Welcome to Essentials of Economics, a one-semester principles of economics text derived from McConnell-Brue Economics, the best-selling two-semester economics textbook. Over the years numerous instructors have requested a short, one-semester version of Economics that would cover both microeconomics and macroeconomics. While some other two-semester books simply eliminate chapters, renumber those that remain, and offer the “cut and splice” version as a customized book, this methodology does not fit with our vision of a tightly focused, highly integrated book. We built this new text from scratch, incorporating the core content from Economics in a format designed specifically for the one-semester course. This book has the clear and careful language and the balanced approach that has made its two semester counterpart a best-seller, but the pedagogy and topic discussion are much better suited to the needs of the one-semester course.

We think Essentials of Economics will fit nicely in various one-term courses. It is sufficiently lively and focused for use in principles courses populated primarily by nonbusiness majors. Also, it is suitably analytical and comprehensive for use in combined micro and macro principles courses for business and potential economics majors. Finally, we think this book—if supplemented with appropriate lecture and reading assignments—will work well in refresher courses for adult students returning to MBA programs.

However the book is used, our goals remain the same:

• Help the student master the principles essential for understanding the economic problem, specific economic issues, and policy alternatives.
• Help the student understand and apply the economic perspective and reason accurately and objectively about economic matters.
• Promote a lasting student interest in economics and the economy.

Distinguishing Features

Essentials of Economics includes several features that we think add up to a unique whole.

State-of-the Art Design and Pedagogy
Essentials incorporates a single-column design with a host of pedagogical aids, including a strategically placed “To the Student” statement, chapter opening objectives, definitions in the margins, combined tables and graphs, complete chapter summaries, lists of key terms, carefully constructed study questions, connections to our Web site, an appendix on graphs, an extensive glossary, and historical statistics on the inside covers.

Focus on Core Models
Essentials of Economics shortens and simplifies explanations where appropriate but stresses the importance of the economic perspective, including explaining and applying core economic models. Our strategy is to develop a limited set of essential models, illustrate them with analogies or anecdotes, explain them thoroughly, and apply them to real-world situations. Eliminating unnecessary graphs and elaborations makes perfect sense in the one-semester course, but cutting explanations of the truly essential graphs does not. In dealing with the basics, brevity at the expense of clarity is false economy.

We created a student-oriented one-semester textbook that draws on the methodological strengths of the discipline and helps students improve their analytical reasoning skills. Regardless of students' eventual majors, they will discover that such skills are highly valuable in their workplaces.

Illustrating the Idea
We included numerous analogies, examples, and anecdotes to help drive home central economic ideas in a lively, colorful, and easy-to-remember way. For instance, elastic versus inelastic demand is illustrated by comparing the stretch of an Ace bandage and that of a tight rubber tie-down. McDonald's sandwich “McHits” and “McMisses” over the years explain the concept of consumer sovereignty. Public goods and the free-rider problem are illustrated by public art, while a pizza analogy walks students through the equity-efficiency tradeoff. Inflation as a hidden tax is illustrated by a story of the prince of the realm clipping coins. These brief vignettes flow directly from the preceding content and segue to the content that follows, rather than being “boxed off” away from the flow and therefore easily overlooked.

Applying the Analysis
A glance though this book's pages will demonstrate that this is an application-oriented textbook. Applying the Analysis pieces immediately follow the development of economic analysis and are part of the flow of the chapters, rather than segregated from the main-body discussion in a traditional boxed format. For example, the basics of the economic perspective are applied to why customers tend to try to wait in the shortest checkout lines. The book illustrates inelasticity of demand (with changing supply) with an explanation of fluctuating farm income. Differences in elasticity of supply are contrasted by the changing prices of antiques versus reproductions. Hidden car retrieval systems (such as Lojack) explain the concept of positive externalities. The book describes the principal-agent problem via the problems of corporate accounting and financial fraud. The idea of minimum efficient scale is applied to ready-mix concrete plants and assembly plants for large commercial airplanes. The difference in adult and child pricing for tickets to a ballgame compared to the pricing at the concession stands illustrates the concept of price discrimination. The aggregate demand model is applied to specific periods of inflation and recession, while the trade theory discussion touches on the issue of the offshoring of U.S. jobs. These and the many other applications clearly demonstrate to beginning students the relevance and usefulness of mastering the basic economic principles and models.

Photo Ops
Photo sets called Photo Op are included throughout the book to add visual interest, break up the density, and highlight important distinctions. Just a few of the many examples are sets of photos on complements versus substitutes in consumption, homogeneous versus differentiated products, economic stocks versus economic flows, substitute resources versus complementary resources, consumer durables versus nondurables versus services, and intermediate versus final goods.

Web Buttons
We link the book directly to our Web site, www.brueonline.com, via icons that appear throughout the book to indicate that additional content on a subject can be found online. There are two kinds of Button types:

• The symbol directs students to Interactive Graphs. Developed under the supervision of Norris Peterson of Pacific Lutheran University, this interactive feature depicts major graphs and instructs students to shift the curves, observe the outcomes, and derive relevant generalizations. There are 20 Interactive Graph icons scattered throughout the book.
• The symbol directs students to Origins of the Idea. These brief histories were written by Randy Grant of Linfield College and examine the origins of scores of major ideas identified in the book. Students will find it interesting to learn about the economists who first developed such ideas as opportunity costs, equilibrium price, creative destruction, comparative advantage, and elasticity.

Global Snapshots
Global Snapshot pieces show bar charts and line graphs that compare data for a particular year or other time period among selected nations. Examples of lists and comparisons include income per capita, the world's 10 largest corporations, the world's top brand names, full-employment budget deficits or surpluses, the index of economic freedom, sizes of underground economies, rates of economic growth, exports as percentages of GDP, and so forth. These Global Snapshots join other significant international content to help convey that the United States operates in a global economy.