The Dimensions of Economic Activity: General Readings


Useful reading material for the topics covered in this lesson is available in Gregory Mankiw's Principles of Economics books. The references below are for the Principles of Microeconomics, Fourth Canadian Edition, and Principles of Macroeconomics, Fourth Canadian Edition, whose authors include Ronald D. Kneebone, Kenneth J. McKenzie and Nicholas Rowe as well as N. Gregory Mankiw. Both are published by Nelson, a division of Thompson Canada Limited. A loose check on the Web suggests that the material of interest here is also present in roughly the same places in the U.S. Editions which are published by Cengage Learning.

The introductory chapters of both books introduce the Ten Principles of Economics, representing a consideration of issues relevant to Topic 1: The Nature of Economic Activity, in a readable way without reference to the capital stock which remains in the background. The relationship between the various types of capital and income is discussed later in Chapter 7 of the Principles of Macroeconomics which covers the material in Topic 3: Consumption, Capital Accumulation and Growth. The material in Topic 2: Output, Income and Depreciation is covered in Chapter 6 of Principles of Macroeconomics, pages 121 through 128, as is the material in Topic 6: Real and Nominal Magnitudes and Topic 7: Inflation. Some background relevant to Topic 4: Efficiency of Resource Use is covered in the first two pages of Chapter 10 of Principles of Microeconomics. Finally, the material in Topic 5: The Nature and Function of Money is discussed in Chapter 10 of Principles of Macroeconomics, pages 217-224. It is reasonable to expect that much the same arguments will appear in earlier editions of both books as well as in the corresponding U.S. editions.

Choose A Topic in the Lesson