Student-Friendly Writing Style: Written in conversational English, not "textbookese," the author conveys economic sensibility to the reader with passion and humor. Students feel as though David Colander is speaking to them directly as a personal tutor. Students truly enjoy reading this textbook.
Historical Perspective: The author's historical perspective and his attempt to open doors to multiple interpretations will be especially interesting to liberal arts students. The book gives these students a real sense of economics and economic thinking.
Questions from Alternate Perspectives: These special end-of-chapter questions present an opportunity to discuss and analyze the material from the wide range of differing schools of thought in Economics—Feminist Economics, Marxist Economics, Public Choice Theory, the Austrian School, etc. While most Principles of Economics shy away from discussion of the more extreme positions, Colander's text brings them all into the fold so that students can be exposed to all positions, or an instructor can employ them to put his or her particular theoretical spin on the material in the course. For those instructors who prefer a more mainstream approach, the Questions from Alternate Perspectives may be skipped easily.
Unbiased Coverage: While the author presents all the standard economic models, they are presented neither as gospel nor in isolation. After the models (tools) are presented, the author discusses how economists actually use these models in policy. He also points out those interpretative problems economists face. Economists are presented as fallible human beings making judgments and analyzing situations using a certain way of thinking. Colander describes that "economic" way of thinking and discusses both its strengths and weaknesses.
Application Boxes: "Real-World Application," "A Reminder," and "Added Dimension" boxes are included in most chapters to reinforce the economic tools presented in the text and help students learn the basics.
Upward-Sloping AS Curve and Material on Fiscal Policy: In the macro section, Colander uses an upward-sloping AS curve and enhanced fiscal policy discussions for the two model chapters (Chapters 25 and 26), providing more standard coverage and using real examples to help students understand the models.
International Chapters in the Macro split: The international trade and development chapters are in the macro split as well as the micro splits. Because of the increasing importance of international topics and the increasingly global dimension of our own economy, students benefit from this added coverage.
Outsourcing Coverage: Colander offers more coverage of outsourcing, perhaps the most important issue in economics for the first years of the 21st Century, than any other Principles text. As he does with all topics, Colander presents the different sides of the outsourcing issue in Chapters 2 and 21 as well as the ramifications of outsourcing, and allows the instructor and the student to come to his or her own conclusions.
Webnotes: Throughout the book, web icons appear in the margin with a label (such as "4.1 Unemployment"), which ties the textbook to the web through links on the book's website.
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