Microeconomics (Second Edition)

Author: Liu Xiuguang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The fundamental feature of this book is to highlight the "orderliness" and "symmetry" inherent in the basic categories and principles of economics. This is because economic life is not chaotic but follows certain patterns and rules, and the orderliness and symmetry of the basic categories and principles of economics are reflections of these patterns and rules in economic life. In terms of orderliness, supply and demand form the foundation of all economics, and the book expands on microeconomic analysis of consumers, producers, costs, income, markets, etc., as well as macroeconomic analysis of aggregate supply and demand, national output, money and banking, product and money markets, fiscal and monetary policies, unemployment and inflation, etc. From the perspective of symmetry, there are both microeconomic and macroeconomic issues in economics; the budget line and indifference curve are used to analyze consumer and producer equilibrium, the peak of the business cycle corresponds to its trough, measures to combat inflation often lead to deflation, and so on. There is also the saying, "Aggregate demand and aggregate supply are the two blades of a pair of scissors; the output and employment levels are jointly determined by these two blades of the scissors" (Samuelson); the unemployment rate and inflation rate together constitute the social pain index; fiscal and monetary policies are the two indispensable tools for stabilizing the economy; only when countries have trade and financial relations can there be international economics, i.e., open macroeconomic models, and so on. The book also introduces the research objects of economics and the basic principles of microeconomics, such as the supply and demand theory, consumer behavior theory, producer behavior theory, cost theory, and price determination theory.