Principles of Economics

In 1996, Tim published the first edition of his principles of economics textbook to great acclaim, and it became widely used in colleges around the country. That same year, M.S. made him wheelchair-bound. The disease forced his retirement from teaching at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 1998. He lost the use of his arms in 2001 and has been quadriplegic ever since. Tim never let his disease get him down. In fact, he turned back to his love of writing and teaching for inspiration. He obtained a voice-activated computer, recruited a co-author, Libby Rittenberg of Colorado College, and turned his attention to revising his principles of economics book. Today we are excited to introduce Libby Rittenberg and Timothy Tregarthen’s Principles of Economics V1.1. The authors teach economics as the study of ”choice ” by providing students with an accessible, straightforward overview of economics. This text combines the clarity and writing of Tregarthen’s seminal periodical “The Margin” with great teaching insights. Rittenberg and Tregarthen help students to understand how real individuals actually work with economics. In this new book, the authors illustrate the practicality and relevance of economics with a variety of new illustrations and insights. The authors take a three-pronged approach to every concept: the concept is covered with a ”Heads Up“ to ward off confusion, (2) a ”You Try It“ section makes sure students are staying on top of the concept anda ”Case and Point“ section that uses a real-world application to harness the concept in reality. For one example of how this plays out in the text see “Chapter 3, Section 2 on Supply.”