This book presents economics as a serious, lively, and evolving science. Its goal is to help the student to develop the "economic way of thinking" and to gain insights into how the economy works and how it might be made to work better. The text illustrates principles with examples that are selected to hold the student's interests and to make the subject lively. New ideas, such as rational expectations, new growth theory, and real business cycle theory, are explained with familiar core ideas and tools. Parkin's goal is to make economics as accessible as possible yet to provide a thorough and complete coverage of the subject, not a slimmed-down or over-simplified selection. With the still unmatched combination of text and technology products provided by the Fifth Edition, Parkin reaches a notably wide range of students and is a recognized leader in the principles of macroeconomic course.