Essentials of Economics, 6th edition

A lively introduction to the key principles of economics, shown through real-world business examples.

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Essentials of Economics, 6th Australian edition is the market-leading introductory text, making economic principles relevant by demonstrating how businesses, individuals and policymakers use them to make decisions every day. It provides the expected rigour for the discipline with easy-to-understand explorations of the key concepts while being highly supported by real-world business examples and policy applications that bring these concepts to life.

The 6th edition has been revised to provide students with the most up-to-date and relevant content they need to succeed in the field of economics. In the past few years, to take just a few relevant examples, we have witnessed the introduction of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into mainstream use, the runaway success of smartphones and tablet computers, the rapid growth of the sharing economy including companies such as Uber and Airbnb, increased policy debate about how best to address climate change, and experienced the global impact of the economic contractions and recessions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent high rates of inflation. This new edition helps students understand these changing economic realities.

Key features

Pedagogy that emphasises real-world examples, applications and practice.

• Chapter-opening cases provide a real-world context for learning, and the company or economic issue is integrated throughout the chapter.
• An inside look is a two-page feature that shows students how to apply the concepts of a chapter to the analysis of a news article.
• Economics in your life & career boxes add a personal dimension to the chapter opener by asking students to consider how economics affects their own lives and careers.
• Making the connection features present relevant, stimulating and provocative cases from various countries, primarily about business but sometimes related to other significant world economic events or policy issues.
• Solved problems show students how to solve an economic problem by breaking it down step by step.
• Don't let this happen to you boxes alert students to the most common pitfalls in the chapter.
• Graphs and summary tables help students practice drawing, reading and interpreting graphs.
• End-of-chapter material is grouped by learning objective to make it easier for instructors to assign problems based on LO, and help students efficiently review material they find difficult.
• End-of-chapter problems test students' understanding of the content presented in the Solved problem and Don’t let this happen to you features in the chapter.

New and updated in this edition

Updated examples and policy debates to provide the context for effective teaching and learning.

• NEW and UPDATED chapter-opening cases for every chapter.
• NEW An inside look news articles and analysis for every chapter, to enable students to apply economic concepts to current events and policy debates.
• NEW and REVISED Making the connection features to help students tie economic concepts to current events and policy debates.
• UPDATED figures and tables, using the latest data available, along with fully referenced sources that allow the reader to update any figures or tables.
• NEW analysis in numerous chapters on the likely effects of generative AI on the nature of jobs and on the labour market.
• NEW section 'Australia's emissions policy', with graphical analysis, in the chapter 'Externalities, environmental policy, and government intervention in the market'.
• NEW section in the chapter 'Social policy and inequality' on the setback to the reduction in global poverty following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• NEW material on and analysis of the causes of the rise in the rate of inflation and the historically low rate of unemployment, in the chapter 'Unemployment and inflation'.
• In response to feedback, two chapters have been merged to create a single chapter, 'Money, and monetary policy'. This chapter has been substantially updated to cover how money is created in the real world (rather than the outdated approach seen in some textbooks), together with new material on how the Reserve Bank of Australia carries out monetary policy in today's world.
• NEW analysis in the chapters 'Money, and monetary policy' and 'Fiscal policy' of Australia's policy responses to the contractions and recessions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent rise in the rate of inflation.
• NEW and UPDATED international case studies, including China, India, Indonesia, countries in Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.