The book is unashamedly eclectic and its purpose entirely pedagogical. It reflects the author's sincerely held belief that if there is anything worth saying in economics then it should be possible to make it intelligible to students who have but a basic gronding in economic theory.It is conceded that there are dangers in this philosophy, not least that it precipitates the charge of superficiality,lack of the rigour and, on occasion, possible distortion of the true position of the participants in the debate.Nonetheless, the position taken here is that these risks are worth running especially if the outcome of the endeavour is to provoke the better student to pursue the subject at a more ambitious level. To this end, a relatively comprehensive bibliography is appended. I would like to express my thanks to Ms. Ecaterina Tomsa,Acquisition Editor, of LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. KG, for first suggesting this venture.