Economic Issues and Policy 8ed is an up-to-date textbook for economics, general education, and secondary education college students who wish to learn about the economics of today's issues including inequality, racism, criminal justice, homelessness, education, healthcare, world poverty and much more. The discussion of issues in this book is lively, relevant, and current. Students are provided with a left/right framework from which to position their own viewpoints.
This edition of the textbook takes note of the times, which are ridden with divisiveness and polarity, and are troubled by inequality, racism, climate change, conflict, COVID-19, and now suddenly, a war in Europe. Amidst all this, as we struggle to the future, we note that "two of the most basic structural pillars underlying our economy are inequality and racism, reflecting a contempt for the poor, the immigrant, and the members of racial and ethnic minorities."