6 Economics
Economic Aspects of the Indigenous Experience in Canada
Anya Hageman and Pauline Galoustian (Queen’s University)
2021
Licence: CC BY
In this text we are going to explore the economic history and economic potential of Indigenous peoples in Canada. What institutional arrangements hold them back economically and what institutions assist them going forward? What norms do Indigenous communities hold that inform their priorities and economic behavior? Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the Indigenous Peoples of Canada – First Nations, Métis and Inuit – and their current demographic and income statistics. Chapters 3-12 describe their cultures, economies and geopolitics up until the late twentieth century. Chapters 13 and 14 discuss how discrimination against minorities can be modeled and measured. Finally, Chapters 15+ describe present-day issues in the economic development of Indigenous communities.
Formats: Online, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF
Economics for Life: Real-World Financial Literacy
Donald T. Wargo
2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
America has evolved into an ownership society. Home-buying decisions, resource allocation, debt exposure, and financial planning for the future are now left to individuals, many of whom may lack the financial understanding to evaluate and make sound decisions. Economics, with its insistence on quantifying ideas and putting specific quantitative values on all manner of phenomena, can help sort through the questions. Economics for Life: Real-World Financial Literacy is designed to help soon-to-be college graduates start their “real lives” with a better understanding of how to analyze the financial decisions that they will soon have to make. Written in an easy-to-read, conversational style, this textbook will help students learn how to make decisions on saving and investing for retirement, buying a car, buying a home, as well as how to safely navigate the use of debit and credit cards.
Formats: Online, PDF, EPUB
Suggested for: ECON 300
The Economics of Food and Agricultural Markets, Second Edition
Andrew Barkley (Kansas State University)
2019
Licence: CC BY-NC
The Second Edition of Economics of Food and Agricultural Markets is written for applied intermediate microeconomics courses. The book showcases the power of economic principles to explain and predict issues and current events in the food, agricultural, agribusiness, international trade, labor markets, and natural resource sectors. The field of agricultural economics is relevant, important and interesting. The study of market structures, also called industrial organization, provides powerful, timely, and useful tools for any individual or group making personal choices, business decisions, or public policies in food and agricultural industries.
Readers will benefit from a large number of real-world examples and applications of the economic concepts under discussion. The book introduces economic principles in a succinct and reader-friendly format, providing students and instructors with a clear, up-to-date, and straightforward approach to learning how a market-based economy functions, and how to use simple economic principles for improved decision making. The principles are applied to timely, interesting, and important real-world issues through words, graphs, and simple algebra and calculus. This book is intended for students who study agricultural economics, microeconomics, rural development and/or environmental policy.
Formats: Online, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF
Economics Simulations
Amanda Gregg and Tanya Byker (Middlebury College)
2022
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
This website is an interactive educational application developed to simulate and visualize various statistical concepts: law of large numbers, central limit theorem, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, joint distributions, least squares, sample distribution of OLS estimators, the OLS estimators are consistent, omitted variable bias, and multiple regression.
Formats: Online and code on Github
Suggested for: ECON 300
Equilibrium Displacement Models: Theory, Applications, & Policy Analysis
Gary Brester (Montana State University), Joseph Atwood (Montana State University), and Michael Boland (University of Minnesota)
2023
Licence: CC BY-NC
Applied economists frequently use equilibrium displacement models (EDMs), also termed linear elasticity models, for policy analyses because they can be used to estimate changes in prices and quantities that result from exogenous economic or policy shocks. These models are also widely used to estimate changes in producer and consumer surplus caused by exogenous economic shocks and to quantify the short- and long-term impacts of a variety of economic and regulatory actions across multiple markets. For the first time, a textbook that contains all of the theory and applications of EDMs along with a set of spreadsheet files is available in one place.
Formats: PDF
Financial Impact of Climate Change
Todd Thexton (Royal Roads University)
2021
Licence: CC BY
This open online course introduces participants to the financial risks and impacts associated with climate change. This four-week course introduces participants to the financial risks and impacts associated with climate change. Participants will explore a range of risk pathways that link climate and economic systems, including:
• physical risks related to direct exposure to climate hazards in the value chain;
• transition risks arising from abrupt transitions to a low-carbon economy;
• systemic risks transmitted throughout the economy;
• extreme risks arising from the complex dynamic nature of climate-economy systems.
Topics will be explored through the use of case study examples, group-based analysis and problem solving. The learning is supported by readings, videos and live, interactive online sessions. Participants are encouraged to share their own knowledge and expertise in group-based discussion forums.
Upon completion of the course, participants will have a foundational understanding of the relationship between climate change and the economy. Participants will develop their ability to identify climate-related financial risks within their own organizations—critical groundwork for effective planning and decision-making for mitigation and adaptation.
As an introductory course, this course is suited to those with limited previous experience in climate-related finance or economics. However, a basic understanding of climate science is presumed.
Formats: Online, EPUB, and PDF
Future Energy: Opportunities & Challenges
Thomas W. Kerlin (University of Tennessee)
2013
Licence: CC BY
How can we produce enough sustainable energy while avoiding unacceptable environmental consequences? To evaluate the various energy options, we must understand the science of each potential energy source and energy use technology. This book presents the science in an easy-to-understand way to enable readers to make informed decisions about what is possible and practical, and to choose lifestyle options to implement in their personal lives.
Formats: PDF
Intermediate Microeconomics with Excel
Humberto Barreto (DePauw University)
2020
Licence: CC BY-SA
This book is based on the idea that there is a particular framework used by economists to interpret observed reality. This framework has been called the economic way of thinking, the economic approach, and the method of economics. This book is different from the many other books that attempt to teach microeconomics in three ways:
• It explicitly applies the recipe of the economic approach in every example.
• It uses concrete examples via Microsoft Excel in every application, which enables the reader to manipulate live graphs and learn numerical methods of optimization.
• The majority of the content is in the Excel workbooks which the reader uses to create meaning.
Formats: PDF
Suggested for: ECON 357, ECON 367
Intermediate Microeconomics: Interactive Question Bank
Zhen He (McMaster University)
2021
Licence: CC BY-NC
This open resource question bank provides problem sets for students of Intermediate Microeconomics. Questions are also created using H5P, which will allow students to check their understanding of theories efficiently. This question bank can be a supplementary resource for instructors to create interactive quizzes, assignments, exams, and discussion questions. Problem sets are related to the following topics: demand and supply, consumer theory, theory of firm and production, price and output determination under competition and monopoly, and market power analysis.
Format: Online
Suggested for: ECON 357, ECON 367
Liquidity, Markets and Trading in Action: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Deniz Ozenbas (Montclair State University), Michael S. Pagano (Villanova University), Robert A. Schwartz (Baruch College, City University of New York), and Bruce W. Weber (University of Delaware)
2022
Licence: CC BY
This open access book addresses four standard business school subjects: microeconomics, macroeconomics, finance and information systems as they relate to trading, liquidity, and market structure. It provides a detailed examination of the impact of trading costs and other impediments of trading that the authors call “frictions”. It also presents an interactive simulation model of equity market trading, TraderEx, that enables students to implement trading decisions in different market scenarios and structures. Addressing these topics shines a bright light on how a real-world financial market operates, and the simulation provides students with an experiential learning opportunity that is informative and fun.
Each of the chapters is designed so that it can be used as a stand-alone module in an existing economics, finance, or information science course. Provides students with a deeper understanding of financial market’s influence on economic policy. Describes the range of information systems that support trading and market operations today. Examines the future of trading with artificial intelligence and machine learning. (Description from Springer)
Formats: Online, PDF, and EPUB
Suggested for: FNCE 300, ECON 300
Principles of Economics – 3e
Steven A. Greenlaw (University of Mary Washington), David A. Shapiro (Pennsylvania State University), and Daniel MacDonald (California State University)
2023
Licence: CC BY
Principles of Economics 3e covers the scope and sequence of most introductory economics courses. The third edition takes a balanced approach to the theory and application of economics concepts. The text uses conversational language and ample illustrations to explore economic theories, and provides a wide array of examples using both fictional and real-world scenarios. The third edition has been carefully and thoroughly updated to reflect current data and understanding, as well as to provide a deeper background in diverse contributors and their impacts on economic thought and analysis. For example, the third edition highlights the research and views of a broader group of economists. Brief references and deeply explored socio-political examples have been updated to showcase the critical – and sometimes unnoticed – ties between economic developments and topics relevant to students.
Formats: Online, PDF
Suggested for: ECON 300
Principles of Macroeconomics
Douglas Curtis (Trent University) and Ian Irvine (Concordia University) (Lyryx)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Principles of Macroeconomics is an adaptation of the text, Macroeconomics: Theory, Markets, and Policy by D. Curtis and I. Irvine, and presents a complete and concise examination of introductory macroeconomics theory and policy suitable for a first introductory course. Examples are domestic and international in their subject matter and are of the modern era — financial markets, monetary and fiscal policies aimed at inflation and debt control, globalization and the importance of trade flows in economic structure, and concerns about slow growth and the risk of deflation, are included. This text is intended for a one-semester course, and can be used in a two-semester sequence with the companion text, Principles of Microeconomics. The three introductory chapters are common to both books.
Formats: Online, PDF, and EPUB
Suggested for: ECON 248
Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy
John Scott (University of North Georgia)
2015
Licence: CC BY-SA
Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy emphasizes basic economic concepts such as value and cost in developing macroeconomic ideas. Students learn concepts involving credit markets, economic planning, and money through short fictional stories in which characters interact in an attempt to make themselves better off. Where many texts put the student in the position of an imagined macroeconomic policy dictator, Principles of Macroeconomic Literacy attempts to make macroeconomics comprehensible to students who live every day.
Format: PDF
Suggested for: ECON 248
Principles of Microeconomics
Douglas Curtis (Trent University) and Ian Irvine (Concordia University) (Lyryx)
2020
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
Principles of Microeconomics is an adaptation of the text, Microeconomics: Markets, Methods, and Models by D. Curtis and I. Irvine, which provides concise yet complete coverage of introductory microeconomic theory, application and policy in a Canadian and global environment. This adaptation employs methods that use equations sparingly and do not utilize calculus. The key issues in most chapters are analyzed by introducing a numerical example or case study at the outset. Students are introduced immediately to the practice of taking a data set, examining it numerically, plotting it, and again analyzing the material in that form. The end-of-chapter problems involve numerical and graphical analysis, and a small number of problems in each chapter involve solving simple linear equations (intersecting straight lines). However, a sufficient number of questions is provided for the student to test understanding of the material without working through that subset of questions. This text is intended for a one-semester course, and can be used in a two-semester sequence with the companion text, Principles of Macroeconomics. The three introductory chapters are common to both books.
Formats: Online, PDF, and EPUB
Suggested for: ECON 247
Principles of Microeconomics (UVic)
Emma Hutchinson (University of Victoria)
2021
Licence: CC BY
This book is an adaptation of Principles of Microeconomics originally published by OpenStax. This adapted version has been reorganized into eight topics and expanded to include over 200 multiple choice questions, examples, eight case studies including questions and solutions, and over 200 editable figures.
Formats: Online, EPUB, MOBI, and PDF
Suggested for: ECON 247
Procurement in the Supply Chain World
Angela Reid-Regier and Bryan Snage (Conestoga College)
2022
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
This book guides students through the important aspects of procurement. Readers will learn what procurement is, the different strategies involved in procurement, how to find and select suppliers, how to manage suppliers, how to evaluate whether to outsource, how to manage subcontractors, how to evaluate and manage global suppliers and how to be an ethical procurement professional.
Formats: Online
Statistics 250 – Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis
Brenda Gunderson (University of Michigan)
2015
Licence: CC BY-NC-SA
This class covers applied statistical methodology from an analysis-of-data viewpoint. Topics covered include frequency distributions; measures of location; mean, median, mode; measures of dispersion; variance; graphic presentation; elementary probability; populations and samples; sampling distributions; one sample univariate inference problems, and two sample problems; categorical data; regression and correlation; and analysis of variance. Use of computers in data analysis is also explored.
Formats: PDF and Word