The Economic Way of Thinking

Chapter 1 The Economic Way of Thinking
Recognizing Order
The Importance of Social Cooperation
How Does It Happen?
An Apparatus of the Mind - The Skill of the Economist
Cooperation Through Mutual Adjustment
Signals
Rules of the Game
Property Rights as Rules of the Game
The Biases of Economic Theory: A Weakness or a Strength?
Biases or Conclusions?
The Skills of the Economist
Questions for DiscussionChapter 2 Efficiency, Exchange and Comparative Advantage
Goods and Bads
The Myth of Material Wealth
Trade Creates Wealth
Is It Worth It? Efficiency and Values
Recognizing Trade-Offs: Comparing Opportunity Costs of Production
The Gains from Specialization and Exchange
Why Specialize?
From Individual Trade to International Trade, and Back Again
Transaction Costs
Incentives to Reduce Transaction Costs: Middlemen
Middlemen Create Information
Markets as Discovery Processes
The Big Picture:; First Thoughts on Economic Growth
Searching for an Explanation
The Evolution of Rules That Encourage Specialization and Exchange
Questions for DiscussionChapter 3 Substitutes Everywhere: The Concept of Demand
On the Notion of "Needs"
Marginal Values
Forks in the Road: Everyday Choices Are Marginal Choices
The Demand Curve
The Law of Demand
Demand and Quantity Demanded
Demand Itself Can Change
Everything Depends on Everything Else
Misperceptions Caused by Inflation
Time Is on Our Side
Price Elasticity of Demand
Thinking About Elasticity
Elasticity and Total Receipts
The Myth of Vertical Demand
What Role Should Demand Play?
Is Money All That Matters? Money Costs, Other Costs, and Economic Calculation
Questions for DiscussionChapter 4 Cost and Choice: The Concept of Supply
Refresher on Opportunity Costs
Costs Are Tied to Actions, Not Things
What Do I Do Now? The Irrelevance of "Sunk Costs"
Producers' Costs as Opportunity Costs
Marginal Opportunity Costs
Costs and Supply
The Supply Curve
Supply Itself Can Change
Marginal and Average