These words remain true today. But both the economy and the study of economics have changed in 20 years. This new edition reflects those changes. Indeed, about 40 percent of the material in this edition is new or has been revised in the 4 years since the sixth edition. What has remained constant is the authors' conviction that the best textbook is one written with an abiding respect for both student and instructor. We have not shied away from difficult material, although we emphasize straightforward explanation. Further, where scientific questions about the economy remain unsettled, we state so frankly. At the same time, we are clear about which channel is occupied by the mainstream of the profession.
We have taken the position that the best teching reflects the instructor's own scholarship, interests, and research and that a textbook must facilitate this. While the text is organized around our own quite strongly held views as to what is important, we have also provided numerous points of departure for deeper exploration of particulartopics. While we doubt that anyone will follow all these branches, we hope everyone will explore one or more.
This seventh edition differs from its predecessors in two important ways. First, we have given far greater emphasis to the long-run behavior of the economy than we did in previous editions. This emphasis is reflected in the greatly expanded coverage of economic growth and in an extended discussion of the intergenerational aspects of budget deficits and of social security. Second, we have, in keeping with our respect for student and instructor, included more material exploring state-of-art research than is customary in undergraduate texts. At the same time, we have reduced the book's level of difficulty by emphasizing concepts over technique. We have also changed the text in two more subtle ways: by adding many more international examples and by providing many more illustrations based on real-world data. These changes are in response to the increasing need for taking a global perspective and to students' desire to have ideas and concepts confirmed by real data.
Part 1 Introduction And National Income Accounting
Part 2 Growth, Aggregate Supply And Demand, And The New
Macroeconomics
Part 3 First Models
Part 4 Behavioral Foundations
Part 5 Inflation, Budget Deficits, And International Adjustments