Applied Economics is an accessible guide to how our economic decisions develop. It explains the application of economics to major world problems, including housing, medical care, discrimination, and the economic development of nations, illustrating with examples from around the world. This new, expanded edition has been updated to address economic questions that are particularly relevant to our times, with chapters on the economics of immigration, the economics of organ transplants, the "creative" financing of home buying that led to the current mortgage crisis, and the political and economic incentives that lead to money earmarked for highways being diverted to mass transit and to a general neglect of infrastructure. The book retains its easy readability, even for people with no prior knowledge of economics.