Principles of economics

"Our fourth streamlined edition arrives in the midst of some of the most dramatic upheavals ever witnessed, both in the economy generally and in higher education in particular. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced levels of unemployment not seen since the Great Depression and has created dramatic changes in the ways we teach across educational institutions at every level. These developments have reinforced our confidence in the instructional philosophy that motivated us to produce our first edition-the need to strip away clutter and focus more intensively on central concepts. This approach, we believe, is especially well suited for the new environment."

"lthough many millions of dollars are spent each year on introductory economics instruction in American colleg-es and universities, the return on this investment has been disturbingly low. Studies have shown, for example, that several months after having taken a principles of economics course, former students are no better able to answer simple economics questions than others who never even took the course. Most students, it seems, leave our introductory courses without having learned even the most important basic economic principles."