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Economics, 3rd Edition

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About this listen

Economic issues are active in our lives every day. However, when the subject of economics comes up in conversation or on the news, we can find ourselves longing for a more sophisticated understanding of the fundamentals of economics.

These thirty-six lectures will help you think about and discuss economic issues that affect you and the nation every day-interest rates, unemployment, personal investing, budget deficits, globalization, and many more-with a greater level of knowledge and sophistication. They require no special or advanced knowledge of mathematics. Instead, you'll learn economics through intuitive explanations and in plain English.

Professor Taylor's first 18 lectures focus on "microeconomics," or looking at economics "from the bottom up." You'll study the behavior of individuals, households, and firms; and how they interact in markets for goods, labor, and saving and investment. Topics in microeconomics include: supply and demand in the free market, monopolies and regulated competition, and public goods.

The second eighteen lectures cover "macroeconomics," or studying the economy "from the top down." Here you will examine the factors that help economists evaluate the economy on a national and global scale. Among these macroeconomic issues are: common ways the government taxes and spends, the relationship between employment and inflation, and international exchange rates.

Throughout, Professor Taylor helps you apply what you are learning to many of today's most frequently discussed and misunderstood issues.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2005 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2005 The Great Courses
Economics
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I came to this course slightly skeptical because of the topic. Economics is a subject that uses graphs and formulae a lot and so can tend to not lend itself well to audio without video. However, Prof. Taylor does a brilliant job of avoiding these issues. When a graph is unavoidable (e.g. supply and demand), he describes it simply and it is very easy to get what he is saying. As for equations, I think there are only two in the course and they are extremely simple and he explains them in words very well.

The course is split between micro- and macro-economics. The first half is micro- so people and businesses and how we interact. This section was incredibly interesting, but I found a lot of it was already in my brain due to Planet Money podcasts. However, hearing the actual definitions and a wealth of examples made the ideas much more solid and understandable.

The macro- side was absolutely brilliant. The lectures were written before the '07 crash but the theory remains incredibly relevant. This course left me with a much better understanding of the global financial situation, and the differing opinions on how to sort out the various problems. There are even a couple of painful moments where he mentions in passing important causes of the crash and how they concern him!

Economics can be a dry subject. I would definitely not suggest sitting down and listening to these lectures in bulk. However, if you want to understand the news, how businesses think and how you should act with regards to your economic environment, this is a perfect place to start. The Prof also does keep the mood light. I certainly will be looking at the other economics great courses to see more in depth topics.

Very good introduction to the dismal science

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Lucid introduction to economic concepts. Well read by the author in lecture style. Would be more interesting if there was more attempt to relate these concepts to happenings in the real world, economic history in short. Hence just 4 stars.

Comprehensible

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This course albeit it took me a little while to get through, provides a very useful understanding of terminology and mechanics of Economics, adds a little more clarity to the workings of the world as Economics is hugely influential on everything in the human world.

Good for building understanding of Economics

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As a beginner to economics I found this to be a good introduction to the subject. It's mostly easy to understand (though with a few more confusing lectures) and I definitely feel I know a lot more than I did when I started. I now read news articles relating to the economy and at least somewhat understand what they're talking about. I think this is a good foundational course to get started which I will build on with other resources.


I was disappointed to see no mention of other possible economic systems, but as far as I'm aware that's par for the course for a lot of economics lectures. It was also quite dry at times and could have benefitted from more examples of how people are affected in the real world to keep it more engaging. It also feels a bit dated sometimes since it's from 2005, and it's VERY US-centric.


Overall it was worth listening to though.

Good introduction

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I'm rating it after just a few chapters. Great and engaging reminder of the concepts and applications

Fantastic course

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