Includes bibliographical references.

The essence of economics : Introduction : The definition of economics -- Economics as a social science -- The main branches of economics -- The methodology of economics -- Why study economics? -- The relevance of economics in the context of the Philippine experience -- Summary -- The Philippine economy in historical perspective : Pre-colonial Philippine economy -- Philippine economy under Spanish regime -- The economy during the american period -- The economy during the war -- The post-war economy -- Economic progress and crisis under Marcos administration -- Aquino administration : the difficult task of economic recovery -- Ramos and the Philippines 2000 -- Estrada and the war against poverty -- Arroyo and her first term of economic governance -- Summary -- Economics and scarcity : Scarcity and unlimited human wants -- Scarcity and resources -- Scarcity, resources and unlimited human wants : The need to make a choice -- Summary -- Resources of the Philippines : Natural resources -- Human resources -- Physical capital resources -- Summary -- The allocation mechanism : The four basic economic questions -- Methods of allocation -- The market system -- Government and the market economy -- Socialism and capitalism : The "isms" of allocation -- Summary -- Economic analysis : A macroeconomic approach : Demand : The concept of demand -- Factors affecting demand -- Own price elasticity of demand -- Determinants of own price elasticity of demand -- The concept of utility -- Summary -- Supply : The concept of supply -- Factors affecting supply -- Own price elasticity of supply -- Determinants of own price elasticity of supply -- Summary -- Market equilibrium and the determination of prices : Market equilibrium -- A shift of the demand curve -- A shift of the supply curve -- Simultaneous shifts of the supply and demand curves -- Price setting -- Summary -- Consumerism and advertising : Some notes on consumerism -- The economics of advertising -- Summary -- Production and costs : What is a firm? -- The production function -- Fixed versus variable inputs -- Total and marginal product -- Cost of production -- Economies of scale -- Summary -- Economic analysis : A macroeconomic approach : Indicators of a nation's macroeconomic health : The flow of goods and services -- Indicators of a country's aggregate output -- Measuring a country's output -- The structure of production in the Philippine economy -- Using GDP or GNP to gauge a nation's economic health -- Inflation and unemployment -- Summary -- Factors that affect macroeconomic performance : Aggregate expenditure and national income -- Savings, investment and income -- Linking inflation and unemployment -- Summary -- Government and economic activity : The role of government in modern economies --The budget of the Philippine national government -- Fiscal policy -- Summary -- The monetary system and the economy : Definition of money -- Functions of money -- Evolution of modern payment systems -- The role of monetary institutions in the economy -- Simple money creation -- Monetary policy -- International monetary institutions and the Philippine monetary system -- Summary -- Economic issues : Development economics : The meaning of growth and development -- Measuring economic growth and development -- Human development index -- Gender-related development index -- Economic growth and inequality -- Poverty -- Poverty situation -- Income distribution -- Summary -- Theories of development : Early notion of development : dualistic economies -- Classical theories of development -- Neo-classical models -- Development theories -- Summary -- Agrarian reform : Meaning of and motivation for agrarian reform -- Economic basis for agrarian reform -- Underlying philosophy -- Brief history of the Philippine agrarian reform experience -- Salient features of the CARP -- Accomplishments under the CARP -- Summary -- Privatization, multinational corporations, retail trade and the informal sector : Nationalization and privatization of corporation -- Nationalization of corporations -- Privatization of SOEs -- Multinational corporations : Boon or bane to development -- MNCs and their impact on development -- Liberalization of Philippine retail trade -- Retail trade in the Philippines -- The gains and costs of liberalization -- The informal sector of the economy -- Summary -- International trade : The balance of payments accounts -- Why do countries trade? -- The basis for trade -- Trading with many commodities among many countries -- Free trade vs. protectionism -- Summary -- An introduction to taxation : Taxes : Definition and classification -- Tax collection problems -- Summary.