The fourth edition of Basic Economics is both expanded and updated. A new chapter on the history of economics itself has been added, and the implications of that history examined. A new section on the special role of corporations in the economy has been added to the chapter on government and big business, among other additions throughout the book. Basic Economics , which has now been translated into six foreign languages, has grown so much that a large of amount of material in the back of the book in previous editions has now been put on-line instead, so that the book itself and its price will not have to expand. The central idea of Basic Economics , however remains the same: that the fundamental facts and principles of economics do not require jargon, graphs or equations, and can be learned in a relaxed and even enjoyable way.