New Features:

• Superior coverage of capital, interest and profits. Chapter 15: Capital, Interest and Profits, has been combined from the previous edition's section on the theory of capital (Chapter 14) and interest rates (Chapter 25) to be a more coherent chapter that starts with the concepts of rates of return, present value, and interest rates, then presents the basic theory of capital.
• Updated view of financial markets and monetary policy. Chapter 23: Money and Financial System, has been thoroughly rewritten to move from quantitative thinking about the role of the money supply toward the new "channel" view in which the Fed sets interest rates on the basis of objectives, particularly in the section on banking. Chapter 24: Monetary Policy and the Economy, also makes the transition from the monetary-quantitative world to the new interest-rate world, and includes new diagrams to explain the monetary-transmission mechanism.
• Content updated throughout: The 19th edition contains new and updated discussion and topics throughout. Some of these additions of current coverage include:
• gasoline taxes and rationing (Ch. 4)
• executive compensation (Ch. 6)
• the cost of the war in Iraq (Ch. 7)
• housing and loss aversion (Ch. 9)
• public policies toward monopolistic abuses, including revised discussions of regulation and antitrust policies (Ch. 10)
• a new section on insurance (Ch. 11)
• Stolper-Samuelson theory (Ch. 18)
• a discussion of financial disturbances and business cycles (Ch. 22)
• a diagram with the poverty trap, which shows an important example of multiple equilibria (Ch. 26)
• a diagram presenting spreads on emerging market securities to emphasize the role of financial globalization (Ch. 26)
• improved explanation of the monetary transmission mechanism for the open economy with flexible rates (Ch. 28)
• Data updated throughout: The authors have worked carefully to update data throughout the book with the very latest economic information.

Retained Features:

• Strong pedagogy: The boxed material in the text contains icons that alert students to difficult concepts, brief biographies of relevant historical figures, and real-world examples of the concepts discussed in the text. Examples in the text include European Monetary Union, Network Economics, the Microsoft case, diminishing returns, and globalization. Not only will these current examples pique student interest and relate the topics to practical matters, but these icons help flag these interesting and timely features.
• Strong End of Chapter Material: The end of chapter material includes a list of resources "For Further Reading" and a listing of relevant "Web Sites" for each chapter along with a brief description of the kind of material that can be researched at these sites on the Internet. These EOC sections help students conduct research and learn more.
• Focuses on the Analytical Core: The 19th Edition continues to emphasize the Analytical Core of Economics with particular attention to economic growth (macro) and analysis of market economics (micro). This emphasis helps students focus on the most important concepts in the course.
• Real-World and Policy-Focused: Samuelson/Nordhaus always keeps an eye on the importance of economics for public policy and world events, including important events such as the Microsoft trial, inflation and Federal Reserve monetary policy, the recent resurgence in productivity growth, new tools in deregulation, global public goods and the Kyoto Protocol for global warming.