Today the news media focuses on economics and the global financial system as it never has before. Managers and executives possess years of hands-on experience dealing with the consequences of global economic shocks and increasing globalization, but may not have a solid grounding in the relevant economic concepts that shed light on the forces of globalization and attendant macroeconomic fluctuations. This book will teach these very powerful economic concepts in everyday language with examples from the news, using little or no math. Modern economics has a lot to say about the forces underlying long-term economic growth, international trade, and technology. The economics literature in these areas is vast, but it is surprising how little of it has percolated to articles or books for non-specialist audiences. For example, Paul Krugman has been an exception, as an author of excellent non-fiction books on economics and a New York Times column, but his writings do not explain the concepts he assumes readers understand and, in addition, they are explicitly political.
This book's philosophy is that it is important to focus on the core set of models and ideas which have stood the test of time within the economics profession. Its goal is to teach the central economic material that businesspersons can use in their everyday work to help them interpret news and economic and political developments. It is intended as a practical textbook for Executive MBA programs and as a reference for students and businesspersons, not just in North America, but around the world.