Principles of Economics

Rating:
Summary: Mankiw can't deal analytically with the paradox of thrift.
Review: The basic problem with this economics textbook is that Mankiw is unable or unwilling to present an analytic,technically sound exposition ,at the Principles level, of the fundamental theoretical difference separating Keynesian and Neoclassical(Classical)economists in 1936 or today.These differences appear in the paradox of thrift.I have already covered this in my review of Samuelson's classic 1948 first edition.Basically ,neoclassicals argue that the economy is naturally selfadjusting under conditions of resource scarcity.Assuming two types of goods and industries,consumption and investment,any type of private sector miscalculation and/or forecast error of the composition of the product mix that businessmen sell is self correcting by means of inventory adjustment.Too many consumption goods and too few investment goods will lead to an inventory adjustment via the Invisible Hand that results in less consumption goods and more investment goods.There is an inverse relationship between the two sectors of the economy.Unfortunately,such an inverse relationship only obtains if the economy is operating on the boundaries of both the static and dynamic production possibilities frontier(ppf) curves.This requires that business forecasts of their capital stock(factories,plants and equipment)are always correct.In general,the private sector is operating in the interior of both ppf's due to the problem of insufficient investment in infrastructure because the capital stock can't be adjusted in the face of constant innovation,advance,and technological change.The physical capital stock is cast in concrete;it is irreversible,irrevocable and industry specific.This explains why investment is unstable,volatile and unpredictable over time while consumption is stable,predictable and nonvolatile.There is no tradeoff between the two kinds of very different goods.It is interesting that the "real options" theory of Dixit and Pindcyk has come to many of the same conclusions without citing either Samuelson or Keynes.However, there is a solution.Increased public sector investment in needed infrastructure will,through the multiplier process,generate additional income and sales that will create positive expectations of future expected profits for the private sector.This will lead the economy back towards the boundary of both ppf's where the neoclassical marginalist calculus of rational utility and profit maximizers would again become operational.This is the message of both Paul Samuelson and John Maynard Keynes.Mankiw never presents this position in a coherent fashion anywhere in his textbook.The result is that users of Mankiw's book have no idea of what set off the Keynesian Revolution and why macroeconomics is splintered.

Rating:
Summary: review chapter 1-10
Review:

I want to review from chapter 1-10

Rating:
Summary: Good explanations of key Economic Topics
Review: Basic Economics topics are explaned very well, and in great detail. Easy to get through.

Rating:
Summary: Great--if you are a rich capitalist
Review: Don't buy this book if you do not have to for a class. I did. As with most textbooks, it is a ripoff. Mankiw got a 1.4 million - MILLION - dollar advance for it. Who do you think pays that.
What kinds of things does this text teach? Well, it contends that unemployment insurance and labor unions cause unemployment, because people do not want to look for work when they can fall back on the governmnet. This is the biggest load of hooey in the world. I guess when you are a rich, tenured professor it is quaint to see those people lining up who just lost their jobs because business major read your book. And minimum wage? Kills off jobs.
Mr Makniw is now the chairman of the presidents council of economic advisors. What a job he has done. Worst jobs record since Hoover. Of course, if the capitalists honchos had their way, everyone else would be working for $2.75 an hour.
Read this book, but go to the grocery store first. On top of the $100-plus you pay for this book, punk down 75 cents for a box of salt. You're gonna need every grain.

Rating:
Summary: Arming a new generation of students, and citizens
Review: Economics is the most abused science, the one most prone to fallacies (to which Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is devoted), and yet certainly one of the most important. I purchased this textbook ten years after graduating from college, having read rave reviews and predictions of what it would mean for new generations of students freed from the long-outdated Keynesian textbook by Paul Samuelson, and indeed I was not disappointed. The book is not merely complete, comprehensive, and modern--it is designed to get knowledge into your head with maximum efficiency and enjoyment. A reviewer below called accused it of oversimplification, which I would call inaccurate even if it weren't an introductory text, in which space simply does not permit inclusion of the details of outmoded theories. Unless you are a student, you are unlikely to read it from start to finish, but you will find yourself skipping from one interesting topic or sidebar to the next that catches your eye.

Samuelson once said, "I don't care who writes a nation's laws, or crafts its advanced treaties, if I can write its economic textbooks," and Mankiw even slyly quotes him in his preface. Along with politics, the knowledge of economics is mandatory for being an informed voter. If more citizens were armed with this textbook, bonehead politicians would be a lot more respectful, and responsive to our real long-term needs.

Rating:
Summary: Simply put, the best economics textbook on the market
Review: For 10 years, I have taught intro-level economics courses at a university. I have used a variety of books, and read many others (to steal their best ideas and examples for my teaching!). Mankiw is the one I like best.

More importantly, Mankiw is the one my students consistently like best. I often survey students near the end of the semester about their satisfaction with different aspects of the textbook, including: clarity, brevity, real-world relevance, effective layout & use of color, quality of the diagrams, and so forth. I tell my students not to sign their survey - I want their responses to be anonymous and completely candid. I tell students "If this book doesn't work for you, PLEASE tell me so that I can use a better one for my next batch of students."

More than any other textbook I've used, Mankiw's Economics textbook gets the highest student ratings in every category.

It might also be helpful for you to know about the difficulty level of Mankiw. I would describe it as average. For comparison, I would describe the following as above average difficulty level: Stockman, Stiglitz, Baumol/Blinder, Case/Fair, and Parkin. I would describe these books as below average difficulty level: Tucker, Miller, Bade/Parkin, Boyes/Melvin, and O'Sullivan/Sheffrin. I think the difficulty level of Mankiw is roughly comparable to that of Schiller, Colander, McConnell/Brue, and McEachern.

Despite that Mankiw is merely "average" difficulty level, it maintains a fairly good degree of analytical rigor.

Also, the writing style is student-friendly (but definitely not too informal), and, unlike other textbooks, Mankiw avoids introducing a lot of terms that won't be important for anything later in the book. The layout is attractive, yet clean and uncluttered, with lots of space in the margins for students to jot notes if they wish. Students find the end-of-chapter exercises very helpful.

The most distinguishing characteristic of the macroeconomics chapters is Mankiw's innovative approach. He first covers long-run topics: What determines a country's standard of living in the long run? What is the cause of the long-run upward trend in the cost of living? Why is there unemployment when things are "normal" (i.e. not a recession)? And many others (including saving, investment, the government budget deficit, the trade balance - all things you hear about on the evening news every day).

Then, he turns to short-run issues, such as recessions and booms.

Why treat the long run first? Because it's easier to learn the short-run analysis after students have learned the long-run equilibrium around which the economy fluctuates. (Also, there is much more agreement in the profession about the long-run analysis, whereas there's a fair amount of controversy over some of the details of the short-run analysis.)

How is this approach received? Very well, as evidenced by the fact that many other textbooks have copied it AFTER Mankiw first popularized it with the first edition of his Principles book, and before that, the first edition of his excellent intermediate macroeconomics textbook.

Mankiw is a superstar in the profession - and outside of it, as well. President Bush tapped him to be the Chairperson of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, and Mankiw briefs the President once or twice every week (in addition to many other important responsibilities.)

Despite working for a Republican Administration, Mankiw presents a very balanced treatment of economics in his textbooks (and I am telling you this as a Democrat). In fact, Mankiw prefers GOOD ideas, whether Republican or Democrat. For example, he recently argued for a gas tax increase to encourage conservation, and suggested the revenue be given back to consumers in the form of an income tax cut. Mankiw clearly does not just "push the Party line." This is integrity.

The company that publishes Mankiw's Principles of Economics textbooks, Thomson/South-Western, invests a lot of resources into continually improving this book. Compared to any other textbook publisher I know, they hire more student and teacher reviewers and devote more time and effort and money into obtaining, processing, and incorporating critical user feedback so that each edition, and accompanying supplements, are the very best they can be.

All in all, I readily recommend Mankiw's Principles of Economics textbook.


Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction although highly biased
Review: I am not enrolled in an economics course - I bought this book for my general knowledge. I wanted to understand several concepts that I see in the news and to have more information to be able to form an opinion on them. The book was effective for this purpose.

Mankiw's style is engaging. The size of the chapters, news pieces included and exercises make it a textbook that you can read at the beach. Great for learning things yourself. Exactly what I wanted.

Having said that, the book has two major flaws:

* It is HIGHLY BIASED towards liberalization of the economy. If you already believe that the government should stay out of everything then maybe you won't notice it. But although this is a popular view in the US, it is not the only one, especially outside of that country. Also, it is hard to see where he is expressing his own personal views and where he is expressing those that are actually taken for granted by the majority of economists. You have to make a special effort to read between the lines. For instance, there is little information on how governments try to achieve a better distribution of wealth. He does mention that policies created by economic advisors try to improve either efficiency or equity. He explains the efficiency side very well. And almost ignores the equity side. The chapter on unemployment is especially infuriating. The news clipping included about welfare in Germany is misleading and partial. This is inexcusable in a textbook. Special care should have been taken to show more points of view.

* the other problem is the complete lack of bibliography. Not a single line on recommended reading. If you want to read more about a certain subject you are on your own.

Still, I learned a lot with the book. Where else would I find an explanation of opportunity cost with the title "Should Tiger Woods mow his own lawn?"

Rating:
Summary: easy to read
Review: I have read this book for 6 months and now I think Mankwi has great work! I have read this sort of book, I never thought so easy like this book. I apreciate your work(the author), and I recommand this book to freshman of department of economics!

Rating:
Summary: Clear, Simple, and Useful
Review: I read the first edition of this book on the trains to/from work, skipping the Questions and Problems in the end of the chapters. Extremely readble, this book is most relevant to daily life. Maybe it's simple, but consider quantum mechanics and general physics. Quantum mechanics is a whole lot more complicated than general physics, but we donot use quantum mechanics in daily life. One clearly understood idea is worth more than 1000 ideas we donot really comprehend. This book explains the basic ideas in economics in the most clearly way. Reading 2 less excellent books is not a good subtitute of reading 1 truly excellent one. (Discussing Jim Carrey's earning, the author writes, "If Jim Carrey is the funnest actor around, then everyone will want to see his next movie; seeing twice as many movies by an actor half as funny is not a good substitute.") This explains why Jim got ...[many millions] in 1995, and also why the author was prepaid ...[millions] for this textbook.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I recently purchased Mankiw's Principles of Economics 2nd ed. for my own study. It seems a fine book but it does not begin at the beginning. I had wanted to learn why capitalism was better than say communism or socialism, or whether there were another economic theory which might make better sense. Thoughtful people need to be able to navigate these decisions. Mankiw assumes capitalism. He does not explain why it is best, for example. As a result his work is useless for my educational purpose. I have wasted my money.