What is economics? -- Trade-offs and opportunity cost -- The emergence of free trade and the importance of comparative advantage -- International trade and trade barriers -- Traditional economies, command economies, and market economies -- Capitalism versus socialism -- Barter and the development of money -- Inconvertible fiat explored -- The time value of money and interest rates -- The origin of banking -- How banks create money -- Banks as a system: regulation and deregulation -- Supply and demand: markets -- Supply and demand: consumer behavior -- Supply and demand: a price is born -- Changes in supply and demand -- Accounting versus economics -- The production function -- Controlling costs -- Perfect competition in the short run -- Perfect competition in the long run -- Oligopolies and imperfectly competitive markets -- Collusion and cartels -- Game theory -- Pricing behaviors -- Monopoly: the good, the bad, and the ugly -- Government in the marketplace: price ceilings and price floors -- Government in the marketplace: taxes and subsidies -- Market failures -- Financial markets and loanable funds theory -- The money market -- The bond market -- The stock market -- Foreign exchange and exchange rates -- Exports and the balance of trade -- Official reserves and exchange rate policy -- The private sector and the public sector -- The foreign sector -- The financial sector and financial markets -- The gross domestic product -- GDP: private spending and investment -- GDP: government spending and exports -- Approaches to GDP -- Real GDP changes and the business cycle -- What GDP doesn't tell us -- Unemployment defined -- Unemployment classified -- Why unemployment is bad -- Inflation defined -- Types of inflation -- Inflation: winners and losers -- Disinflation and deflation -- Aggregate demand and aggregate supply -- Macroeconomic equilibrium -- The Keynesian view and fiscal policy -- The federal reserve system -- Monetary policy -- Supply-side economics -- Economic growth -- Conditions for economic growth -- How economic policy affects growth -- The great depression meets the great recession -- The collapse of investment banking -- Fiscal policy under fire -- The environment and the economy

Too often, textbooks turn the noteworthy details of economics into tedious discourse that would put even Joseph Stiglitz to sleep. Economics 101 cuts out the boring explanations, and instead provides a hands-on lesson that keeps you engaged as you explore how societies allocate their resources for maximum benefit. From quantitative easing to marginal utility, this primer is packed with hundreds of entertaining tidbits and concepts that you won't be able to get anywhere else. --Publisher's description