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Microeconomics

by: Slavin, Stephen L.

Microeconomics

by: Slavin, Stephen L.

ISBN 13:
9780073281476
ISBN 10:
0073281476
Edition: 8th
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 09/01/2006
Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Irwin
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Summary

Steve Slavin's lively and comprehensive Microeconomics has a student-friendly, step-by-step approach; value pricing; and a built-in Workbook/Study Guide. Instructors and students like the author's humorous anecdotes, direct language, and easy conversational style. The text encourages active rather than passive reading.

A Brief Economic History of the United States

(22)

Introduction

(1)

The American Economy in the 19th Century

(4)

Agricultural Development

(2)

The National Railroad Network

(1)

The Age of the Industrial Capitalist

(1)

The American Economy in the 20th Century

(11)

The Roaring Twenties

(1)

The 1930s: The Great Depression

(3)

The 1940s: World War II and Peacetime Prosperity

(3)

The 1950s: The Eisenhower Years

(1)

The Soaring Sixties: The Years of Kennedy and Johnson

(1)

The Sagging Seventies: The Stagflation Decade

(1)

The 1980s: The Age of Reagan

(1)

The State of American Agriculture

(1)

The ``New Economy'' of the Nineties

(1)

Current Issue: America's Place in History

(6)

Resource Utilization

(24)

Economics Defined

(1)

The Central Fact of Economics: Scarcity

(2)

Scarcity and the Need to Economize

(1)

The Economic Problem

(1)

The Four Economic Resources

(2)

Opportunity Cost

(1)

Full Employment and Full Production

(4)

The Production Possibilities Curve

(5)

Productive Efficiency

(1)

Economic Growth

(2)

Current Issue: Will You Be Underemployed When You Graduate?

(10)

Supply and Demand

(24)

Demand

(1)

Supply

(2)

Equilibrium

(1)

Surpluses and Shortages

(1)

Shifts in Demand and Supply

(4)

Price Ceilings and Price Floors

(5)

Applications of Supply and Demand

(2)

Interest Rate Determination

(1)

College Parking

(1)

The Rationing Function of the Price System

(1)

Last Word

(1)

Current Issue: High Gas Prices: Something Only an Economist Could Love

(9)

The Mixed Economy

(24)

The Three Questions of Economics

(2)

What Shall We Produce?

(1)

How Shall These Goods and Services Be Produced?

(1)

For Whom Shall the Goods and Services Be Produced?

(1)

To Sum Up

(1)

The Invisible Hand, the Price Mechanism, and Perfect Competition

(3)

The Invisible Hand

(1)

The Price Mechanism

(1)

Competition

(1)

Trust

(1)

Equity and Efficiency

(1)

The Circular Flow Model

(1)

The Economic Role of Government

(1)

Market Failure

(4)

Externalities

(2)

Curbing Environmental Pollution

(1)

Lack of Public Goods and Services

(1)

Government Failure

(2)

Capital

(2)

The ``Isms'': Capitalism, Communism, Fascism, and Socialism

(5)

The Decline and Fall of the Communist System

(1)

Transformation in China

(2)

Current Issue: The Bridge to Nowhere

(4)

Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium

(24)

Demand Defined

(1)

Individual Demand and Market Demand

(1)

Changes in Demand

(6)

Increases in Demand

(1)

Decreases in Demand

(1)

Problems

(3)

What Causes Changes in Demand?

101

(2)

Supply Defined

103

(1)

Individual Supply and Market Supply

103

(1)

Changes in Supply

104

(3)

What Causes Changes in Supply?

106

(1)

Graphing the Demand and Supply Curves

107

(3)

Graphing the Demand Curve

108

(1)

Graphing the Supply Curve

109

(1)

Equilibrium

110

(2)

Finding Equilibrium Price and Quantity

112

(1)

Current Issue: Why Can't I Sell My House?

113

(6)

The Elasticities of Demand and Supply

119

(26)

The Elasticity of Demand

119

(12)

Measuring Elasticity

119

(2)

The Meaning of Elasticity

121

(5)

Determinants of the Degree of Elasticity of Demand

126

(3)

Advertising

129

(2)

Elasticity and Total Revenue

131

(1)

Elastic Demand and Total Revenue

131

(1)

Inelastic Demand and Total Revenue

131

(1)

Elasticity of Supply

132

(3)

Elasticity over Time

133

(2)

Tax Incidence

135

(3)

Last Word

138

(1)

Current Issue: How Elastic Is Your Demand for Food?

139

(6)

Theory of Consumer Behavior

145

(16)

Utility

146

(4)

What Is Utility?

146

(1)

Marginal Utility

146

(1)

Total Utility

147

(1)

Maximizing Utility

147

(2)

The Water--Diamond Paradox

149

(1)

Some Limitations of Utility Applications

150

(1)

Consumer Surplus

150

(4)

Do Price Gougers Rip Us Off?

154

(1)

Current Issue: All-You-Can-Eat Buffets

154

(7)

Cost

161

(30)

Costs

161

(4)

Fixed Costs

162

(1)

Variable Costs

162

(1)

Total Cost

162

(1)

Marginal Cost

162

(3)

The Short Run and the Long Run

165

(1)

The Short Run

165

(1)

The Long Run

165

(1)

Average Cost

165

(19)

Average Fixed Cost

166

(1)

Average Variable Cost

166

(1)

Average Total Cost

167

(1)

Graphing the AFC, AVC, ATC, and MC Curves

168

(3)

Why Are the AVC and ATC Curves U-Shaped?

171

(2)

The Production Function and the Law of Diminishing Returns

173

(2)

Economies of Scale

175

(1)

Diseconomies of Scale

176

(1)

A Summing Up

177

(1)

The Decision to Operate or Shut Down

178

(2)

The Decision to Go Out of Business or Stay in Business

180

(3)

Choosing Plant Size

183

(1)

Current Issue: Wedding Hall or City Hall?

184

(7)

Profit, Loss, and Perfect Competition

191

(36)

Total Revenue and Marginal Revenue

191

(2)

Graphing Demand and Marginal Revenue

192

(1)

Economic and Accounting Profit

193

(1)

Profit Maximization and Loss Minimization

193

(7)

A Summing Up

196

(4)

Efficiency

200

(2)

Review of Efficiency and Profit Maximization

201

(1)

Do You Really Need to Make a Profit?

202

(1)

Definition of Perfect Competition

202

(3)

The Perfect Competitor's Demand Curve

205

(8)

The Short Run

206

(2)

The Long Run

208

(5)

Alternative Calculation of Profit and Loss

213

(1)

The Perfect Competitor: A Price Taker, Not a Price Maker

214

(1)

Efficiency, Price, and Profit

215

(1)

Current Issue: The Internet Effect: A More Perfect Knowledge and Lower Prices

216

(11)

Monopoly

227

(24)

Monopoly Defined

227

(12)

The Graph of the Monopolist

228

(2)

Calculating the Monopolist's Profit

230

(1)

Review of the Monopolist's Economic Analysis

231

(3)

The Monopolist in the Short Run and in the Long Run

234

(1)

Are All Monopolies Big Companies?

234

(1)

Barriers to Entry

235

(4)

Limits to Monopoly Power

239

(1)

Economies of Scale and Natural Monopoly

239

(3)

What Is Natural Monopoly?

239

(2)

Two Policy Alternatives

241

(1)

Is Bigness Good or Bad?

242

(3)

When Is Bigness Bad?

242

(2)

When Is Bigness Good?

244

(1)

The Economic Case against Bigness

244

(1)

Conclusion

244

(1)

Current Issue: Would You Allow Wal-Mart to Open a Supercenter in Your Community?

245

(6)

Monopolistic Competition

251

(16)

Monopolistic Competition Defined

251

(1)

The Monopolistic Competitor in the Short Run

251

(2)

The Monopolistic Competitor in the Long Run

253

(1)

Product Differentiation

254

(2)

The Typical Monopolistic Competitor

256

(2)

Price Discrimination

258

(3)

Is the Monopolistic Competitor Inefficient?

261

(1)

Current Issue: Selling Status

262

(5)

Oligopoly

267

(26)

Oligopoly Defined

267

(1)

Two Measures of the Degree of Oligopolization

268

(2)

Concentration Ratios

268

(1)

The Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI)

269

(1)

The Competitive Spectrum

270

(9)

Cartels

270

(2)

Open Collusion

272

(1)

Covert Collusion

272

(1)

Price Leadership

273

(2)

Cutthroat Competition

275

(3)

Conclusion

278

(1)

Current Issue: Cutthroat Competition in the College Textbook Market

279

(8)

Appendix: The Four Types of Competition: A Review

287

(1)

Perfect Competition

287

(1)

Monopoly

288

(1)

Monopolistic Competition

288

(1)

Oligopoly

288

(1)

Perfect Competition versus Imperfect Competition

288

(1)

Summary Tables

289

(4)

Corporate Mergers and Antitrust

293

(18)

A Historical Perspective on Corporate Concentration

293

(1)

Antitrust

294

(3)

The Political Background

294

(1)

The Sherman Antitrust Act

294

(2)

The Clayton Antitrust Act

296

(1)

The Federal Trade Commission Act (1914)

296

(1)

Modern Antitrust

297

(3)

Partial Breakdown of the Rule of Reason

297

(1)

The 60 Percent Rule

298

(1)

Two Landmark Cases

298

(1)

European Antitrust

299

(1)

Types of Mergers

300

(1)

Horizontal Mergers

300

(1)

Vertical Mergers

300

(1)

Conglomerate Mergers

301

(1)

Deregulation

301

(1)

Corporate Misconduct

302

(1)

How Effective Is Antitrust?

303

(1)

The Trend toward Bigness

303

(2)

Current Issue: The Enron Case

305

(6)

Demand in the Factor Market

311

(18)

Derived Demand

311

(1)

Productivity

312

(1)

Prices of Substitute Resources

312

(1)

Marginal Revenue Product (MRP)

313

(5)

The MRP of the Imperfect Competitor

317

(1)

Changes in Resource Demand

318

(4)

Changes in Resource Demand versus Changes in Quantity of Resource Demanded

318

(1)

The Four Reasons for Changes in Resource Demand

319

(2)

Optimum Resource Mix for the Firm

321

(1)

Current Issue: Washing Machines and Women's Liberation

322

(7)

Labor Unions

329

(18)

A Short History of the American Labor Movement

329

(6)

The Early Years

329

(1)

Key Labor Legislation

330

(1)

Craft Unions versus Industrial Unions

331

(2)

Union Organizing since the 1950s

333

(2)

The Formation of Change to Win

335

(1)

Jobs: Exportable and Nonexportable

335

(1)

The Economic Power of Labor Unions

336

(1)

The Economic Power of Large Employers

336

(2)

Collective Bargaining

338

(4)

Strikes, Lockouts, and Givebacks

338

(2)

The Collective Bargaining Agreement

340

(1)

The Strike

340

(1)

Averting Strikes: Mediation and Arbitration

341

(1)

Current Issue: Will You Ever Be a Member of a Labor Union?

342

(5)

Labor Markets and Wage Rates

347

(26)

The Supply of Labor

347

(4)

Noncompeting Groups

347

(1)

The Theory of the Dual Labor Market

348

(2)

The Backward-Bending Labor Supply Curve

350

(1)

The Demand for Labor

351

(2)

The Marginal Revenue Product Schedule

351

(1)

Nonhomogeneous Jobs

352

(1)

The Effects of Employment Discrimination on Wages

353

(3)

Employment Discrimination against Women

353

(2)

Employment Discrimination against African Americans

355

(1)

Conclusion

356

(1)

The Wage Rate: Supply and Demand

356

(1)

High Wage Rates and Economic Rent

356

(2)

Real Wages versus Money Wages

358

(4)

The Minimum Wage and the Living Wage

362

(3)

The Minimum Wage Rate: 1938 to the Present

362

(1)

Should There Be a Minimum Wage Rate?

363

(2)

The Living Wage

365

(1)

Current Issue: The Education Gap

365

(8)

Rent, Interest, and Profit

373

(22)

Rent

373

(5)

What Is Land?

373

(2)

How Is Rent Determined?

375

(1)

Economic Rent

376

(1)

Are Prices High because Rents Are High, or Are Rents High because Prices Are High?

377

(1)

Interest

378

(6)

What Is Capital?

378

(1)

How Is the Interest Rate Determined?

378

(1)

Interest Rates and Consumer Loans

379

(2)

The Present Value of Future Income

381

(3)

Profits

384

(3)

How Are Profits Determined?

384

(1)

How Large Are Profits?

384

(1)

Theories of Profit

384

(3)

Conclusion

387

(1)

Current Issue: Subprime, Fringe, and Payday Lending

387

(8)

Income Distribution and Poverty

395

(32)

Income Distribution in the United States

395

(8)

The Poor, the Middle Class, and the Rich

395

(5)

Distribution of Wealth in the United States

400

(1)

Distribution of Income: Equity and Efficiency

400

(2)

What Determines Income Distribution?

402

(1)

Poverty in America

403

(16)

Poverty Defined

403

(2)

Who Are the Poor?

405

(2)

Child Poverty

407

(1)

The Main Government Transfer Programs

408

(4)

Theories of the Causes of Poverty

412

(2)

The Conservative View versus the Liberal View

414

(2)

Solutions

416

(3)

Current Issue: Will Social Security Be There for You?

419

(8)

International Trade

427

(28)

Part I: A Brief History of U.S. Trade

428

(3)

U.S. Trade before 1975

428

(1)

U.S. Trade since 1975

428

(1)

U.S. Government Trade Policy

429

(2)

Part II: The Theory of International Trade

431

(11)

Specialization and Trade

431

(1)

Comparative Advantage

431

(4)

Absolute Advantage versus Comparative Advantage

435

(1)

The Arguments for Protection

435

(5)

Tariffs or Quotas

440

(1)

Conclusion

441

(1)

Part III: The Practice of International Trade

442

(2)

What Are the Causes of Our Trade Imbalance?

442

(2)

Part IV: Our Trade Deficit with Japan and China

444

(4)

Japanese Trading Practices

444

(2)

Our Trade Deficit with China

446

(1)

Trading with China and Japan: More Differences than Similarities

447

(1)

Final Word

448

(1)

Free Trade in Word and Deed

448

(1)

Reducing Our Trade Deficit

449

(1)

Current Issue: Buy American?

449

(6)

International Finance

455

(24)

The Mechanics of International Finance

455

(3)

Financing International Trade

455

(1)

The Balance of Payments

456

(2)

Exchange Rate Systems

458

(8)

The Gold Standard

459

(1)

The Gold Exchange Standard, 1934--73

460

(1)

The Freely Floating Exchange Rate System, 1973 to the Present

461

(2)

How Well Do Freely Floating (Flexible) Exchange Rates Work?

463

(1)

The Euro

463

(1)

The Yen and the Yuan

463

(3)

Running Up a Tab in the Global Economy

466

(6)

From Largest Creditor to Largest Debtor

466

(5)

Living beyond Our Means

471

(1)

A Codependent Relationship

471

(1)

Why We Need to Worry about the Current Account Deficit

472

(1)

Current Issue: Editorial: American Exceptionality

472

(7)

Glossary

479

(9)

Index

488

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Microeconomics

Microeconomics

9780073281476

0073281476

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Microeconomics

Microeconomics

9780073281476

0073281476

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

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