Advanced Macroeconomics [Hardcover]

David Romer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0070536678 | ISBN-13: 978-0070536678 | Publication Date: December 1, 1995

Designed for graduate courses in macroeconomics, this text provides a discussion of major issues and competing theories. The presentation of theories is supplemented with examples of relevant empirical work as a way of illustrating how macroeconomic theories can be applied or tested.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (December 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0070536678
• ISBN-13: 978-0070536678
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,622,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best of its kind, May 17, 2002

By 

Mike (Cambridge, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

There can be no question that Romer's text-book is an outstanding tome. However, I'm sure most reviewers would agree with me when I say that economists tend to have a love/hate relationship with this book. We love this book because of the breadth of topics covered and the quality of Romer's analysis and exposition. His discussion of dynamic inconsistency is the best I've seen, and the opening chapter on the Neo-classical growth model sets the standard to this day.

A fellow reviewer observed that complaints concerning Romer's penchant for "trivial" mathematics were misplaced because the technicality of modern macroeconomics precludes the possibility of discussing the issues in any other way. I agree. But I think a fairer assessment would be that there are instances where Romer could develop the mathematical underpinnings in a more consise way. The best example is the second chapter on the Ramsey growth model. The easiest way to understand this model is by using optimal control/dynamic programming techniques - which is how it is taught on most graduate courses. Romer's decision not to follow this route is probably borne of a desire to make the book more accessible to undergraduates - who are unlikely to come across these methods. Whatever the intention, the result is an exposition that confuses more than enlightens. Would it not have been better to include a good coverage of optimal control techniques in the appendix?

Nevertheless, an excellent book.

43 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointment, June 10, 2003

By 

man (earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

I regret to say that this is not a good accompaniment for my graduate macroeconomics class. I thought I could somehow get some mileage out of this book, but as I read it I found out that its lack of technical details and rigor make my lecture notes look superior. I was misled to think that this is a great textbook through the early positive reviews below, that's why I bought it. Nevertheless, the empirical content is more than enough to satisfy one's curiosity, but I think it is not worthwhile to study advanced macroeconomics without learning fully the necessary theories and the accompanying mathematical techniques. This textbook must not be the choice for a core graduate level macroeconomics class; it's wordiness is comparable to the undergraduate textbook "Intermediate Microeconomics" text by Varian. It is readable of course, when you want to pass the time, but it won't do for a graduate level text. I'm disappointed because this is the second edition already but still the author stuck to the same way of presentation. Perhaps the only differences between the first and the second edition are the empirical data sets and a new chapter and nothing else. The first three chapters and chapter 7 of Obstfeld and Rogoff's treatise, "Foundations of International Macroeconomics," Barro and Sala-i-Martin's, "Economic Growth," and the chapters 2,3 and 4 of Blanchard and Fischer's, "Lectures in Macroeconomics," provide a more comprehensive view of modern acroeconomics.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reference book for macroeconomists., May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Advanced Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

This book tells you what is going on in macroeconomics recently. It is a very good reference book in case you want a quick review of all macroeconomics topics. Easy language and very helpful exercises. Subjects are explained more with intuition rather than technical details. A must if you are interested in working on macroeconomics.