The Economics of Public Issues

The Economics of Public Issues, 17th Edition Table of Contents





Part One: The Foundations of Economic Analysis
1: Death by Bureaucrat (when bureaucratic choices mean life for some people-and death for others)
2: The Economics of Oil Spills (why they happen and who should pay)
3: Supersize It (the economics of obesity)
4: Flying the Friendly Skies? (how safe is commercial air travel? How safe should it be?)
5: The Mystery of Wealth (why some nations are rich and others are poor)


Part Two: Supply and Demand
6: Sex, Booze, and Drugs (the unintended-and often harmful-consequences of prohibiting voluntary exchange)
7: Kidneys for Sale (does a market for human organs make sense?)
8: Are We Running Out of Water? (on a planet that's two-thirds water, how can we be running out of the stuff?)
9: The (Dis)incentives of High Taxes (how high taxes illustrate the old adage, "there is no free lunch")
10: Bankrupt Landlords, from Sea to Shining Sea (when governments lower rents, tenants can suffer)


Part Three: Labor Markets
11: (Why) Are Women Paid Less? (why are women paid less, while men are working less?)
12: The Effects of the Minimum Wage (how a "living wage" can ruin the lives of minority youngsters)
13: Immigration, Superstars, and Poverty (are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?)
14: The Underground World (how informal labor markets are raising wealth around the globe)


Part Four: Market Structures
15: Patent Trolls and Seed Monopolies (do patents make us better off?)
16: Contracts, Combinations, and Conspiracies (why the NCAA and OPEC have more in common than four-letter names)
17: Coffee, Tea, or Tuition-Free? (who wins and who loses from price discrimination)
18: Keeping the Competition Out (when the government steps in, the competition steps out)


Part Five: Political Economy
19: Health Care Reform (big bucks make bad policy)
20: The Pension Crisis (our promises are coming home to roost)
21: Mortgage Meltdown (how Congress got us into the subprime mortgage mess)
22: Raising Less Corn and More Hell (how your tax dollars end up in farmers' pockets)
23: The Graying of America (America is getting older, and you will foot the bill)


Part Six: Property Rights and the Environment
24: Save that Species (saving a species is easy-with a little bit of economics)
25: Greenhouse Economics (the economics of global climate change)
26: Ethanol Madness (environmental policy gone bad)
27: The Trashman Cometh (the costs and benefits of recycling)


Part Seven: Globalization and Economic Prosperity
28: Globalization and the Wealth of America (is globalization all bad?)
29: The $750,000 Steelworker (the economic consequences of restricting international trade)
30: The Lion, the Dragon, and the Future (do China, India, and other modernizing nations spell the demise of America?)