Economists often study politically charged issues, but they try to address these
issues with a scientist’s objectivity. Like any science, economics has its own set of
tools—terminology, data, and a way of thinking—that can seem foreign and
arcane to the layman. The best way to become familiar with these tools is to practice
using them, and this book affords you ample opportunity to do so. To make
these tools less forbidding, however, let’s discuss a few of them here