Description: This new edition of the classic Economic Parables & Policies is specifically designed to be the textbook for a one-semester introduction to economics course that covers both microeconomics and macroeconomics. The author's aim is to teach the most interesting, important, and useful things about economics in a single semester. As in earlier editions, Laurence Siedman writes in an entertaining and conversational style, using parables with memorable characters to present economic concepts, issues, and policies. But in this edition, for the first time, he introduces the two most basic economic diagrams -- demand and supply, and the production possibilities curve -- and uses these two diagrams throughout the text to analyze economic issues and policies.

The new edition begins with an enjoyable introduction to economics called "An Economist's Genesis," followed by three chapters on microeconomics ("Market: Demand and Supply," "Environmental Pollution," and "International Trade"), four chapters on macroeconomics ("Recession," "Inflation," "Growth," and "Growth through Tax Reform), and five chapters on policy issues ("The Social Contract," "Social Security," "Health Insurance," "Education," and "Poverty").