Product Description

With its clear and engaging writing style, BRIEF PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS, 5E, continues to be one of the most popular books on economics available today. Mankiw emphasizes material that you're likely to find interesting about the economy (particularly if you're studying economics for the first time), including real-life scenarios, useful facts, and the many ways economic concepts play a role in the decisions you make every day.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #174328 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 443 pages

Review
"The book’s strengths include its ability to explain in plain language the beauty of economic theory; the concise manner in which real world examples are integrated into the text; and, the online assistance that does an effective job in complementing the text."

"I think that the greatest strengths are that it is clear (written in a student-friendly language), relatively concise, and provides a good coverage of what I think students need to know about principles of economics. I think that the style of the text is personable and is easy for students to read without being condescending. In terms of the coverage, as I noted above, we cover the entire text in my one-semester class, and cover just about exactly the entire text – no more, and only a little (two chapters) less."

"I find navigation process very simple. I am very impressed with Meet your tutor – Master the Learning Objectives section (that is so well planned out and organized). If students are having problems with any of the material and they’re serious about being successful in this class, it is impossible for them not to understand the material after doing suggested activities in this section. "Ask the Author" video clips are interesting and clever. "Economic Applications" section also has good navigation system and can be useful for teachers and students both."

About the Author
N. Gregory Mankiw is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He has taught macroeconomics, microeconomics, statistics, and principles of economics. Professor Mankiw is a prolific writer and a regular participant in academic and policy debates. His research includes work on price adjustment, consumer behavior, financial markets, monetary and fiscal policy, and economic growth. His published articles have appeared in academic journals such as the AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, and QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS and in more widely accessible forums including THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, and FORTUNE. In addition to his teaching, research, and writing, Professor Mankiw has been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office, and a member of the ETS test development committee for the advanced placement exam in economics. From 2003 to 2005, he served as Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. In addition, he maintains a very popular blog for students of economics at www.gregmankiw.blogspot.com.

Customer Reviews

Some good, some poor
Mankiw's book has a good organization -- for what it has. He spends a lot of time laying out some key fundamental topics, such as unemployment, GDP, CPI, DJIA, and so forth.

However, his book is entirely mum on the fact that there are different schools of thought, e.g., Keynesians, Classicals, Monetarists, Austrians, etc. A reader comes away thinking that all economists agree with Mankiw, and that simply is not true. Many other principles-level economics books have specific chapters devoted to these schools of thought.

In my Macro classes, I put Mankiw on "reserve" in the library and suggest that students read the 5 chapters dealing with "The Data of Macroeconomics" and "The Real Economy in the Long Run." However, I use other text books for the rest of the course, since they explain why economists disagree, give better information about actual public policy issues, and help a student understand, e.g., what the federal reserve is doing, or why some politicians like deficit spending and others dislike it, or whether the trade deficit is important or not.

For a reader who merely wants to understand the core issues mentioned above, Mankiw is a good book which I highly recommend. For a reader who wants to understand the nature of the public policy debates over these core issues, Mankiw is a horrible book which I suggest that you avoid like the plague.

Solid introductory text for students and general readers
This very readable book is a subset of the chapters included in Prof. Mankiw's "Principles of Economics". That book has thirty-six chapters in thirteen parts. This has eighteen chapters in eight parts. Parts one and two are common to both editions. This one excludes the discussion of microeconomics in parts three through seven, but has the rest of the chapters in parts eight through fifteen.

It is much more manageable for a one term introductory course in macroeconomics. However, do not confuse this introductory text with the more mathematically rigorous book Macroeconomics that is also authored by Mankiw. However, if you want to be an econometrician, neither text is probably enough to get you where you need to be to launch into those studies.

This book has a lot of strengths for those who want to develop some intuitions about economic thought and who may not have the mathematics necessary for a more rigorous treatment of the subject. However, the foundation it will give you will be sound and ecumenical enough to allow you to take on further studies in various branches of macroeconomics that have a more defined theology on the role of government in the economy.

Does a good job for its objective
The book attempts to teach a reasonable mainstream core of macroeconomics and its basic models. The writing style is very good. For those who are looking for a broad discussion of policy issues, this may not be the book for them. However, the book is intended for first year college economics students and the need for them to understand a few consensus macroeconomic concepts and models so that they can apply those models and concepts to policy issues after they leave the course. A good example of putting the cart before the horse is the comment by a reviewer who thought the book had a liberal bent. Of course, we all now know that N. Gregory Mankiw is the head of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers (not exactly a recommendation for becoming a card carrying liberal). And that's the danger of reviewing introductory economics textbooks on the basis of an illusory political intent. The books most often ought to be rated on their objective--presenting a few models and techiniques to the student who will most often not take another formal economics course. Don't dismiss the book because it isn't steeped in political pronouncements. Check it out for technical useability and its writing clarity. You might like it.