Commercial Society

Cathleen Johnson is an experimental economist. She is currently teaching in the Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law program at the University of Arizona. Her professional work has evolved into three main areas: research in behavioral aspects of investment and social norms, implementation of large research projects and research teams, and teaching economics through the use of laboratory experiments.

The authors discuss the connections between the ethical, economic, and entrepreneurial dimensions of a life well-lived.

Ethics, Economy, and EntrepreneurshipWhy Ethics?Why Economy?Why Entrepreneurship?Part 1: Key ConceptTradeResourcesCostInstitutionsValuePart 2: ProgressAdam Smith on ProgressTransaction Cost and ProgressCommerce and ProgressProduction Possibilities FrontierWhat Seems Like ProgressPart 3: Understanding TradeConditions for TradeComparative AdvantageDivision of LaborBuyersSellersA Market: Supply and DemandA Market Responds: Price and QuantityEconomic SurplusPrice Signals and Spontaneous OrderPrice ControlsEconomic Science: Putting Theory to the TestProgress and Wealth CreationPart 4: Trust, Agency, and BystandersPrincipal-Agent FrameworkCost to BystandersCompetitors are not BystandersThe Logic of the CommonsEnvironmental TragediesPropertyParcelsCommunal PropertyTrustBenefits for BystandersMarket PowerMonopoly PowerMonopsony PowerInternational Trade and Trade ProtectionWhat Should Not be for SalePart 5: Management of a Commercial SocietyFinancial InstitutionsFractional Reserve BankingMeasuring EconomiesGross Domestic Product (GDP)Unemployment RateMeasuring the Price LevelFiscal PolicyMonetary PolicyPublic ChoiceCorruptionPart 6: Personal and Business FinanceAccounting BasicsCompound GrowthSaving, Borrowing, and InvestingMarketing FundamentalsInsuranceBreak-Even AnalysisBudgetingFinancial ManagementPart 7: Innovation and EntrepreneurshipKnowledge DiscoveryIt Takes More than IdeasWhat Innovation Looks LikeEntry, Exit, and the Role of ProfitCreative DestructionEntrepreneurs as Resource IntegratorsEntrepreneurship as a ProcessMarkets Don't ExistCompetitive Advantage - The Dynamics of Remaining ViableThe Big ErrorsThe Entrepreneur and Self-Assessment