For a thorough presentation of the background material for this Lesson, and
the previous one Supply and Demand, as well as an elementary
review of the material here covered, work through the first 500 pages of
the text entitled Economics, by Richard G. Lipsey, Paul N.
Courant and Douglas D. Purvis, Eighth Canadian Edition, published by Harper
Collins. Alternatively, if you cannot find a copy of this text, you could
refer to the relevant chapters of the text Economics by Joseph
E. Stiglitz which was published by W.W. Norton in 1993. Another alternative
is the book Introduction to Positive Economics by Richard G. Lipsey which
was published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in London in 1963 and which, though
old, should contain important material equivalent to that in the newer editions
of Lipsey's joint work.