Product Description

Mastering the study of economics has never been easier. BASIC ECONOMICS introduces you to the fundamentals of macro- and microeconomics, while addressing some of the most stimulating topics affecting the world today. BASIC ECONOMICS covers timely issues like monetary policy, monopolies, and the labor market, as well as the recent financial market collapse and housing crises. This streamlined and straightforward text also includes access to InfoTrac College Edition and Economic Applications, two online applications that can save you time and money, while helping you succeed in your course!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #146906 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Review
I adopted this text because it is one of the best that I have found for this class. It expresses the basic concepts of both microeconomics and macroeconomics in simple concise terms.

I find this text to be very useful and would recommend it to other faculty. After 27 years of using this text, I find it to be very fair in covering the material; the instructor’s manual/ test bank, study guide, and computerized test bank prove very helpful to me and my adjunct faculty.

I enjoyed the writing style. The presentation is clear, accurate, without being too dry, wordy or "overdone." It is suitable for students at all levels, ages, and from various disciplines.

About the Author
Frank V. Mastrianna is Dean Emeritus at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, where was Dean of the College of Information Sciences and Business Administration for 15 years until 2002, when he retired. He also taught economics at the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University. His areas of interest include microeconomics, industrial organization, managerial economics, and managerial finance, about which he has published articles and presented to both government and business audiences. Dr. Mastrianna has authored and co-authored three textbooks, and serves (or has served) on the boards of directors of the UNIFY Mutual Holding Company, The Union Central Life Insurance Company, The Carillon Investments, The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, The Pennsylvania Economy League, The Business Assistance Center of Northwest Pennsylvania, The International Academy of Business Disciplines, and The Cincinnati Minority Contractors and Business Assistance Center. Dr. Mastrianna received his A.B. from Xavier University and his M.A., M.C.P., and Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati.

Customer Reviews

Basic Economics Text Review
I was very pleased with this product. I ordered it on a Friday a received it the following Monday. Extremely fast shipping! The product was just as described. Excellent!

Basic Econ book review
Book has alot of highlighting and written notes on several pages in the book and is very distracting especially when learning a new subject for the first time.

A dry, technical analysis of economics; with errors
This textbook is the most bland and uninteresting of every textbook I have ever read. The content is generally written out in an extended technical format with virtually every chapter packed full of formulas, graphs, and tables without nearly enough descriptive information to make sense of it all. So much material is glossed over in each of the 19 chapters, it is difficult to digest most of it especially in a distant learning 1-semester college course (without having in-class lectures).

I have to say, for a "basic economics" book, this is anything but. In fact, the material written about is so complex and the quizzes and tests so challenging that, for an added fee, you are encouraged to purchase an additional "study book" to accompany the main book! The author clearly knows a lot about economics, but not a lot about making the material interesting nor digestible. I read each chapter twice, studied the review notes and chapter summaries, and still struggled to grasp many of the economic concepts. The quizzes and tests released by the publisher are likewise so challenging that it is terribly daunting to take them, even with an open-book policy.

Finally, for being a 14th edition the book and its accompanying material surely isn't devoid of any errors! Some portions of this book are updated to reflect 2005 and even 2006 information, while other parts have been carelessly neglected and still contain conflicting information from earlier editions. The PowerPoint summaries provided by the company are riddled with typos and technical/formatting issues; some even have "editor comment" notes still stuck to various slides. Finally, both the quizzes and tests have multiple blatant ERRORS in them, so answers which are factually correct based on the book's own material were scored as incorrect on more than a few occasions. I can't believe that such an expensive book, at its 14th edition, would still have such errors within its materials. Apparently the author doesn't believe in proofreading or just dreads reading over his own sandpaper-dry material. This book has left a bitter taste in my mouth and was anything but enjoyable to read. Based primarily on the errors encountered in the book and related materials, I have recommended that the professors at my college explore other alternatives, and they agree.