"John List, University of Chicago

David Laibson, Harvard University

Daron Acemoglu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"

"I. Introduction to Economics

1. The Principles and Practice of Economics

2. Economic Methods and Economic Questions

3. Optimization: Doing the Best You Can

4. Demand, Supply, and Equilibrium

II. Introduction to Macroeconomics

5. The Wealth of Nations: Defining and Measuring Macroeconomic Aggregates

6. Aggregate Incomes

III. Long-Run Growth and Development

7. Economic Growth

8. Why Isn't the Whole World Developed?

IV. Equilibrium in the Macroeconomy

9. Employment and Unemployment

10. Credit Markets

11. The Monetary System

V. Short-Run Fluctuations and Macroeconomic Policy

12. Short-run Fluctuations

13. Countercyclical Macroeconomic Policy

VI. Macroeconomics in a Global Economy

14. Macroeconomics and International Trade

15. Open Economy Macroeconomics

Web Chapter 1. Financial Decision Making

Web Chapter 2. Economics of Life, Health, and the Environment

Web Chapter 3. Political Economy"

"Three key principles — optimization, equilibrium, and empiricism — lie at the heart of the authors' approach.



1. Optimization. The first principle — that people try to choose the best available option — is optimization. Economists believe that optimization explains most choices people make, including minor decisions like deciding whether to eat a cheeseburger, and major decisions like deciding whom to date or marry. When people fail to optimize perfectly, economic reasoning can be used to analyze the mistake and to suggest a better course of action.



2. Equilibrium. Economic systems tend toward equilibrium, wherein each economic actor feels that he or she cannot do any better by picking another course of action. This principle highlights the connections among economic actors and their choices. In a state of equilibrium, consumers and purveyors of goods and services are simultaneously optimizing, and their behaviors are consequently intertwined.



3. Empiricism. While the first two key principles are conceptual, the third is methodological. Economists use data to test economic theories, learn about the world, and speak to policymakers. The emphasis on matching theories with real-world data to answer specific questions helps to show students the evidence behind the theory, making economics concrete, interesting, and fun."