The micro economy today

Cover
Title page
Copyright page
About the Authors
Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents in Brief
Contents
PART 1: THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGE
	CHAPTER 1: ECONOMICS: THE CORE ISSUES
		The Economy Is Us
		Scarcity: The Core Problem
		Opportunity Costs
		Production Possibilities
		Three Basic Decisions
		The Mechanisms of Choice
		What Economics Is All About
		Summary
		Appendix: Using Graphs
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Harnessing the Sun
		IN THE NEWS Jobless Workers Outnumber Manufacturing Workers
		WORLD VIEW World’s Largest Armies
		North Korea’s Food Shortage Grows
		Rocket Launch Cost Enough to End North Korean Food Shortages for Years
		Market Reliance vs. Government Reliance?
		Index of Economic Freedom
	CHAPTER 2: THE U.S. ECONOMY: A GLOBAL VIEW
		What America Produces
		How America Produces
		For Whom America Produces
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: The United Nations Agenda
		WORLD VIEW Comparative Output (GDP)
		GDP per Capita around the World
		The Education Gap between Rich and Poor Nations
		Income Share of the Rich
	CHAPTER 3: SUPPLY AND DEMAND
		Market Participants
		The Circular Flow
		Demand
		Supply
		Equilibrium
		Market Outcomes
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Deadly Shortages: The Organ Transplant Market
		IN THE NEWS Pricing the Galaxy S7
		Gas Prices Jump in Matthew’s Wake
		The Real March Madness: Ticket Prices
		WORLD VIEW Oil Higher on Nigerian Supply Disruptions
	CHAPTER 4: THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
		Market Failure
		Growth of Government
		Taxation
		Government Failure
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: “Right”-Sizing Government
		IN THE NEWS Firefighters Watch as Home Burns to the Ground
		State Lotteries: A Tax on the Uneducated and the Poor
		Perceptions of Government Failure
		WORLD VIEW Israel’s “Iron Dome” Frustrates Hamas
		Secondhand Smoke Kills 600,000 People a Year
PART 2: PRODUCT MARKETS: THE BASICS
	CHAPTER 5: CONSUMER CHOICE
		Determinants of Demand
		The Demand Curve
		Market Demand
		Consumer Surplus
		Price Discrimination
		Choosing among Products
		Summary
		Appendix: Indifference Curves
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Caveat Emptor
		IN THE NEWS Men vs. Women: How They Spend
	CHAPTER 6: ELASTICITY
		Price Elasticity
		Price Elasticity and Total Revenue
		Cross-Price Elasticity
		Income Elasticity
		Elasticity of Supply
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Will EVs Overtake Gas Guzzlers?
		IN THE NEWS After iPhone Price Cut, Sales Are Up by 200 Percent
		Californians Vote to Triple Cigarette Tax
		Professor Becker Rejects Clinton’s Tax Math
		Samsung Stung by Apple Moves
		WORLD VIEW Rebounding Oil Price Spurs More Rigs
	CHAPTER 7: THE COSTS OF PRODUCTION
		The Production Function
		Marginal Productivity
		Resource Costs
		Dollar Costs
		Economic vs. Accounting Costs
		Long-Run Costs
		Economies of Scale
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Global Competitiveness
		IN THE NEWS Tesla Banks on Gigafactory
PART 3: MARKET STRUCTURE
	CHAPTER 8: THE COMPETITIVE FIRM
		The Profit Motive
		Economic vs. Accounting Profits
		Market Structure
		The Nature of Perfect Competition
		The Production Decision
		Profit-Maximizing Rule
		The Shutdown Decision
		The Investment Decision
		Determinants of Supply
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Taxing Business
		IN THE NEWS Are Profits Bad?
		The Value of Hiro’s Strawberry Farm
		Too Many Sellers: The Woes of T-Shirt Shops
		The Lure of Catfish
		GM Shutting 5 Factories This Month
		Fort Calhoun Nuke Plant to Close
	CHAPTER 9: COMPETITIVE MARKETS
		The Market Supply Curve
		Competition at Work: Microcomputers
		The Competitive Process
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: $99 iPads?
		IN THE NEWS U.S. Catfish Industry Bleeding Finally Stops
		WORLD VIEW Catfish Farmers Draining Their Ponds
		Flat Panels, Thin Margins
		Competition Shrinks India’s Phone Bills
	CHAPTER 10: MONOPOLY
		Market Power
		Market Power at Work: The Computer Market Revisited
		A Comparative Perspective of Market Power
		Pros and Cons of Market Power
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Microsoft and Google: Bullies or Geniuses?
		IN THE NEWS Live Nation Acquires Ticketmaster
		Drugmaker Hikes Price of AIDS Drug 5,000 Percent!
		Jury Awards $26 Million for Suppressed Technology
		US FTC Enables Boeing–Lockheed “Monopoly”
		A Sirius Mistake? FCC Approves XM–Sirius Merger
		Microsoft Guilty of Monopoly Abuse
		EU Charges Google with Search Bias
		WORLD VIEW Russia’s Sable Monopoly Persists
	CHAPTER 11: OLIGOPOLY
		Market Structure
		Oligopoly Behavior
		The Kinked Demand Curve
		Game Theory
		Oligopoly vs. Competition
		Coordination Problems
		Barriers to Entry
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Antitrust Enforcement
		IN THE NEWS RC Targeting Young Soda Drinkers
		Rivals Match Southwest’s Flash Sale
		Delta Rolls Back Fare Hike
		Coke Reignites Price War
		Eliminating the Competition with Low Prices
		Frito-Lay Eats Up Snack-Food Business
		Joe Camel Acquires Newport
		WORLD VIEW Putting Size in Global Perspective
		Oil Spikes on OPEC Pact
	CHAPTER 12: MONOPOLISTIC COMPETITION
		Structure
		Behavior
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: No Cease-Fire in Advertising Wars
		IN THE NEWS Starbucks Ups the Price of Iced Drinks
		Selling “Pure Water”: A $Billion Scam?
		Coffee Shops Seeking New Identities
		The Cola Wars: It’s Not All Taste
		WORLD VIEW The Best Global Brands
PART 4: REGULATORY ISSUES
	CHAPTER 13: NATURAL MONOPOLIES: (DE)REGULATION?
		Antitrust vs. Regulation
		Natural Monopoly
		Regulatory Options
		The Costs of Regulation
		Deregulation in Practice
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Deregulate Everything?
		IN THE NEWS Sleep Rules Raise Trucking Costs
		The JetBlue Effect
		Vegas Wants to Bypass Electric Monopoly
	CHAPTER 14: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
		The Environmental Threat
		Pollution Damages
		Market Incentives
		Market Failure: External Costs
		Regulatory Options
		Balancing Benefits and Costs
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: The War on Coal
		IN THE NEWS Air Pollution Kills
		Cut the Power to Save the Fish?
		Recycling Wastes Money
		A “War on Coal”?
		WORLD VIEW Polluted Cities
		Paying to Pollute
	CHAPTER 15: THE FARM PROBLEM
		Destabilizing Forces
		The First Farm Depression, 1920–1940
		U.S. Farm Policy
		Continuing Income Volatility
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Farmers on the Dole
		IN THE NEW Anticipated Surge in Harvest to Depress Corn Prices
		WORLD VIEW EU Farm Subsidies
PART 5: FACTOR MARKETS: BASIC THEORY
	CHAPTER 16: THE LABOR MARKET
		Labor Supply
		Market Supply
		Labor Demand
		A Firm’s Hiring Decision
		Market Equilibrium
		Choosing among Inputs
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Capping CEO Pay
		IN THE NEWS Challenging Work and Corporate Responsibility Will Lure MBA Grads
		Marlins Sign Stanton to Record $325 Million Contract
		Obama Calls for $10.10 Minimum Wage
		WORLD VIEW Thousands of Refugees Attend Job Fair
		Your Money or Your Life
	CHAPTER 17: LABOR UNIONS
		The Labor Market
		Labor Unions
		The Potential Use of Power
		The Extent of Union Power
		Employer Power
		Collective Bargaining
		The Impact of Unions
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Merging to Survive
		IN THE NEWS NBA and Players Strike a Deal
		Judge OKs $415 Million Settlement of “No Poaching” Charges
		Caterpillar vs. the IAM
		WORLD VIEW Union Membership
		Walmart Shutters Quebec Store as Union Closes In
	CHAPTER 18: FINANCIAL MARKETS
		The Role of Financial Markets
		The Present Value of Future Profits
		The Stock Market
		The Bond Market
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Venture Capitalists—Financing Tomorrow’s Products
		IN THE NEWS Snapchat IPO Nets $3 Billion
		Where Do Start-Ups Get Their Money?
PART 6: DISTRIBUTIONAL ISSUES
	CHAPTER 19: TAXES: EQUITY VERSUS EFFICIENCY
		What Is Income?
		The Size Distribution of Income
		The Federal Income Tax
		Payroll, State, and Local Taxes
		Taxes and Inequality
		What Is Fair?
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: A Flat Tax?
		IN THE NEWS Taxes: The Pences vs. The Clintons
		WORLD VIEW Bono Says “Stupid” to Pay Irish Taxes
		Top Tax Rates
	CHAPTER 20: TRANSFER PAYMENTS: WELFARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY
		Major Transfer Programs
		Welfare Programs
		Social Security
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Privatize Social Security?
PART 7: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
	CHAPTER 21: INTERNATIONAL TRADE
		U.S. Trade Patterns
		Motivation to Trade
		Pursuit of Comparative Advantage
		Terms of Trade
		Protectionist Pressures
		Barriers to Trade
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Policing World Trade
		IN THE NEWS A Border-Adjustment Tax?
		Sugar Quotas a Sour Deal
		NAFTA Reallocates Labor: Comparative Advantage at Work
		WORLD VIEW Export Ratios
		U.S. Winemakers Hurt by Imported Wine
		U.S. Slaps China with Huge Anti-Dumping Tariffs
		Irish Farmers Block Barley Imports
		“Beggar-Thy-Neighbor” Policy in the 1930s
		Mexico Retaliates for U.S. Trucking Roadblocks
	CHAPTER 22: INTERNATIONAL FINANCE
		Exchange Rates: The Global Link
		Foreign-Exchange Markets
		Market Dynamics
		Resistance to Exchange Rate Changes
		Exchange Rate Intervention
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Currency Bailouts
		WORLD VIEW Foreign Exchange Rates
		Who Gains, Who Loses from Strong Dollar
		Brexit Vote Nicks Serena’s Paycheck
		The Risks of China’s Foreign-Exchange Stockpile
	CHAPTER 23: GLOBAL POVERTY
		American Poverty
		Global Poverty
		Goals and Strategies
		Income Redistribution
		Economic Growth
		Summary
		THE ECONOMY TOMORROW: Unleashing Entrepreneurship
		WORLD VIEW Glaring Inequalities
		The Way We Give
		The Female “Inequality Trap”
		Muhammad Yunus: Microloans
		Jeffrey Sachs: Big Money, Big Plans
		Maduro: “Bourgeois Parasites” Thwart Growth
Glossary
Index
Reference Tables