Let the trading begin: 400 BCE-1770 CE
The age of reason: 1770-1820
Industrial and economic revolutions: 1820-1929
War and depressions: 1929-1945
Post-war economics: 1945-70
Contemporary economics: 1970-present.
[I.] Let the trading begin: 400 BCE-1770 CE : Property should be private: property rights --
What is a just price?: Markets and morality --
You don't need to barter when you have coins: the function of money --
Make money from money: financial services --
Money causes inflation: the quantity theory of money --
Protect us from foreign goods: protectionism and trade --
The economy can be counted: measuring wealth --
Let firms be traded: public companies --
Wealth comes from the land: agriculture in the economy --
Money and goods flow between producers and consumers: the circular flow of the economy --
Private individuals never pay for street lights: provision of public goods and services --
[II.] The age of reason: 1770-1820 : Man is a cold, rational calculator: economic man --
The invisible hand of the market brings order: free market economics --
The last worker adds less to output than the first: diminishing returns --
Why do diamonds cost more than water?: The paradox of value --
Make taxes fair and efficient: the tax burden --
Divide up pin production, and you get more pins: the division of labor --
Population growth keeps us poor: demographics and economics --
Meetings of merchants end in conspiracies to raise prices: cartels and collusion --
Supply creates its own demand: gluts in markets --
Borrow now, tax later: borrowing and debt --
The economy is a yo-yo: boom and bust --
Trade is beneficial for all: comparative advantage --
[III.] Industrial and economic revolutions: 1820-1929 : How much should I produce, given the competition?: Effects of limited competition --
Phone calls cost more without competition: monopolies --
Crowds breed collective insanity: economic bubbles --
Let the ruling classes tremble at a communist revolution: Marxist economics --
The value of a product comes from the effort needed to make it: the labor theory of value --
Prices come from supply and demand: supply and demand --
You enjoy the last chocolate less than the first: utility and satisfaction --
When the price goes up, some people buy more: spending paradoxes --
A system of free markets is stable: economic equilibrium --
If you get a pay raise, buy caviar not bread: elasticity of demand --
Companies are price takers not price makers: the competitive market --
Make one person better off without hurting the others: efficiency and fairness --
The bigger the factory, the lower the cost: economies of scale --
The cost of going to the movies is the fun you'd have had at an ice rink: opportunity cost --
Workers must improve their lot together: collective bargaining --
People consume to be noticed: conspicuous consumption --
Make the polluter pay: external costs --
Protestantism has made us rich: religion and the economy --
The poor are unlucky, not bad: the poverty problem --
Socialism is the abolition of rational economy: central planning --
Capitalism destroys the old and creates the new: creative destruction.
[IV.] War and depressions: 1929-1945 : Unemployment is not a choice: depressions and unemployment --
Some people love risk, others avoid it: risk and uncertainty --
Government spending boosts the economy by more than what is spent: the Keynesian multiplier --
Economies are embedded in culture: economics and tradition --
Managers go for perks, not their company's profits: corporate governance --
The economy is a predictable machine: testing economic theories --
Economics is the science of scarce resources: definitions of economics --
We wish to preserve a free society: economic liberalism --
Industrialization creates sustained growth: the emergence of modern economies --
Different prices to different people: price discrimination --
[V.] Post-war economics: 1945-1970 : In the wake of war: and depression, nations must cooperate: international trade and Bretton Woods --
All poor countries need is a big push: development economics --
People are influenced by irrelevant alternatives: irrational decision making --
Governments should do nothing but control the money supply: monetarist policy --
The more people at work, the higher their bills: inflation and unemployment --
People smooth consumption over their life spans: saving to spend --
Institutions matter: institutions in economics --
People will avoid work if they can: market information and incentives --
Theories about market efficiency require many assumptions: markets and social outcomes --
There is no perfect voting system: social choice theory --
The aim is to maximize happiness, not income: the economics of happiness --
Policies to correct markets can make things worse: the theory of the second best --
Make markets fair: the social market economy --
Over time, all countries will be rich: economic growth theories --
Globalization is not inevitable: market integration --
Socialism leads to empty shops: shortages in planned economies --
What does the other man think I am going to do?: game theory --
Rich countries impoverish the poor: dependency theory --
You can't fool the people: rational expectations --
People don't care about probability when they choose: paradoxes in decision making --
Similar economies can benefit from a single currency: exchange rates and currencies --
Famine can happen in good harvests: entitlement theory --
[VI.] Contemporary economics: 1970-Present : It is possible to invest without risk: financial engineering --
People are not 100 percent rational: behavioral economics --
Tax cuts can increase the tax take: taxation and economic incentives --
Prices tell you everything: efficient markets --
Over time, even the selfish cooperate with others: competition and cooperation --
Most cars traded will be lemons: market uncertainty --
The government's promises are incredible: independent central banks --
The economy is chaotic even when individuals are not: complexity and chaos --
Social networks are a kind of capital: social capital --
Education is only a signal of ability: signaling and screening --
The East Asian state governs the market: Asian Tiger economies --
Beliefs can trigger currency crises: speculation and currency devaluation --
Auction winners pay over the odds: the winner's curse --
Stable economies contain the seeds of instability: financial crises --
Businesses pay more than the market wage: incentives and wages --
Real wages rise during a recession: sticky wages --
Finding a job is like finding a partner or a house: searching and matching --
The biggest challenge for collective action is climate change: economics and the environment --
GDP ignores women: gender and economics --
Comparative advantage is an accident: trade and geography --
Like steam, computers have revolutionized economies: technological leaps --
We can kick-start poor economies by writing off debt: international debt relief --
Pessimism can destroy healthy banks: bank runs --
Savings gluts abroad fuel speculation at home: global savings imbalances --
More equal societies grow faster: inequality and growth --
Even beneficial economic reforms can fail: resisting economic change --
The housing market mirrors boom and bust: housing and the economic cycle.
