This book provides an accessible, undergraduate-level introduction to computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, a class of model that has come to play an important role in government policy decisions. The book uses a graphical approach to explain the economic theory that underlies a CGE model, and provides results from simple, small-scale CGE models to illustrate the links between theory and model outcomes. The book includes eleven guided, hands-on exercises that introduce modeling techniques that are applied to real-world economic problems. Students will learn how to integrate their separate fields of economic study into a comprehensive, general equilibrium perspective as they develop their skills as producers or consumers of CGE-based analysis.

Author Biography

Mary E. Burfisher is a Senior Education Advisor at the Center for Global Trade Analysis (GTAP) at Purdue University, Indiana and an Adjunct Professor in the Business and Finance program at the University of Maryland University College. Dr Burfisher was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the United States Naval Academy, Maryland; she spent much of her career as an economist at the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr Burfisher was a GTAP fellow from 2003-10 and received the Quality of Communication Award from the American Agricultural Economics Association. She earned her PhD in economics from the University of Maryland.