Principles of Economics 4th Australian Edition By John Sloman

Principles of Economics 4th Australian Edition By John Sloman; Keith Norris; Dean Garrett

Print ISBN: 9781486005581, 1486005586

eText ISBN: 9781486005956, 1486005950

By: John Sloman; Keith Norris; Dean Garrett

Publisher: P.Ed Australia

Print ISBN: 9781486005581, 1486005586

eText ISBN: 9781486005956, 1486005950

Edition: 4th

Copyright year: 2014

preface

to the student

Welcome to this introduction to economics. Whether you are planning to study economics beyond this level, or whether this will be your only exposure to this

fascinating subject, we hope that you will find the book enjoyable and that it will give

you some insight into the economy in which you live and the economic forces that

shape all our lives.

Although you have probably never studied the subject before, you will almost

certainly know quite a lot of economics already. After all, you make economic decisions

virtually every day of your life. Every time you go shopping, you are acting as an

‘economist’, deciding what to buy with your limited amount of money. And it is not just

with decisions about buying that we act as economists. How much to work (something

that students are increasingly forced to do nowadays), how much to study, and even

how much time to devote to various activities during the course of the day are all, in

a way, economic choices.

To satisfy us as consumers, goods and services have to be produced. We therefore

study the behaviour of firms and what governs the decisions they make. How will

the decisions of big businesses differ from those of small firms? How will the degree

of competition affect the extent to which we gain or lose from the activities of firms?

Events in recent years have also forcefully demonstrated the importance to us of how the economy functions. In 2008 what began as a problem in one part of the financial

system of the United States caused huge disruptions to the whole United States economy

and then to most other countries in both the industralised and the developing world.

These effects were still being felt in 2013. In Europe, for example, most countries were

experiencing slow or negative economic growth and high unemployment.