public Finance......Page 84
International Economics......Page 85
Labour......Page 87
Industrial Organization......Page 88
Perfect Competition......Page 90
Law and Economics......Page 93
Information Economics......Page 95
Financial Economics......Page 96
Other Schools and Fields of Economics......Page 97
Austrian School of Economics......Page 99
Chapter Five: The Evolution of Economic Systems: Prehistory to State Capitalism......Page 104
Prehistoric and Preliterate Economic Systems......Page 107
Centralized States......Page 109
Command Economy......Page 111
Preconditions for Market Society......Page 112
From Mercantilism to Commercial Capitalism......Page 116
Division of Labour......Page 119
From Commercial to Industrial Capitalism......Page 121
From Industrial to State Capitalism......Page 125
The Unreliability of Growth......Page 129
The Quality of Growth......Page 131
Equity......Page 132
Distribution of Wealth and Income......Page 133
Corrective Measures......Page 135
Centrally Planned Systems......Page 139
New Economic Planning (NEP)......Page 141
Soviet Planning......Page 142
Mixed Economies......Page 146
Problems with Socialism......Page 148
Conclusion......Page 150
Glossary......Page 152
Bibliography......Page 155
Index......Page 159