Issues in Economics Today: 2026 Release ISE

Issues for Different Course Themes
Required Theory Table
1. Economics: The Study of Opportunity Cost
2. Supply and Demand
3. The Concept of Elasticity and Consumer and Producer Surplus
4. Firm Production, Cost, and Revenue
5. Perfect Competition, Monopoly, and Economic versus Normal Profit
6. Every Macroeconomic Word You Ever Heard: Gross Domestic Product, Inflation, Unemployment, Recession, and Depression
7. Money, Interest Rates, and Present Value
8. Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
9. Fiscal Policy
10. Monetary Policy
11. Federal Spending
12. Federal Deficits, Surpluses, and the National Debt
13. The Great Recession
14. The COVID-19 Recession
15. Is Economic Stagnation the New Normal?
16. Is the (Fiscal) Sky Falling?: An Examination of Unfunded Social Security, Medicare, and State and Local Pension Liabilities
17. International Trade: Does It Jeopardize American Jobs?
18. International Finance and Exchange Rates
19. The European Union, Debt Crisis, and Brexit
20. Economic Growth and Development
21. Are Trade Agreements Good for Us?
22. The Economics of Terrorism
23. The Line between Legal and Illegal Goods
24. Natural Resources, the Environment, and Climate Change
25. So You Want to Be a Lawyer: Economics and the Law
26. The Economics of Crime
27. Antitrust
28. Health Care
29. Government-Provided Health Insurance: Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program
30. The Economics of Prescription Drugs and Vaccines
31. The Economics of K–12 Education
32. College Education: Why Is It So Expensive?
33. The Economics of Sex, Race, and Ethnic Discrimination
34. Income and Wealth Inequality: What’s Fair?
35. Farm Policy
36. Minimum Wage
37. Rent Control
38. Poverty and Welfare
39. Head Start
40. Social Security
41. Personal Income Taxes
42. Energy Prices
43. If We Build It, Will They Come? And Other Sports Questions
44. The Stock Market and Crashes
45. Unions
46. The Economics of Big Retail: Walmart and Amazon
47. The Economic Impact of Casino and Sports Gambling
48. The Economics of Invention and Innovation

Ignite discussion. Connect theory to headlines. Inspire critical thinking. Guell’s Issues in Economics Today brings economics to life through an engaging, conversational style that makes complex ideas accessible and relevant. Designed for both first-year survey courses and upper-level social science students, this text blends eight intensive core theory chapters with forty shorter issues-based chapters, allowing maximum flexibility for instructors. Whether your goal is to spark debate, connect economics to current events, or structure your course around a theme, Guell’s issues-based format ensures that students walk away with the essential theory and the insight to apply it to the world around them.