Microeconomics: Private and Public Choice

by James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel

Authors James D. Gwartney, Richard L. Stroup, Russell S. Sobel, and David Macpherson believe that a course on principles of economics should focus on the power and relevance of the economic way of thinking. It is this belief and corresponding writing approach that has made MICROECONOMICS: PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CHOICE one of South-Western's most solid and enduring texts. Throughout this text, the authors integrate applications and real-world data in an effort to make the basic concepts of economics come alive for the reader. South-Western is a part of Cengage Learning.

Genres: Economics, Textbooks

502 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1980

About the author

James D. Gwartney holds the Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University, where he directs the Stavros Center for the Advancement of Free Enterprise and Economic Education. He is the coauthor of Economics: Private and Public Choice, (South-Western Press, 2008), a widely used principles of economics text that is now in its 12th edition. He is also the co-author of Common Sense Economics: What Everyone Should Know About Wealth and Prosperity (St. Martin's Press, 2005), a primer on economics and personal finance designed for the interested lay person. His publications have appeared in both professional journals and popular media such as the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times. His Ph.D. in economics is from the University of Washington.

His current research focuses on the measurement and determination of factors that influence cross-country differences in income levels and growth rates. In this regard, he is the senior researcher responsible for the preparation of the annual report, Economic Freedom of the World, which provides information on the institutions and policies of 140 countries. This data set, published by a worldwide network of institutes in 70 countries, is widely used by scholars investigating topics ranging from economic growth to peaceful relations among nations. During 1999-2000, he served as Chief Economist of the Joint Economic Committee of the U. S. Congress. He was invited by the incoming Putin Administration in March 2000 to make presentations and have discussions with leading Russian economists concerning the future of the Russian economy. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Adam Smith Award of the Association of Private Enterprise Education for his contribution to the advancement of free market ideals. He is the current President of the Southern Economic Association.

Reviews

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up as a follow-up to this, on an Eco Prof's recco, no less. Turned out to be a poor choice. Hardly anything about Public Choice. A few weak examples of Public Choice examples crammed into a standard economics textbook. Read it through in any case just to makes sure not to miss anything. Have to hunt outside textbooks for more about Public Choice from now on out.

[JR Snow · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this for my last college course at Whitefield College. This was a great textbook–the authors are solid free market guys–it's actually pretty interesting to have such from popular textbook like this. But hey, nature rears her ugly head, and it's hard to avoid the truth when engaged in an empirical science like this.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, easy to understand.