Essentials of Economics

by N. Gregory Mankiw

Book Overview

Now you can master the basics of economics with the help of the most popular, widely-used economics textbook by students worldwide -- Mankiw's ESSENTIALS OF ECONOMICS, 8E. With its clear and engaging... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0324236964
• ISBN13: 9780324236965
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: South Western Educational Publishing
• Length: 632 Pages
• Weight: 3.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 9.0" x 10.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to economics, but pricing restricts it to college courses only

If you are reading this review, it is quite likely you were assigned this book for a college course, and you are just wondering about the quality of the book you will be getting. I used this course for a graduate class in Economics, and was impressed by the writing style and clear explanations offered by Mankiw. He uses very clear graphics and examples to discuss the various effects of changes in the market on supply/demand curves. Elasticity, deadweight loss, taxation, and other changes in the market are clearly explained. Mankiw fills each chapter with practical examples of the mathematics from the modern world, and even has a chapter on monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. It is easy to find the information you need, and important terms are clearly defined. The book is very accessible to the new student. While it is an excellent book once you have been assigned to read it, it is also one of the most costly textbooks I have purchased. Now that I have learned economics from Mankiw, I can explain that the price is so high because the demand for this book is inelastic. If you've paid $3000 for a graduate level class, you will buy whatever book is assigned, whether that book costs $30, $100, or even $200. Raising the price does not reduce demand significantly (though at some price professors will stop assigning it to their classes). If you are generally interested in economics, seek a less expensive book. If this was assigned for your class, it is a good choice.

Very Pleased

The book I ordered came in a very timely fashion and was in perfect condition. It was exactly as described. Thanks for the satisfying exchange!

Good Book

The book is so easy to understand. I recommend to buy the student guide as well. For Homework, it is a good idea for the instructor to assign homework from Aplia website. It is so fun to solve Homework using Aplia

Brief Principles of Macroeconomics

The product was everything I expected. It was in perfect condition and exactly as the seller described.

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.