Principles of Macroeconomics

Rating:
Summary: Best textbook I have EVER read
Review: I have read at least one hundred textbooks for my undergraduate and graduate courses and this book is the BEST text book I have ever read. In general, I never liked economics, but this book made me think, understand, and like economics. The true triumph of this book is its simplication. Instead of explaining the details of Macroeconomics (which most econ textbooks tries to do) the author brilliantly pulls the reader into thinking about economics in more detail than what the book presents. Makiew is not only a consummate economist, but he is a consummate writer as well.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: I have used Mankiw to teach macroeconomics and have found that my students are consistently pleased with the book. They also learn the right material, well using this text.

Rating:
Summary: Very good.
Review: I took an intermediate macroeconomics course over a six week summer session. Though the class moved (too) quickly, this book helped out a lot. It was clear, concise, and the author provides "case studies" after most sections which show that the concepts and models really do apply to real world situations. Good intermediate macro book.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Econ textbooks
Review: I'd recommend this along w/ "The Economic Way of Thinking" by Heyne, as the two best Econ textbooks I've read. Mankiw's book is fair and balanced, he is not a frothing at the mouth partisan, and it is a straightforward explanation of basic economic terms. However, he establishes a handful of core truths that anyone who wishes to understand economics must accept, and if not accept, explain as to why these certain truths don't apply. For example, Mankiw establishes that 1.) free markets work better than regulated markets, 2.) private property and incentives are necessary for productivity 3.) trade makes everyone wealthier.

He does not explain these in a polemical way, but he calmly establishes a solid case for these (and other principles), and despite being fairly standard in economic circles, they are fairly contentious in the realm of political economics and discourse (particularly on the collegiete level, where English Major Marxists think they know more about the social order than those who study the social order). This makes the book more persuasive than a fire and brimstone screed from an Ann Coulter type. Books like this need to be read by all to improve the Economical I.Q. of the voting public.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Econ book
Review: I've read countless textbooks in my collegiate career and this is one of the best books on the market. Mankiw puts complicated macro principles into easy to understand, contemporary language. Furthermore, the case studies, current articles, and graphs make the introduction to macro that much easier.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Econ book
Review: I've read countless textbooks in my collegiate career and this is one of the best books on the market. Mankiw puts complicated macro principles into easy to understand, contemporary language. Furthermore, the case studies, current articles, and graphs make the introduction to macro that much easier.

Rating:
Summary: Principles Of Macroeconomics
Review: Indeed a wonderful econ book for all majors! I like especially the chapters on open-economy macroeconomics. However, I do hope to see not only the very illustrative diagrams in the book, but also certain numerical value of the raw data which are used to generate the diagrams. For example, its nice to have the numerical data in Figure 17-2(a) National Saving and Domestic Investment and 17-2(b) Net Foreign Investment so that students can do more precise comparison of the data across different points in time.

Rating:
Summary: Principles Of Macroeconomics
Review: Indeed a wonderful econ book for all majors! I like especially the chapters on open-economy macroeconomics. However, I do hope to see not only the very illustrative diagrams in the book, but also certain numerical value of the raw data which are used to generate the diagrams. For example, its nice to have the numerical data in Figure 17-2(a) National Saving and Domestic Investment and 17-2(b) Net Foreign Investment so that students can do more precise comparison of the data across different points in time.

Rating:
Summary: Great text with excellent use of graphs/diagrams
Review: Macroeconomics (as well as most other fields of economics, for that matter) is a subject which involves many graphs and diagrams. Mankiw's book was used in my intermediate course on macroeconomics and I was very satisfied with it. Its graphs are well laid out and contain lists of steps in the margins explaining how they were obtained. It is also easy to read. The examples provided are relevant and interesting, and the style is conducive to learning macroeconomics.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Text for the Intro. Level
Review: The text is excellent and is suitable for any type of introductary Ecnonomics class. It can be used in a tough course or an easy course, as it provides a great level of organization so that the instructor may choose the material at his discretion depending on his course lay out.