Choice, The: A Fable of Free Trade and Protection, 3rd edition

Target Market: for principles of economics, surveys of economics, international economics, international trade, or managerial economics. No prior economics is assumed, but the material can be taught at all levels.

Written as a novel, the book makes the complex concepts, issues and terminology of international trade understandable for students.

Professors complain that their students cannot grasp the nature of how some economic tools are used or how they work in life.  This novel bridges the gap of concepts with applications by use of a fictional story.

David Ricardo comes to life to discuss international trade theory and policy with Ed Johnson, a fictional American television manufacturer seeking trade protection from television manufacturers. Their dialogue is a sophisticated, rigorous discussion of virtually every major issue in trade theory and policy. To illustrate the positive and normative effects of international trade and trade policy, Ricardo takes the reader and Ed Johnson into the future to see an America of free trade and an America of complete self-sufficiency. The fictional element brings these topics to life so that students gain the intuition and understanding of how trade changes the lives of people and the industries they work in. The fundamental intuition of how international markets function including general equilibrium effects and policy analysis is provided.

Written as a novel, the book makes the complex concepts, issues and terminology of international trade understandable for students.

Professors complain that their students cannot grasp the nature of how some economic tools are used or how they work in life.  This novel bridges the gap of concepts with applications by use of a fictional story.

Are you looking for a fun, informative, and inexpensive excursion from “The Text”? 

Are you looking for an innovative way to motivate the topic of international trade and trade policy in your principles course?’

• Every major topic of trade policy is covered–Including comparative advantage, dumping, tariffs, optimal tariffs, quotas, trade agreements, and the industrial policy.
  • Provides a complete picture of trade policy.
• Fundamental intuition behind the standard graphical treatments of international trade and trade policy is provided.
  • Enhances students' understanding of standard analyses of comparative advantage, tariffs, quotas, and short-run and long-run welfare effects of trade policies.
    
• Material comes to life in a unique way, going beyond the standard boxed applications in books.
  • Through the characters, students see how the theory works in the real world.
• Rich real-world issues are provided for students to discuss or research in depth.
  • Makes economics fun without sacrificing rigor

• NEW - New EXPANDED discussion on trade deficits–Added due to its growing importance since the early 1990's (Chapter 10).
• Discusses causes, history and employment effects of trade deficits.
  

• NEW - New chapters on Globalization and the Poor and Outsourcing.
• Added due to their growing importance

• NEW - Discussions have been added–Comparative Advantage, China, and India
• Hot topics that students can relate to are covered.