(Capital Press/Regnery, c. 2024)
Groundbreaking!
SQUARING THE MISES CIRCLE
“Eureka! Skousen has done the impossible. Students love it!
I will never use another textbook again.”
– Harry Veryser, University of Detroit-Mercy
They said it couldn’t be done. Austrian economics is so different, they said, that it couldn’t be integrated into standard “neo-classical” textbooks. Consequently, college students learn nothing about the great Austrian economists (Mises, Hayek, Schumpeter).
Professor Mark Skousen’s Economic Logic aims to change that. Based on his popular course taught at Columbia University, Skousen starts his “micro” section with Carl Menger’s “theory of the good” and the profit-and-loss income statement to explain the dynamics of the market process, entrepreneurship, and the advantages of saving.
Then he uses a powerful Hayekian four-stage model of the economy to introduce “macro,” including a new Austrian measure of spending at all stages of production (Gross Output).
Economic Logic also offers chapters on:
- The international gold standard, the defects of central banking, and the Mises/Hayek theory of the business cycle.
- A full critique of the Keynesian Aggregate Supply and Demand (AS-AD) model, and a revolutionary Austrian alternative.
- Entrepreneurship, the financial markets, environmental economics, monetary policy and inflation, federal spending and taxes, and government regulation.
- Leaders of all schools, including Austrian, Keynesians, Marxist, Chicago, and Public Choice.
Here’s what’s new in the 6th ed. 2024
Much has changed since the 2017 fifth edition. Here are the highlights:
- The introduction of “time prices” as a new measure of economic prosperity in Chapter 1.
- John Mackey’s “stakeholder” model of capitalism has been incorporated into the stages-of-production process in chapter 3. Moving the production process along requires the cooperation of all economic inputs or stakeholders.
- The pros and cons of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in chapter 13.
- The vital distinction between the “make” economy (Gross Output or GO) and “use” economy (Gross Domestic Product, or GDP) has been added to chapters 3 in microeconomics and 14 and 15 in macroeconomics.
- Updated discussions on job creation, the labor force participation rate, and the recovery after the Great Recession of 2008-09 is discussed in detail in chapters 10 and 25. Chapter 10 also addresses the labor markets, plus new insights in the minimum wage debate in Europe and America, and the prospects for renewed growth under a Biden administration.
- New government regulations (Sarbanes-Oxley, Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, SEC) following the 2008 financial crisis and the Bernie Madoff fraud, are discussed in chapter 13.
- The consumption and savings rate patterns of China are compared to those of the United States in chapter 17. This comparison helps to determine what drives the economy, consumer spending or savings/investment?
- The end of the Federal Reserve’s “easy money” policies of ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) and Quantitative Easing (QE) in 2022 are debated in chapter 19.
- The tragic story of hyperinflation and socialism in Zimbabwe and Venezuela.
- The introduction and critique of “Modern Monetary Theory” in Chapter 22.
- A discussion of Singapore’s Medisave plan as an alternative to Obama Care and Single Payer system in chapter 23.
- Which factor is more significant in the business cycle, Keynesian lack of “aggregate demand” or Hayekian “malinvestment”? See chapter 25.
- The rise of state capitalism in China is highlighted in chapter 27.
- A glossary of terms has been updated in this edition.
What Economists Are Saying
“An excellent balance of theory and the real world that no other text has achieved.” — Charles Baird, CalState East Bay
“Better than any book out there! Skousen presents real business economics in a clear, provocative and logical fashion.” — Ian Mackechnie, University of Wales
“Perfect for any economics student — designed to maximize learning while minimizing monotony. Simple, direct, and comprehensive.” — K. Au, home school instructor
“My college econ classes, filled with perplexing theories like the paradox of thrift, GDP and Keynesian fiscal policy, were completely refuted by this excellent free-market textbook. Students, if your professors don’t use this text, get it for yourself so you can really understand the concepts of sound economics.” — Amazon review
SPECIAL OFFER: ONLY $44 (66% off the $129.99 full price) with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. at SkousenBooks.
This new 2024 6th edition of Economic Logic is a 730-page quality paperback published by Capital Press/Regnery.
Economic Logic will be available soon on Amazon Kindle.
Features of Economic Logic:
Skousen’s textbook promises a revolutionary pedagogy in teaching economics, with a new micro model that starts with the profit-and-loss income statement and a new 4-stage macro model that integrates micro and macro.
1. It offers a logical, step-by-step approach to economics, starting with the basics of microeconomics (the theory of wealth creation, individual behavior and the firm), and leading into macroeconomics (the theory of economy-wide behavior and government policy). Students can predict what the next chapter will be. Hence, the textbook is econological (a new term invented by Skousen meaning “using sound economic principles”).
2. It applies the seven key principles of economics throughout the course: accountability, economy, saving/investment, incentives, competition/choice, entrepreneurship, and welfare.
3. It is the first and only textbook to begin the micro model with a profit-and-loss income statement to demonstrate the dynamics of the economy. The principles of supply and demand are drawn out of the P&L statement. Business students in particular find this approach attractive. Skousen considers the P&L statement as the “missing link” in microeconomic pedagogy.
4. It integrates other disciplines into the study–finance, business, marketing, management, history, and sociology.
5. It makes frequent references to major economic events in history, such as the origin of money and the Great Depression, and the inventors of economic theories and terms (major economic thinkers are highlighted at the end of each chapter). Thus, in this textbook, economic theory is never far from history because new theories almost always develop out of historical events (Adam Smith’s competitive model from the Enlightenment; Karl Marx’s radical distribution economics from the Industrial Revolution; and John Maynard Keynes’s aggregate demand model from the Great Depression of the 1930s.)
6. It devotes an entire chapter (13) to the financial markets, which are playing a growing role in the expanding global economy. Students must understand Wall Street and the financial world to have a complete education in economics.
7. It introduces a new powerful four-stage universal macro model of the economy (resources, production, distribution, and consumption/investment), and shows how micro and macro are logically linked together. (see figure 4.1. for example)
8. It integrates a new national income statistic called Gross Output (GO), which measures total spending at all four stages of production, and shows how it relates to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other aggregate business cycle statistics. (See chapter 15.) Skousen explains why GDP over-emphasizes consumer spending in the economy, while GO reflects what the proper balance between consumption and investment. The vital distinction between the “make” economy (Gross Output or GO) and “use” economy (Gross Domestic Product, or GDP) has been added to chapters 3 in microeconomics and 14 and 15 in macroeconomics
9. It introduces a new growth diagram that improves upon the circular flow diagram found in other textbooks, and demonstrates why saving and investing drive the economy, not consumer spending. (See figure 17.7.)
10. It provides a new alternative to the standard Aggregate Supply (AS) and Aggregate Demand (AD) curves, called Aggregate Supply Vectors (ASV) and Aggregate Demand Vectors (ADV), which do a better job of explaining the business cycle. (See chapter 14.)
11. It provides a new diagram to show the optimal size of government. (See figure 20.1)
12. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey’s “stakeholder” model of capitalism has been incorporated into the stages-of-production process
For a special rate of ONLY $44 (66% off the $129.99 full price) with FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. go to: SkousenBooks.
Economic Logic is available also on Amazon Kindle.
