ANSEL M. SHARP, the Frank W. Wilson Professor of Political Economy at the University of the South, is a distinguished economist and frequent contributor to the literature of economics. He was educated at Howard University, the University of Virginia, and Louisiana State University where he earned his Ph.D. in Economics. Professor Sharp's teaching experience spans almost fifty years. At Oklahoma State University, Professors Sharp and Leftwich were the first to develop and use the innovative social issues approach to teaching Principles of Economics, and they wrote the first edition of Economics of Social Issues in 1971. In addition to co-authoring a Public Finance text, Professor Sharp has been published numerous times in The Journal of Economic Education, Public Finance Quarterly and The Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives. He has written articles on such subjects as the public debt, the price or exchange theory, budget deficits, the hospital industry, and expenditures and revenues in Oklahoma state and county governments. And, he has presented numerous professional papers on the health care industry. In his spare time, Professor Sharp enjoys competitive tennis and the beautiful Cumberland Mountains around Sewanee.

CHARLES A. REGISTER earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Maryland in 1980 and entered the Ph.D. program in economics at Oklahoma State University. It was at OSU that Professor Register first came in contact with the text, Economics of Social Issues, and its founders, Ansel Sharp and Dick Leftwich. He took his first faculty position at Kent State University and it was there that he began his collaborative work on Economics of Social Issues. He has co-authored the text since its eighth edition. Professor Register has also held faculty positions at the University of Baltimore, Mississippi State University, and is now at Florida Atlantic University. In spite of the time commitment to Economics of Social Issues, he has maintained an active research agenda working in the areas of labor market policy and banking. His work appears in numerous academic journals including The Review of Economics and Statistics, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Financial Management, the Southern Economic Journal, and Real Estate Economics. Professor Register enjoys relaxing in the sun and on the beaches of Boca Raton.

PAUL W. GRIMES is Professor of Economics at Mississippi State University. He was an undergraduate at Pittsburg State University and received his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University, where he studied under Professors Sharp and Leftwich. His principal research areas are Labor Economics, Economic Education, and Economics of Public Policy. Professor Grimes has been the recipient of numerous grants from, among others, The Annenberg Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Science Foundation and The National Council on Economic Education. He has also generated important economic analyses for the Mississippi Departments of Corrections and Education. He is a frequent contributor to such journals as The American Economist, Atlantic Economic Journal, Journal of Urban Economics, and the Journal of Economic Education. In addition, his book reviews are featured in The Southern Economic Journal. His professional activities have included presenting professional papers, acting as manuscript referee, and serving on the Financial Management Delegation to Russia and The Ukraine. In 1998, he received the Outstanding Faculty Member award from the College of Business and Industry at Mississippi State University. Professor Grimes enjoys traveling and following the MSU Bulldogs sports program.