人们面临权衡取舍的局面(People Face Trade-offs)
某种东西的成本是为了得到它而放弃的东西(The Cost of Something Is What You Give Up to Get It)
理性人会考虑边际量(Rational People Think at the Margin)
人们会对激励做出反应(People Respond to Incentives)
贸易能让每个人的状况都变得更好(Trade Can Make Everyone Better Off)
市场通常是资源分配的最好方式(Markets Are Usually a Good Way to Allocate Resources)
政府有时可以改善市场结果(Governments Can Sometimes Improve Economic Outcomes)
一个国家的生产率决定了它的生活水平(The Standard of Living Depends on a Country's Production)
当政府发行过多货币时物价会上升(Prices Rise When the Government Prints Too Much Money)
短期内,增加货币供应量使失业率下降,但失业率的长期水平则取决于自然率失业率(Society Faces a Short-Run Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment)。这十个原则被看作是经济学的基础,它们可以帮助人们理解经济学理论的原则和应用。在整本书的学习过程中,这些原则会被反复强调和运用到各种不同的情景中。