Customer Reviews

Economics: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley Self-Teaching Guides)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read a few Economics books for beginner, but none came close to this one. In particular, I would like to point out several strong points that clearly put this book above all else:

(1) This book is systematic, clear, and concise. Most of all, everything the author explained is right to the point without any flowery illustrations that plagued most other economic books.

(2) It starts out with a brief look at the major economic events in the 20th century starting from the 30's, then it deals with Macroeconomics and then Microecomics. The concepts build on one another, so that you will always have a sense of how things are actually connected with one another. The examples are also very vivid and memorable.

(3) The questions that are provided at the end of each chapters are excellent in driving the concepts home.

For those of you who are thinking of buying a beginner's guide to Economics, this will certainly be my first choice!

I am a Mechanical Engineer with a BSME and minor in Naval Science. My BSME studies required I take eight credits in Economics, in which I did well. But this book surpassed those studies in many ways by dealing straight-away with the basic concepts of world economy, practical theory, history, and practical application, in short... macro-economics; without bogging me down with excessive microeconomics. But ended well with an excellent rehash on microeconomics. The book reads fast for a study book, and the author is a refreshing writer, honest in opinion, but not over opinionated, of good humor. I answered all the questions in the back of each chapter. Felt like I took a no-sweat 3 credit cours. Now I'm ready to study economics in its many specialty subjects. Anyone who is considering economics study on a collegient level, should study this book first; then they'll know. I highly recommend this book.

I will discuss three useful books for beginners:

Sean Flynn, Economics For Dummies (Wiley, 2011)
Tom Gorman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics (Penguin, 2003)
Steve Slavin, Economics: A Self-Teaching Guide (Wiley, 1999)

People often ask me what to read to learn the type of basic economic theory that is taught in university graduate and undergraduate courses. This is somewhat difficult because most writers for the general public have some sort of political axe to grind and present a one-sided version of the theory, or a complete alternative to the theory. I have nothing against such writers, but I will always suggest that readers also/instead of/before reading these political pleadings, find out what the general "received wisdom" is.

It may seem that there is no "received wisdom" that is shared by most economists, but this is not the case. Except in the area of macroeconomic policy, there are few disagreements. In the macroeconomic area, the standard models are pretty awful, but economic policy types have deeper problems: general models can show you the general direction of effects, but when there are offsetting directions, only quantitative evidence can supply a credible answer. For instance, increasing government expenditure to lower the unemployment rate may be offset by the effects of government debt on interest, inflation, and growth rates. Only careful attention to details can determine the net effect of the policy, and even this is subject to significant error. However, you cannot even begin to assess economic policy seriously unless you know basic economic theory.

The books reviewed here are basic starting points for gaining a facility in economic theory. Alternatively, you can simply buy one of the leading undergraduate textbooks and plow through it. The textbook will be more demanding, very fat, and quite expensive. Before doing this, I advise that you tackle one or more of the above volumes. They are all quite good, and it wouldn't hurt to read them all. But, here are my impressions.

Economics for Dummies is the most sophisticated of the three books and covers extremely important material left out of the others. This includes an analysis of property right, market externality, public goods, asymmetric information, and other absolutely fundamental aspects of modern economic theory, which is really the theory of the interaction between markets and macroeconomic regulation for efficiency and stability. It rather weak on national income accounting (none of the books is strong in this very difficult area), and it does no general equilibrium analysis (e.g., the very instructive Edgeworth box is missing). Finally, the book rather slights statistical information on the economy and give little historical perspective.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Economics is a little out of date (2003), and is especially concerned with regulatory policy in dealing with volatile economies. It has lots of interesting statistics, and gives a detailed explanation of the Federal Reserve and its operation. It is similarly strong on analyzing international trade and exchange rates. Read this after Economics for Dummies.

Economics: A Self-Teaching Guide cannot deal with recent economic issues because it was published in 1999, but it is well worth reading. It is especially strong on economic history and it presents in some detain the various schools of thought in macroeconomic theory. It also does considerable national income accounting, which I consider a prerequisite to understanding current economic issues. Its microeconomics sections are rather brief. It is certainly not a substitute for Economics for Dummies.

If readers have comments and/or suggestions of these or other candidates for learning basic economic theory, please pass them on to me.

Very simple and easy to understand. This book is great for the MacroEconomics clep test. It gives an overview of MicroEconomics (about 25% of the book), but probably wouldn't be enough for a MicroEconomics clep. Definitely worth buying if you want a good basic overview of Economics.

I majored in economics long, long ago. It's a good thing the school doesn't know how much I've forgotten since then, or they'd probably want to revoke my diploma.

I was "discussing" an economics issue a while back and confused myself trying to remember some of the terminology and how a particular model was supposed to work. The next day I stopped by Barnes & Nobel to pick up a big fat economics book. I read about four pages and stopped. A few days later I read the same four pages again and put the book away for good. I just wasn't motivated enough to struggle through, one paragraph at a time. (Note: I got straight A's in my economics classes. With the right carrot dangling in front of me, I probably could have made it through the book, although it would have taken months, and there was no guarantee I wouldn't forget it all over again.)

Steve Slavin's book isn't like that. He covers the basics in a fairly entertaining manner using history and real life examples. He includes short quizzes at the end of each section, but at about the half way mark, I skipped right past the self tests and continued reading.

I read this on a Kindle and will keep Slavin's book in my Reference collection - I'm sure I'll want to refer back to it from time to time.

I just wish I could remember who I had that argument with a few months ago, now that I'm back up to speed on basic economics.

This is a terrific workbook for anyone just trying to start out and learn a little economics. It has great practice problems too.

I have not read an economics book in years but I found this book an excellent primer/refresher. The book breaks down numbers to a rather elementary level, almost too elementary, in order to teach at all levels but the more knowledgable can skip over that and move on through the book. Excellent graphs and examples, no laboriously written detail, straight forward and a very entertaining writing style. Nicest thing about this book, you can blaze through the material while getting a solid grasp. Not for the experienced but a great introduction for young students or for the old hand trying to get a solid refresher. The book also is a very pleasant read without a text book feel.

This is a great series. More than a book, it's a mini-course in economics. If you have never studied economics, but suddenly need to know the basics (like me) then this is an excellent place to start.

Make no mistake, you have to do the work- you can't just sit back and read. The self-tests throughout each chapter are what make sure you have been paying attention and have grasped the material. You need a bit of discipline to get through. When you do finish, you'll know as much as anyone who has just finished an introductory economics course (as long as you stay on schedule and manage to finish in 1~2 months).

I would recommend this book (or any title in this series) to anyone who needs a basic grasp without formal study, or to someone who is considering going back to school but is not sure if they should take the plunge. Better to start off by paying the price of a book than to commit to a formal (and expensive) course.

I am using this book for a foundational economics class in grad school, and I'm amazed at how easy it is to read. The author is almost too casual - it catches me by surprise time and time again! But the shift to such a casual approach is a breath of fresh air compared to other required school textbooks.

This book starts from the basics and works up from there. I has helped me build a build a soild foundation to build on.