Why study economics? -- Preliminaries: The economy and economics; Capitalism; Economic history; The politics of economics -- The basics of capitalism: work, tools, and profit: Work, production, and value; Working with tools; Companies, owners, and profit; Working for a living; Reproduction (for economists!); Closing the little circle -- Capitalism as a system: Competition; Business investment; Employment and unemployment; Inequality and its consequences; Divide and conquer; Capitalism and the environment -- The complexity of capitalism: Money and banking; Inflation, central banks, and monetary policy; Paper chase: stock markets, financialization, and pensions; The conflicting personalities of government; Spending and taxing; Globalization; Development (and otherwise); Closing the big circle; The ups and downs of capitalism; Meltdown and aftermath -- Challenging capitalism: Evaluating capitalism; Improving capitalism; Replacing capitalism? -- A baker's dozen: key things to remember