Economics in Two Lessons : : Why Markets Work So Well, and Why They Can Fail So Badly / / John Quiggin.

A masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free-market economicsSince 1946, Henry Hazlitt's bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everyth...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2019 English
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Place / Publishing House:Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2019]
©2019
Year of Publication:2019
Language:English
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Physical Description:1 online resource (408 p.) :; 6 b&w illus. 4 tables.
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Other title:Frontmatter --
CONTENTS --
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --
ECONOMICS IN TWO LESSONS --
Introduction --
Lesson One, Part I: The Lesson --
Chapter 1. Market Prices and Opportunity Costs --
Chapter 2. Markets, Opportunity Cost, and Equilibrium --
Chapter 3. Time, Information, and Uncertainty --
Lesson One, Part II: Applications --
Chapter 4. Lesson One: How Opportunity Cost Works in Markets --
Chapter 5. Lesson One and Economic Policy --
Chapter 6. The Opportunity Cost of Destruction --
Chapter 7. Property Rights and Income Distribution --
Chapter 8. Unemployment --
Chapter 9. Monopoly and Market Failure --
Chapter 10. Market Failure: Externalities and Pollution --
Chapter 11. Market Failure: Information, Uncertainty, and Financial Markets --
Lesson Two, Part II: Public Policy --
Chapter 12. Income Distribution: Predistribution --
Chapter 13. Income Distribution: Redistribution --
Chapter 14. Policy for Full Employment --
Chapter 15. Monopoly and the Mixed Economy --
Chapter 16. Environmental Policy --
Conclusion --
Bibliography --
Index
Summary:A masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free-market economicsSince 1946, Henry Hazlitt's bestselling Economics in One Lesson has popularized the belief that economics can be boiled down to one simple lesson: market prices represent the true cost of everything. But one-lesson economics tells only half the story. It can explain why markets often work so well, but it can't explain why they often fail so badly-or what we should do when they stumble. As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Samuelson quipped, "When someone preaches 'Economics in one lesson,' I advise: Go back for the second lesson." In Economics in Two Lessons, John Quiggin teaches both lessons, offering a masterful introduction to the key ideas behind the successes-and failures-of free markets.Economics in Two Lessons explains why market prices often fail to reflect the full cost of our choices to society as a whole. For example, every time we drive a car, fly in a plane, or flick a light switch, we contribute to global warming. But, in the absence of a price on carbon emissions, the costs of our actions are borne by everyone else. In such cases, government action is needed to achieve better outcomes.Two-lesson economics means giving up the dogmatism of laissez-faire as well as the reflexive assumption that any economic problem can be solved by government action, since the right answer often involves a mixture of market forces and government policy. But the payoff is huge: understanding how markets actually work-and what to do when they don't.Brilliantly accessible, Economics in Two Lessons unlocks the essential issues at the heart of any economic question.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780691186108
9783110610765
9783110664232
9783110606065
9783110610130
9783110663365
DOI:10.1515/9780691186108?locatt=mode:legacy
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: John Quiggin.