An analysis of the syntax of economics textbooks was undertaken to (1) provide real-language examples of the difficult grammatical structures being taught in an advanced economics reading course, and (2) construct a factual database of the nature of economics textbooks. Five texts representative of those typically used in introductory economics courses were selected and ten sample excerpts (approximately 250-600 words each) from each textbook were analyzed for the presence of the following complex grammatical structures: infinitives, relative clauses, fronting, clefting, pseudo-clefting, passives, appositives, that-clauses, wh-noun clauses, present and past participial phrases, gerund phrases, complex adjective structures, parallel structures, and compression or ellipsis. The findings are presented with implications and suggestions for classroom teaching. Additional research on finance and statistics textbooks is planned for comparison. (Author/MSE)