Understanding Economics

Updated material has been added to Chapter 1 on the environment and concerns over climate change. An extended treatment of ecological sustainability incorporates new material on the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.

Chapter 2 now covers joint products in the discussion of the prices of related products as a supply factor.

Chapter 3 provides new empirical results for income elasticity and cross-price elasticity.

Chapter 4 includes fresh material on the differing ways costs and profit are viewed in economics and accounting, and an updated discussion of technological change and its relation to economies of scale. A new Advancing Economic Thought article highlights Indigenous commentator Jean Paul Gladu and his views on economic reconciliation.

Chapter 5 extends the former treatment of the network and lock-in effects and their application in the new economy. There is also fresh material on entry barriers related to R&D spending and brand proliferation.

Chapter 6 introduces an updated discussion of concentration in Canadian markets.

In Chapter 7, a new Advancing Economic Thought article on William Nordhaus incorporates a model showing the rationale behind the carbon tax.

Chapter 8 features recent UN estimates of the significance of human capital in the Canadian economy. There is also a new Advancing Economic Thought article on Amartya Sen and the Social Progress Index.

Chapter 9 contains an added discussion of the effects of recent demographic change on Canadian structural unemployment.

Chapter 10 incorporates a new chart comparing R&D spending in select major countries.

Chapter 11 now introduces the interest rate-growth rule and its use in analyzing issues related to public debt.

Chapter 12 provides a significantly expanded discussion of digital currencies, including cryptocurrencies. It also incorporates a new Advancing Economic Thought article on William Darity and stratification economics.

Chapter 13 features extra material on quantitative easing and a new discussion of the recent surge in inflation both in Canada and globally. It also provides a new Advancing Economic Thought article on Stephanie Kelton and modern monetary theory.

Chapter 14 features a new Advancing Economic Thought article on Gita Gopinath and the economic challenges of the post-COVID world.

Chapter 15 incorporates fresh material on carbon tariffs and an extended treatment of national security arguments for protectionism. A new Advancing Economic Thought article deals with Sinead O'Sullivan and space economics.

New Connect Interface. Featuring significant improvements to instructor workflows in Connect, with new features designed to make course management easier:

• NEW! Add Co-Instructors to a Section. Instructors can easily add additional instructors to any section.
• Updated Section Dashboard. The redesigned section dashboard surfaces important information about student performance and assignments without additional clicks.
• NEW! Optimized for Mobile and More Accessibility. Automatic resizing of screen for tablets and smart phones. New pages are screen reader compatible, keyboard navigable, and have up to 400% magnification.
• NEW! Assignments Tab. Provides a clean interface with the ability to view important assignment information without additional clicks. Quickly view information such as assignment types, proctored assignments, and assignments that require manual grading.

Concise Coverage. Lovewell includes concise coverage appropriate for the one-semester Principles of Economics course.

Accessible and Engaging. This ground-up Canadian product engages students with a clear and readable style, and appealing text design.

Current Issues. Understanding Economics offers real world examples and explores current economic issues. Articles, essays, and interviews stimulate critical thinking, and application. By providing a balanced and wide range of perspectives, these elements encourage students to evaluate and debate economic issues for themselves.

Real World Relevance. Within each chapter, an Advancing Economic Thought box details the ideas of an influential thinker of the past or the present and allows students to judge their contemporary relevance. Examples include Adam Smith's defense of private markets, Karl Marx's theory of capitalist exploitation, Thomas Malthus's treatment of population growth, David Foot's treatment of demographic change, Paul Romer's innovative view of economic growth, and Tyler Cowen's analysis of the economic impact of the digital revolution.

Emphasis on Skills. An emphasis on skills allows students to have plenty of opportunity to apply the knowledge they acquire. Graphing Modules show students how to interpret and create tables and graphs. The online Skills Resource helps students interpret, analyze, and apply information. It provides insight on the basics of critical thinking, the use of economic language, visual materials, research, and ways of presenting findings.

Advancing Economic Thought. Within each chapter, Advancing Economic Thought feature details the ideas of an influential thing of the past, and allows students to judge their contemporary relevance. This edition features two new Advancing Economic Thought articles.

Thinking About Economics. Each chapter includes several points for discussion called Thinking About Economics-many with a contemporary focus on new technologies and the Internet-to help students interpret and apply the concepts they are learning through a question-and-answer format.

Consistency. Author Mark Lovewell writes the text, Connect assignment questions, and all the supplements. In addition, he managed the technical accuracy of the Connect problems, ensuring consistency in the level and approach between all resources for Understanding Economics.

SmartBook personalizes learning to individual student needs, continually adapting to pinpoint knowledge gaps and focus learning on concepts requiring additional study. For instructors, SmartBook tracks student progress and provides insights that guide teaching strategies and advanced instruction, for a more dynamic class experience.

Adaptive Math Prep. Help your students remediate pre-requisite math skills for every economics concept in your principles course by assigning the new Adaptive Math Prep module specifically designed for each topic. Note that these are designed as supplementary assignments/additional help with foundational math concepts. Math concepts build on each other so be sure to assign Adaptive Math Prep for supply and demand prior to assigning the one for elasticity for the best results. We suggest assigning zero points/low-stakes assignments, and perhaps making mastery a prerequisite to being able to complete the end-of-chapter homework assignments. You can either assign individual modules to accompany specific chapters or assign the entire tool as a review for students.

Connect the Dots Videos The Connect the Dots video series takes important economic concepts and explains them in an engaging, relatable manner. Patrick Walsh walks students through examples that help contextualize concepts in ways that make them easier to understand and apply.

Application-Based Activities The Connect Application-Based Activities are highly interactive and automatically graded application- and analysis-based exercises wherein students immerse themselves in a business environment, analyze the situation, and apply their knowledge of business strategies. Students progress from understanding basic concepts to assessing and solving complex real-world scenarios.