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Microeconomics: Private & Public Choice, 17th Edition

James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, David A. Macpherson

Copyright 2022
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Microeconomics: Private & Public Choice 17th Edition by James D. Gwartney/Richard L. Stroup/Russell S. Sobel/David A. Macpherson

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
Pricing

Overview

Teach students to apply microeconomics as Gwartney/Stroup/Sobel/Macpherson's MICROECONOMICS: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CHOICE, 17E places more emphasis than similar texts on the role of entrepreneurship in a market economy and the importance of public choice analysis in understanding the political process. New coverage presents entrepreneurship as key to grasping how the competitive market uses innovations to improve living standards. Students also see how public choice analysis clarifies incentives and impacts political outcomes -- which, in turn, affect national income.

Introductory chapters cover basic microeconomic thinking and use the "invisible hand" metaphor to show how wealth is created. The authors integrate entrepreneurship, the dynamic process of competition and importance of contestable markets into standard models of firm behavior in different markets. Special features highlight economics of health care, earning differences between genders and the Great Suppression of 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic. MindTap resources further reinforce content.

Meet the Authors

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James D. Gwartney

James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University. His writings have been widely published in both professional journals and popular media. He is a co-author of COMMON SENSE ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WEALTH AND PROSPERITY, a primer on economics and personal finance. Dr. Gwartney’s current research focuses on the measurement and determination of factors that influence cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates. Using this research, he is the co-author (with Robert Lawson, Joshua Hall, and Ryan Murphy) of the annual report, Economic Freedom of the World, which provides information on the institutions and policies of 162 countries. This data set, published by a worldwide network of institutes in 90 countries, is widely used by scholars investigating topics ranging from economic growth to peaceful relations among nations. Dr. Gwartney served as chief economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress during 1999-2000. In 2004, he received the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contributions to the advancement of free market ideals. He is a past president of both the Southern Economic Association and the Association for Private Enterprise Education. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington.

Richard L. Stroup

Richard L. Stroup is professor emeritus of economics at Montana State University and professor emeritus of economics at North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. From 1982 to 1984, Dr. Stroup served as director of the Office of Policy Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Interior. He has published and lectured on topics such as global warming, land use regulation, archaeology and environmental policy improvements. His research has helped to develop the approach known as free market environmentalism. Dr. Stroup co-authored COMMON SENSE ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT WEALTH AND PROSPERITY with Dr. Gwartney. In addition, he has published ECONOMICS: WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ECONOMICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT, which was sponsored by the Property and Environment Research Center, which he co-founded.

Russell S. Sobel

Russell S. Sobel is professor of economics and entrepreneurship in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel in Dr. Sobel's hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Dr. Sobel received his Ph.D. in economics from Florida State University in 1994. He serves as co-editor of the Southern Economic Journal and is a member of the editorial boards for the peer-reviewed journal Public Choice and the Journal of Entrepreneurship & Public Policy. Dr. Sobel has received numerous awards for both his teaching and research, including the Kenneth G. Elzinga Distinguished Teaching Award from the Southern Economic Association, the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for Best Article of the Year in the Southern Economic Journal and the Association of Private Enterprise Education Distinguished Scholar Award. In addition, he received the Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for his book UNLEASHING CAPITALISM. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 academic journal articles and books. His publications have appeared in a wide variety of academic journals including the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Law and Economics, Public Choice, Journal of Business Venturing, Small Business Economics and Economic Inquiry. His current recent research focuses on the intersection of entrepreneurship and economic policy.

David A. Macpherson

David A. Macpherson is the E.M. Stevens Distinguished Professor of Economics and economics department chair at Trinity University. Previously, he served as director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and was the Rod and Hope Brim Eminent Scholar of Economics at Florida State University, where he received two university-wide awards for teaching excellence. He has taught courses on the principles of microeconomics, money and banking, econometrics and labor economics. Dr. Macpherson is an applied economist whose research focuses on real estate, pensions, discrimination, industry deregulation, labor unions and the minimum wage. He has published more than 60 articles in leading economics and real estate journals, including Review of Economic and Statistics, Journal of Labor Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Industrial and Labor Relations Review and Journal of Real Estate Economics and Finance. His research has been funded by a variety of entities, including the National Science Foundation, Florida Legislature and the National Association of Realtors. He is co-author of the undergraduate labor economics text, CONTEMPORARY LABOR ECONOMICS. Dr. Macpherson is included in WHO’S WHO IN ECONOMICS, which features the 1,200 most frequently cited economists. Dr. Macpherson received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.

What's New

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EXPANDED COVERAGE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS INTEGRATED THROUGHOUT THIS EDITION. Students learn the importance of entrepreneurship as a source of new products and improved methods with expanded details in Chapters 2, 3, 9, 10 and 11. In addition, a new "Entrepreneurs Who Have Changed our Lives" series, woven throughout numerous chapters, highlights the contributions and personal attributes of key entrepreneurs. Students examine the impact of both unknown and well-known entrepreneurs, such as Jeff Bezos, Kendra Scott, Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Malcom McLean, Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
EXPANDED MATERIAL DETAILS HOW TODAY'S DIGITAL AGE IS CHANGING THE NATURE OF DYNAMIC COMPETITION. Updates throughout Chapters 3 and 11 examine the growth of the gig economy and rise of platform businesses. Students review growing concerns regarding privacy and increasing government antitrust actions as large companies, such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter, dominate segments of the online market or social media. Students also examine the competitiveness of the economy today compared to before the digital age.
NEW CONTENT EXAMINES THE GREAT SUPPRESSION OF 2020. This new special topic examines the factors underlying the huge increase in unemployment and economic downturn of 2020 associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Students review the causes of the economic crisis, magnitude of the downturn and how this recession differs from earlier ones. They also study the policy response and its impact on the recovery. This special topic provides background for coverage of an ongoing economic event that is sure to attract student interest in the years immediately ahead.
NEW FEATURE EXAMINES THE INTRIGUING QUESTION "ARE SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES SOCIALIST?" This new content in Chapter 2 captures the attention of today's students and prompts them to deeper study as they examine the empirical evidence behind this question and this edition's answers.

Features

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PRACTICAL APPROACH APPLIES ECONOMIC THEORY TO CURRENT ISSUES AND CONTROVERSIES. Students see the relevance of the theories they are learning as they apply what they learn directly to pertinent topics in the world around them. The importance of incentives and the economic way of thinking are stressed throughout this edition.
CONTENT EMPHASIZES THE DYNAMICS OF THE MARKET PROGRESS. In addition to the usual static analysis of demand, supply and price determination, the authors stress the dynamics of the market process. The presentation integrates the role of the entrepreneur and importance of innovative discoveries into the analysis. This adds a realistic perspective to the examination of how markets work.
CONTENT THROUGHOUT THIS EDITION HIGHLIGHTS UNIQUE ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE TOWARD GOVERNMENT. This edition's public choice chapter emphasizes economic thinking regarding government. In addition, students view today’s government involvement and decisions from a unique economic perspective throughout the text. This integrated perspective uses the latest information as well as historic data.
HISTORICAL VIGNETTES HIGHLIGHT THE LIVES OF NOTABLE ECONOMISTS. This information-rich feature makes it possible for you to seamlessly emphasize the significance of economic history in your course presentation.
SPECIAL FEATURES EXAMINE BOTH THE FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2008-2009 AND THE COVID-19 CRISIS OF 2020. Students closely study the long-term impacts and politically related economic aspects of these significant events.

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Part I: THE ECONOMIC WAY OF THINKING
1. The Economic Approach
2. Some Tools of the Economist
Part II: MARKETS AND GOVERNMENT
3. Demand, Supply, and the Market Process
4. Supply and Demand: Applications and Extensions
5. Difficult Cases for the Market, and the Role of Government
6. The Economics of Political Action
Part III: CORE MICROECONOMICS
7. Consumer Choice and Elasticity
8. Costs and the Supply of Goods
9. Price Takers and the Competitive Process
10. Price-Searcher Markets with Low Entry Barriers
11. Price-Searcher Markets with High Entry Barriers
12. The Supply of and Demand for Productive Resources
13. Earnings, Productivity, and the Job Market
14. Investment, the Capital Market, and the Wealth of Nations
15. Income Inequality and Poverty
Part IV: INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
16. Gaining from International Trade
Part VI: APPLYING THE BASICS: SPECIAL TOPICS IN ECONOMICS
Special Topic 1. Government Spending and Taxation
Special Topic 2. The Economics of Social Security
Special Topic 3. The Stock Market: Its Function, Performance, and Potential as an Investment Opportunity
Special Topic 4. Keynes and Hayek: Contrasting Views on Sound Economics and the Role of Government
Special Topic 5. The 2020 COVID-19 Recession: Cause, Response, and Implications for the Future
Special Topic 6. The Great Recession of 2008-2009: Causes and Response
Special Topic 7. Lessons from the Great Depression
Special Topic 8. The Economics of Health Care
Special Topic 9. Earnings Differences Between Men and Women
Special Topic 10. Do Labor Unions Increase the Wages of Workers?
Special Topic 11. The Question of Resource Exhaustion
Special Topic 12. Difficult Environmental Cases and the Role of Government
Appendix A. General Business and Economics Indicators for the United States
Appendix B. Answers to Selected Critical Analysis Questions