From one of America's best-known economists, the one book anyone who wants to understand the economy needs to read. At last there is a citizen's guide to the economy, written by an economist who uses plain English. No jargon, no graphs, no equations. Yet this is a comprehensive survey, covering everything from rent control and the rise and fall of businesses to the international balance of payments. The purpose of Basic Economics is to enable people without any economic training to understand the way the economy functions-not only the American economy, but other economies around the world. Some of the clearest demonstrations of the role of prices, for example, come from economies in which prices are not allowed to function-with consequences which show just what those functions are and what happens when they are lacking.
