LibGuides: Open Educational Resources: Economics

Economics Resources

This is a selection of openly licensed textbooks that has been created for free use in courses. These resources may be adopted for use as classroom text, modified to create new texts, or used as a supplemental learning tool to aid in understanding key concepts.

CORE Economics Education
An open-access platform for anyone who wants to understand the economics of innovation, inequality, environmental sustainability, and more.

General Economics

The Economy 2.0

A book created by CoreEcon, intended to serve as a complete introduction to economics and the economy. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.
Economy, Society, and Public Policy

An open text that seeks to take a new approach to learning economics, more specifically geared for students who study the social sciences and other related disciplines. It uses public policy issues to frame the core concepts, requiring no previous knowledge of economics. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International.
Principles of Economics 3e by Steven A. Greenlaw; David Shapiro; Daniel MacDonald
A textbook published by OpenStax, intended to cover the content of an introductory economics course. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0.

Macroeconmics

Principles of Macroeconomics 3e by David Shapiro; Daniel MacDonald; Steven A. Greenlaw
An open, reviewed textbook from OpenStax intended to cover the scope and the sequence of a typical, introductory-level macroeconomics course. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-2.0.
Principles of Macroeconomics
An open textbook, published by the University of Minnesota Libraries, that covers the content of an introductory macroeconomics course. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA.

Microeconomics

Microeconomics for Business by Constantin Ogloblin; John Brown; John King; William Levernier

A web-based open textbook from professors at Georgia Southern University. Its stated principal goal is to help students develop an ability to make evidence-based economic decisions. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC 4.0 International.
Microeconomics: Theory Through Applications by Russell Cooper and Andrew John

An open textbook published by the Saylor Foundation, intended to provide a student-centered learning experience by helping students to relate economics to their own lives, as well as by providing content through a problem-based approach. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA.
Principles of Microeconomics 3e by David Shapiro; Daniel MacDonald; Steven A. Greenlaw
An open textbook from OpenStax, intended to meet the needs of an introductory microeconomics course. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY 2.0.
Principles of Microeconomics: Scarcity and Social Provisioning by Erik Dean; Justin Elardo; Mitch Green; Benjamin Wilson; Sebastian Berger

An open textbook from OpenOregon, adapted from the OpenStax book Principles of Economics. It is intended to cover the requirements of a two-semster introductory economics course. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY.

Geogebra
Geogebra is a free mathematics site that contains a bank of interactive graphs for use in the classroom, many of which pertain to concepts in economics. Instructors can manipulate these constructions in real time, making it a highly dynamic mathematics software. It is licensed under terms dictated by the site.
EconGraphs
EconGraphs is a site created by Chris Makler, which provides "intuitive interactive visualizations of key concepts in economics." The graphs cover concepts in categories such as supply and demand, elasticity, consumer theory, exchange, equilibrium, and strategic interaction. The site is made available under its own open terms.
The Economics Network
The Economics Network is an economics education site that has aggregated a large selection of economics learning resources related to a wide variety of topics. Permissions vary according to the individual item.
Khan Academy - Economics and Finance
Khan Academy has created a large collection of videos and lessons related to economics, all of which are openly available for students to view.
Open Economics Working Group
The Open Economics Working Group is an organization that is based on the principle that economics should be "open," and that economics research should be made available to be built upon, reused, and openly criticized. They provide a variety of resources, including scholarly publications, a blog, and automated game play datasets.
Simulation: Demand for Food Trucks
This interactive simulation from Lumen Learning allows students to manipulate different factors to observe how they affect supply and demand. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0.

Below is a collection of resources provided by the U.S. Government, intended to provide the public with economic information and data. These resources may serve as supplemental course materials, as well as tools to help reinforce core concepts.

Bureau of Economic Analysis
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides a variety of interactive data options that researchers can manipulate for their individual needs. The data is public domain.
Bureau of Labor Statistics Data
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Labor, provides data on a wide array of topics - including employment, spending and time use, workplace injuries, etc. The data is in the public domain.
Congressional Budget Office
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provides public information regarding the budget of the U.S. Congress, including estimates of the cost of federal credit programs, and information on how changes in economic conditions affect the federal budget. The information provided by CBO is in the public domain.
Data.gov
Data.gov is an online hub for the U.S. government's open data, containing more than 285,000 datasets. Most data originating from the U.S. government is in the public domain.
Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED)
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis provides economic data related to a wide array of economic issues. Copyright and permissions for the data depends on the independent resource, though all are free to access.
Office of Trade Policy and Analysis
The Office of Trade Policy and Analysis (TP&A), as part of the International Trade Administration, produces economic data on the trade policy priorities of the federal government.
U.S. Census Bureau: Economic Indicators
The U.S. Census Bureau has provided public access to economic indicator data. This data includes indicators such as U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, Construction Spending, New Residential Sales, Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales, etc. This data is in the public domain.