Taking a modern approach to teaching standard microeconomic theory, this text uses a number of carefully selected, real-life examples - both domestic and international - from today's headlines to help facilitate students' understanding of core economic concepts. All mathematical equations and calculations are addressed in Maths Notepad features as well as in occasional calculus references in selected appendices. The text brings the modern theory of the firm-transaction costs, the agency problem, search theory, asymmetric information, game theory and bilaterals contracting - into the standard discussion of firms and markets, while also incorporating results from finance literature on how markets adjust to risk and uncertainty, including the roles of futures and swap markets.