- Cover Page
- Imprint
- Dedication
- Preface
- Part 1: Twelve Key Elements of Economics
- Element 1.1: Incentives Matter
- Element 1.2: All Choices Involve Costs
- Element 1.3: Decisions Are Made at the Margins
- Element 1.4: Voluntary Trade Promotes Economic Progress
- Element 1.5: Transaction Costs Are Obstacles to Trade
- Element 1.6: Prices Align Buyers and Sellers
- Element 1.7: Profits Are a Guide to Productivity
- Element 1.8: The “Invisible Hand” Promotes the General Welfare
- Element 1.9: Beware of Unintended Consequences
- Element 1.10: Value Creates Income and Wealth
- Element 1.11: Productivity Is the Key to High Living Standards
- Element 1.12: There Are Multiple Sources of Progress
- Part 2: Seven Major Sources of Economic Progress
- Element 2.1: The Legal System
- Element 2.2: Competitive Markets
- Element 2.3: Sensible and Limited Regulation
- Element 2.4: Efficient Capital Markets
- Element 2.5: Monetary Stability
- Element 2.6: Prudent Fiscal Policy
- Element 2.7: Free Trade
- Part 2 Final Thoughts on Institutions and Policy
- Part 3: Ten Key Elements of Economic Thinking About Government
- Element 3.1: Protect Rights and Produce Limited Goods and Services
- Element 3.2: Regulate Monopolies
- Element 3.3: Avoid Inefficiencies and Waste
- Element 3.4: Understand Political Pressures
- Element 3.5: Adopt Rules to Limit the Influence of Special Interests
- Element 3.6: Avoid Excessive Spending and Deficits
- Element 3.7: Avoid Subsidies Not Based on Economic Logic
- Element 3.8: Limit Welfare-Reducing Transfers
- Element 3.9: Stay Away from Central Planning
- Element 3.10: Decentralization, Competition and External Anchors Are Key
- Part 3 Final Thoughts
- Part 4: Twelve Key Elements of Practical Personal Finance
- Element 4.1: Discover Your Comparative Advantage
- Element 4.2: Increase Your Value to Others
- Element 4.3: Budget Your Spending and Saving
- Element 4.4: Manage Credit Wisely
- Element 4.5: Spend Strategically
- Element 4.6: Plan for the Unexpected
- Element 4.7: Put the Power of Compound Interest to Work
- Element 4.8: Diversify Your Assets
- Element 4.9: Realize No One Can Consistently “Beat the Market”
- Element 4.10: Match the Length of Your Investments to the Timing of Your Needs
- Element 4.11: Reduce Your Risks
- Element 4.12: Use Insurance to Manage Unavoidable Risks
- Part 4 Final Thoughts
- Concluding Thoughts
- Acknowledgments
- Footnotes
- Readings Featured in the Elements
- The Power of Incentives
- The Road Not Taken
- Opportunities and Costs
- Markets and Marginalism
- Specialization and Wealth
- Sacrificing Lives for Profits
- I, Pencil, My Family Tree
- Creating Jobs vs. Creating Wealth
- What Is Seen and What is Not Seen
- Gross Domestic Product—What is it and how is it measured?
- Private Property and Opportunity Costs
- Running Out of Agricultural Land
- Censoring Pleas for Help
- Markets and Freedom
- Unfair Competition with the Sun
- Not Yours to Give
- Politics and Foreign Trade
- Energy Production versus Conservation
- Social Cooperation and the Marketplace
- A Case for Constitutional Reform in Ukraine
- Suggested Additional Readings
- Glossary
- About the Authors
- Academic Advisory Committee