Our Textbook: Modern Principles of Economics

Writing about economics for a large audience at Marginal Revolution taught us to get to the point quickly, use vivid examples, and avoid unnecessary math and other jargon. We brought these skills to our textbook, Modern Principles of Economics. From the first sentence,

The prisoners were dying of scurvy, typhoid fever, and smallpox, but nothing was killing them more than bad incentives.

to the last, no other textbook teaches the economic way of thinking so well or so memorably.

Modern Principles means modern content and modern delivery. We cover material that many other textbooks ignore, such as how managers should choose between piece rates and tournaments and how firms can increase their profits using clever forms of price discrimination such as bundling and tying. In macroeconomics, we have created a simple yet powerful AD-AS model that combines insights from New Keynesian and Real Business Cycle models. We have also created the Super Simple Solow model which for the first time makes the Solow model of economic growth accessible to principles of economics students.

High-quality videos integrated directly into the textbook make Modern Principles a new kind of textbook, one born in the age of the internet. No other textbook has the quantity and quality of supplementary material available with Modern Principles. Whether you are looking to flip the classroom or just for the occasional video to grab the student’s attention before the lecture, you will find what you need in Modern Principles. The superb course management system also makes it easy to assign videos and grade questions.

Teachers can request a free examination copy.        

Here are just two of our favorite videos available with Modern Principles. Enjoy!

From Achieve, the course management system, teachers can assign videos, homework, assessment, practice questions and more.

Achieve also contains an electronic version of Modern Principles with dynamic graphs. Dynamic graphs let the student interact with the textbook, giving students practice in shifting curves, for example, and seeing data presented in visually beautiful and informative ways. Here are just two examples.

Users of Modern Principles Love it!

“I can’t tell you how many people I have met who took economics in college, and who hated it. If only they had started with Cowen and Tabarrok. Modern Principles is one of the few books that will immerse students into the elegance and beauty of our science, and which will create a lifelong love of economics.”

-Lee E. Ohanian, Professor of Economics, UCLA and Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

“Cowen and Tabarrok’s Modern Principles and the accompanying videos make for an unbeatable combination for both students and instructors. The intuition is clear and the examples—both contemporary and interesting—draw students into the material. This text is a fantastic tool for showing students how economics impacts their daily lives in choices great and small. My students come to class with questions, eager to discuss in more detail the concepts covered in the videos and text.”

-Abigail Hall, Department of Economics,University of Tampa.

“I have tried multiple textbooks over the last ten years. None of them engage my students as well as Modern Principles by Cowen and Tabarrok. The writing is fresh and lively. The videos are clear and entertaining. It is a book that attracts students who will never take another economics course and excites economics majors.”

-Randy T Simmons, Professor of Political Economy, Utah State University.

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