tHE” UREVER SITY OF-- CHICAGO PEE SsS 
Outlines of Economics, Developed in a Series of Problems. By 
Members of the Department of Political Economy of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago. 
160 pages, interleaved, 12mo, cloth; postpaid $1.13 
The problem of i improving the current methods of teaching 
the elementary course in economics is now attracting widespread 
interest. The Outlines of Economics Developed in a Series of 
Problems is an attempt on the part of its authors to make some 
advances in this direction. The ideals which have most funda- 
mentally determined the character and content of the book are: 
(t) A belief that the elementary course in economics offers 
exceptional opportunities for training in thinking and reasoning 
—a sort of training the importance of which can hardly be 
exaggerated. Thus the Outlines seeks to stimulate the student 
to active and independent thought, to help him to reason out 
for himself the fundamental principles, and to form his own 
conclusions on questions of applied economics. It is believed 
that the inductive-problem method here used is the one best 
adapted to accomplish this end. (2) A desire to connect the 
theoretical principles of economics with the actual facts and with 
problems of the business world, and to induce the student to 
apply his knowledge of that world to the subject of study. 
The result is a careful, analytical syllabus of the subjects 
usually covered.in the introductory course, accompanied by 
some 1,200 questions and problems, designed: (a) to afford set 
problems for written work; () to guide the student in his read- 
ing, while fostering independent thinking; (c) to give direction 
to classroom discussion. It is expected that the Outlines will be 
used in connection with some textbook. 
Nation. In their Outlines of Economics, Developed in a Series of Problems 
(The University of Chicago Press), ‘three members of the Department 
of Political Economy in the University of Chicago have performed with 
remarkable thoroughness and grasp a task of great aes ane 
book consists in the main of sets of searching questions, dealin 
cessively with every phase of the great subject, the order being ete 
mined by the attempt of the authors “not only to link economic theory 
with descriptive material, but in a measure to build the theory up out 
of the familiar events of economic life”; an attempt in which, we be- 
lieve, they have succeeded as completely as the case a admits. But the 
questions do not stand alone; as a rule, each set is introduced by a 
concise indication of the central ideas or doctrines involved, the state- 
ment in every instance being marked by exemplary clearness and vigor. 
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