Acknowledgments
I began writing this textbook in the summer of 2013 and did not complete it until June 2018. The love and support of my wife Stacy and my son Charles were the most important factors that allowed me to complete the book. Their patience and understanding mean more to me than I can ever express. My parents also provided valuable support and continued to show interest in the project as it progressed. I am deeply grateful to them as well. My brother Michael was exceedingly patient with me as he developed a vision for the e-book cover. I am extremely pleased with the final product, and he deserves all the credit for the vision.
Aside from the many instructors and textbook authors that I mention in the preface to this book, I want to express deep appreciation to Valparaiso University for granting me a University Research Professorship. Freed from teaching responsibilities during the spring of 2018, I managed to complete the five remaining chapters and edit most of the book. Valpo also agreed to publish the textbook as an Open Educational Resource (OER), ensuring that students and interested readers can access the free e-book anywhere in the world where access to the internet exists. I am thankful to Valpo as well for granting me an OER Development Award in April 2019, which allowed me to cover most of the costs that I incurred to obtain permissions for the use of copyrighted material. I am also extremely grateful to Pressbooks for providing the software that allowed me to convert my MS Word files into a format more suitable for publication.
Special thanks go to four individuals who supported my extensive summaries of their work in the book. Ian Fletcher agreed to let me summarize his perspective on Ricardian trade theory and new trade theory in Chapter 19. Roger Garrison allowed me to summarize his diagrammatic presentation of Austrian macroeconomic theory in Chapter 14. Terrence McDonough supported the inclusion of my detailed summary of his analysis of the three social structures of accumulation in U.S. economic history in Chapter 14. Finally, David Gleicher supported my inclusion of a modified version of his model that contrasts Keynesian economic policy with neoliberal austerity policy in Chapter 18. Without their generosity, the book would have suffered due to a lack of these additional perspectives. I am also extremely grateful to Johns Hopkins University Press for granting me permission to include the invaluable Figure 4.1 in Chapter 4.
I also wish to thank Liyuan Duan and Yuanyuan Xie, two graduate International Economics and Finance (IEF) students at Valparaiso University who worked diligently for me during the summer of 2013. They edited five chapters and offered valuable suggestions that I incorporated into the final version of the textbook.
I am also grateful to Prof. Jon Bull in the Christopher Center Library at Valparaiso University for helping me decide on the most appropriate license for the book and for other very helpful advice. I also wish to thank Prof. Ruth Connell for some helpful suggestions regarding references and permissions.
I also want to thank my excellent colleagues in the Department of Economics at Valparaiso University, both past and present. They have been wonderful to work with over the years. Sedefka Beck, Niru Devaraj, Sara Gundersen, Mike Hsu, and Jaishankar Raman have all been very supportive and wonderful to work with during my years at Valpo.
Finally, I would like to thank the many students that I have taught over the years. Their reactions to the lessons in this book helped me to refine and improve the presentation in countless ways.
