To the Student<br > Professors of economics commonly observe that their students are able to master<br > macroeconomic concepts when those concepts are discussed in purely formal<br > terms， but that they have trouble applying their new knowledge to an<br > understanding of current economic events. The purpose of this Casebook is to help<br > you develop your ability to apply the concepts and models you are learning to real-<br > world issues. This skill will broaden your understanding during the course and<br > give you insights into current events beyond the course.<br > The Casebook contains twenty-seven recent articles about macroeconomic<br > issues drawn from The Economist， The Wall Street Journal， The Washington Post，<br > and The New York Times. Each article raises issues that you can analyze using<br > the models in the corresponding chapter of N. Gregory Mankiw s Macroeconomics.<br > The articles concern noteworthy current events， many of which will still be under<br > discussion when you use this Casebook. However， even those that become less<br >topical will still provide valuable opportunities to analyze real-world issues using<br >the tools of macroeconomics.<br > Each case begins with a short Introduction that places the article in the<br >context of the textbook chapter. Following the article， an Analysis section dis-<br >cusses the issues presented in the article， with an emphasis on those that relate<br >directly to the textbook material. Finally， there are two sets of questions. The first<br >set， Questions for Review， checks whether you have understood the article s key<br >points. The second set， Discussion Questions， probes more deeply by asking you to<br >use material from the Mankiw book to think about issues raised in the article that<br >have not been addressed in the Analysis section of the case.<br > I am indebted to a number of people who aided in the development and<br >production of this Casebook. Paul Shensa at Worth Publishers encouraged me to<br >write the Casebook and gave me valuable advice on its structure， and Timothy<br >Prairie did a terrific job turning my manuscript into this book. David Weil of<br >Brown University， Samuel Kortum of Boston University， and Andrew John of<br >Michigan State University read early drafts and suggested a number of improve-<br >ments. Ranya Dajani was invaluable in helping to locate good cases， as well as in<br >proofreading the final manuscript. Most importantly， Greg Mankiw inspired me to<br >do this Casebook by writing an outstanding textbook， and he suggested innum-<br >erable improvements to early drafts.<br > Jeffrey A. Miron<br > June 1992<br >