I am currently skimming through a few of a friend's economic textbooks. My own background came at a time when I attended college, studying political science and history--so, I wasn't particularly interested in the topic, and I was somewhat bored with the Adam Smith reading passages.
Principles of Macroeconomics. Mankiw
Chapter 1 Principle 3 margins
Rational people think on the margins. The economy isn't black/white, rather a wide assortment of grays. This allows for individuals to weigh the costs of what they will do. This principle all too often forgotten.
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Adam Smith and the invisible hand. This picks up the great economist's ideas about a public synergy that accompanies many people free to follow economic goals.
Principle 7 Goverments can improve the economic state of a country. And hinder.
Principle 9 Inflation comes from overprinting of money.
Principle 10 Short-time boost from trade-off between unemployment and inflation.
Chapter 2
Thinking like an economist
Approach like a scientist.
Not a natural science, so there is a need for underlying assumptions--thus models
Circular Flow Model: How money runs through the community
The Production Possibilities Frontier Model: Where to make the trade-offs
Microeconomics and Macroeconomics: Understanding the level of the economy, whether close or distant.
The economist must deal with a lot of opinions, and he must weigh the costs of proposed manipulations.
Includes an appendix that illustrates how graphs display data to determine trends and patterns that can help make decisons concerning economics.
These first 2 chapters illustrate the need for a rational study of the field of economics, using real data, despite the wrangling that goes on concerning the economic trend or the perceptions of people.
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