Contemporary economics : Principles and issues

Personally, I find economics fascinating, and I hope you will, too. The fascination lies partly in the subject matter, for economics confronts some of the most compelling of contemporary issues, such as the energy crisis, food shortages, world inflation, pollution of the environment, tensions between the developing and developed countries, the wealth and poverty of individuals and of nations. I have drawn on my experience, both as economist and as journalist and editor, in covering these important issues of our time, and have tried to make this book as lively and real and readable as I knew how.

But the fascination-and usefulness-of economics lies also in its logic. It seeks to develop principles, concepts, and analytical techniques that can be applied to many different types of problems: not only the great issues already mentioned but such everyday problems as how much a city should charge for parking space on city streets, how hospitals should charge for medical services, or what causes consumers or business people to behave the way they do.

The basic approach to this book is to link closely principles and issues to try to involve the student in issues, to set forth the principles involved, and to show, with a multitude of real-world examples, how those principles should be applied. While stressing the application of fundamental economic principles to actual issues, I have sought to show that economics is not a narrowly delimited subject but is importantly involved with political, social, and phisolophical issues, as well.