Category: Economics in Two Lessons

Economics in Two Lessons, Chapter 13

John Quiggin5 Comments

Thanks to everyone who commented on the first twelve chapters of my book-in-progress, <em>Economics in Two Lessons</em>.

Here’s a draft of Chapter 13 on Redistribution

Comments, criticism and praise are welcome.

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Earlier draft chapters are available. These aren’t final versions, as I am now editing the entire manuscript, but you can read them to see where the book is coming from.

<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/ilqwwru858rihrl/QuigginTwoLessonsDraftTOC.pdf?dl=0″>Table of Contents</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/d8x2dp5sbxi70er/QuigginTwoLessonsIntroductionRevised.pdf?dl=0″>Introduction</a&gt;.
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/ao6s4jaejbrzap1/QuigginChapter1Revised.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 1: What is opportunity cost?</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/r1k8iqcpeboosbh/QuigginChapter2Revised.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 2: Markets, opportunity cost and equilibrium</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/x4umnbwj4kmihd6/QuigginChapter3Revised.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 3:Time, information and uncertainty
</a><a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/s2fkdwmbmje6fdo/QuigginChapter4Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 4:Lesson 1: Applications</a>.
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/pmml30mkozzj9j5/QuigginChapter5Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 5: Lesson 1 and economic policy</a>.
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/44bvl01adcv2fte/QuigginChapter6Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 6: The opportunity cost of destruction</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/23d7veamse5wnde/QuigginChapter7Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 7: Property rights, and income distribution</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/eoc19utnfhvtk47/QuigginChapter8Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 8:Unemployment</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/ovvuu5kzgc7f33t/QuigginChapter9Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 9: Market Failure</a>
<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/00menn8garip6y3/QuigginChapter10Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 10: Market failure -Externalities and pollution.</a>

<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/7815grsyp24nfuf/QuigginChapter%2011%20%20Market%20failure.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 11: Market failure: Information, uncertainty and financial markets</a>

<a href=”https://www.dropbox.com/s/seojgihd4mrkcrq/QuigginChapter%2012Draft.pdf?dl=0″>Chapter 12 on Predistribution</a>

Feel free to make further comments on these chapters if you wish.

Economics in Two Lessons, Chapter 8

John Quiggin9 Comments

Thanks to everyone who the first seven chapters of my book-in-progress, Economics in Two Lessons. I’ve tried to think about all of them and respond to as many as possible, but I’m seeking comments from quite a few sources and may have missed some. Feel free to remind me if you think you have a point that’s been overlooked.,

I’ve just posted a draft of Chapter 8:Unemployment. This is one of the most important chapters in the book where I confront a central error in both Hazlitt and Bastiat – the implicit assumption that full employment is the norm in a market economy. So,

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Economics in Two Lessons, Chapter 7

John Quiggin24 Comments

Thanks to everyone who the first six chapters of my book, Economics in Two Lessons. That brings us to the end of Lesson 1: Market prices reflect and determine opportunity costs faced by consumers and producers.

Now its time for Lesson Two: Market prices don’t reflect all the opportunity costs we face as a society.

I’ll start with a brief intro and then the draft of Chapter 7: Property rights, and income distribution

As usual, I welcome comments, criticism and encouragement.
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Economics in Two Lessons, Chapter 6

John Quiggin5 Comments

Thanks to everyone who the first five chapters of my book, Economics in Two Lessons. Now here’s the draft of Chapter 6: The opportunity cost of destruction This is the last part of the book devoted to Lesson 1 Market prices reflect and determine opportunity costs faced by consumers and producers. and the one where I agree mostly with Henry Hazlitt’s Economics in One Lesson. It seems particularly apposite 15 years after the beginning of the Iraq War.

As usual, I welcome comments, criticism and encouragement. I’d appreciate any comments on/ alternative suggestions for the opening quote – it’s not a perfect fit, but the best I could come up with.

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Economics in Two Lessons: Chapter 4

John Quiggin8 Comments

Thanks to everyone who the first three chapters of my book, Economics in Two Lessons. I’ve learned a lot from the comments and made changes in response to some of them. These chapters have been a bit abstract, but now I’m moving on to some applications, which might be more interesting for some readers. Here’s the introduction to Part II

Lesson 1, Part II: Applications

The economic analysis showing how market equilibrium prices reflect the opportunity costs facing producers and consumers is elegant and, for a certain kind of mind, convincing.

For most of us, however, it’s more useful to see how the logic of prices and opportunity costs works in particular cases, sometimes in ways that conflict with strongly held intuitions. This will also give us more insight into the ways in which prices can fail to reflect opportunity costs for society as a whole, some of which we will examine in Lesson 2.
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Now here’s the draft of Chapter 4:Lesson 1: Applications. Again, I welcome comments, criticism and encouragement.
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