本书以英语语言的学习应用和经济学专业知识的掌握为宗旨，系统介绍了理论经济学和应用经济学各学科的基础知识和基本问题。全书共有16单元，内容涉及微观经济学、宏观经济学、人口资源与环境经济学、世界经济、靠前贸易学、财政学和金融学等。精编版在近期新版的基础上，以保证原教材系统性和完整性为前提，节选原教材很为精华的内容整合成一册，以方便教学需要。本书在原版的基础上，主要从三个方面进行了修订和完善：一是根据经济发展实践变化情况，对书中各单元的主要数据及材料进行了更新，使之更加贴近实际，更好地反映现实经济状况；二是对书中各单元的练习题做了适当精简和更新，使之更加切合教学实际和需要；三是为了使本书内容更好地体现经济学相关理论的核心内容及其系统性、逻辑性和近期新进展，对书中一些课文的内容进行了替换和补充，尤其对第六单元主课文“通货膨胀”和副课文“失业”以及第十一单元主课文“人口”，都做了较大幅度的调整和完善。

Unit One 001
Text: Demand and Supply 001
Additional Text: Price Elasticity of Demand 012
Unit Two 018
Text: Cost of Production 018
Additional Text: Economies and Diseconomies of Scale 027
Unit Three 033
Text: Monopoly 033
Additional Text: Perfect Competition 043
Unit Four 048
Text: Oligopoly 048
Additional Text: Monopolistic Competition 057
Unit Five 062
Text: Gross Domestic Product 062
Additional Text: Sources of Economic Development 071
Unit Six 078
Text: Inflation 078
Additional Text: Unemployment 084
Unit Seven 090
Text: Money and Banking 090
Additional Text: The U S Central Bank: The Federal Reserve System 097
Unit Eight 104
Text: Foreign Exchange and Exchange Rate 104
Additional Text: The Effects of Exchange Rates on the Economy 111
Unit Nine 118
Text: The Balance of Payments 118
Additional Text: International Monetary Systems 128
Unit Ten 138
Text: Fiscal and Monetary Policy 138
Additional Text: Role of Government in the Economy 148
Unit Eleven 156
Text: Population 156
Additional Text: The Consequences of High Fertility: Some Conflicting Opinions 163
Unit Twelve 171
Text: Environmental Protection 171
Additional Text: Methods of Pollution Control 179
Unit Thirteen 185
Text: WTO 185
Additional Text: National Competitive Advantage and Diamond Model 197
Unit Fourteen 204
Text: Nontariff Barriers 204
Additional Text: Dumping and Antidumping 214
Unit Fifteen 220
Text: Foreign Aid 220
Additional Text: Foreign Direct Investment and Multinational Enterprises 231
Unit Sixteen 239
Text: Economic Globalization 239
Additional Text: Regional Economic Integration 247
Appendix Ⅰ Answers to Exercises 257
Appendix Ⅱ Chinese Translation of the Texts 280