Essentials of Economics, 6th edition

Published by Pearson (October 30, 2024) © 2025

  • Glenn Hubbard Columbia University
  • Anthony Patrick O'Brien Lehigh University
  • Anne Garnett Murdoch University
  • Philip Lewis Formerly of University of Gloucestershire
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A lively introduction to the key principles of economics, shown through real-world business examples.

Essentials of Economics, 6th Australian edition is the market-leading introductory text, making economic principles relevant by demonstrating how businesses, individuals and policymakers use them to make decisions every day. It provides the expected rigour for the discipline with easy-to-understand explorations of the key concepts while being highly supported by real-world business examples and policy applications that bring these concepts to life.

The 6th edition has been revised to provide students with the most up-to-date and relevant content they need to succeed in the field of economics. In the past few years, to take just a few relevant examples, we have witnessed the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into mainstream use, the runaway success of smartphones and tablet computers, the rapid growth of the sharing economy including companies such as Uber and Airbnb, increased policy debate about how best to address climate change, and experienced the global impact of the economic contractions and recessions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent high rates of inflation. This new edition helps students understand these changing economic realities.

  • PART 1: INTRODUCTION
  • Chapter 1: Economics: foundations and ideas
  • APPENDIX 1A: Using graphs and formulas
  • Chapter 2: Choices and trade-offs in the market
  • PART 2: HOW THE MARKET WORKS
  • Chapter 3: Where prices come from: The interaction of demand and supply
  • APPENDIX 3A: Behavioural economics: Do people make their choices rationally?
  • Chapter 4: Elasticity: The responsiveness of demand and supply
  • Chapter 5: Economic efficiency, government price-setting and taxes
  • PART 3: FIRMS AND MARKET STRUCTURES
  • Chapter 6: Technology, production and costs
  • Chapter 7: Firms in perfectly competitive markets
  • Chapter 8: Monopoly markets
  • Chapter 9: Monopolistic competition and oligopoly
  • PART 4: MARKETS FOR FACTORS OF PRODUCTION
  • Chapter 10: The markets for labour and other factors of production
  • PART 5: THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
  • Chapter 11: Externalities, environmental policy, and government intervention in the market
  • Chapter 12: Social policy and inequality
  • PART 6: MACROECONOMIC FOUNDATIONS
  • Chapter 13: Gross domestic product and economic growth
  • Chapter 14: Unemployment and inflation
  • APPENDIX 14A: Is there a short-run trade-off between unemployment and inflation?
  • Chapter 15: Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
  • APPENDIX 15A: The aggregate expenditure model
  • PART 7: MONETARY AND FISCAL POLICY
  • Chapter 16: Money and monetary policy
  • Chapter 17: Fiscal policy
  • APPENDIX 17A: A closer look at the multiplier
  • PART 8: THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY
  • Chapter 18: International trade
  • Chapter 19: International finance and exchange rates

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