* Prepares students to use economic thinking in their classes, careers, and everyday lives * Provides information about fundamental institutions and relationships that affect quality of life, and provides a framework for thinking through and understanding the process of decision making * Designed as a primary text for an introduction to basic economics or principles of economics and offers a balanced presentation of macroeconomics and microeconomics * Accessible language and interesting case studies keep introductory, principles, and survey of economics students engaged with the material