Customer Reviews

Intermediate Microeconomics

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

 

 

This really is an excellent introduction to microeconomics, but its weakness is that it tries to be all things to all people. The author appears to be trying very hard not to scare away potential readers who might be intimidated by calculus. This is a shame, since the level required is not very difficult. All that is really needed is a quick review of the derivitative, and the chain rule in particular. Calculus is essential for any further study of economics, so relegating it to the back of chapters does not do students any service. Having said all that, the concepts are very clearly and thoroughly expained. I just wish the math were more 'up front.'

Varian has done a great job. He got the balance between the math necessary for serious microeconomics, and the examples and jokes necessary to keep the students reading. Using the dual approach (household and producer behaviour), he introduces the reader into microeconomics at a level which makes it possible to move on to more esoteric books like his own 'Microeconomic Analysis', or 'Microeconomic Theory' by Mas-Colell, Whinston, Green. He manages to cover much more than Mankiw can, which is good and necessary to build a solid basis. Yet the book is accessible to anyone familiar with high school math (differentiation and optimization), and requires no economic prerequisites. He also covers several more advanced topics on a stand-alone basis (like economics of information, or game theory) which on the one hand is very useful, as it gives the reader an idea as to where one can head to, but on the other hand is not satisfying as these chapters are necessarily rather superficial. Apart from that, the book is great to built a rigorous basis for household and producer behaviour, and makes it rather easy to go on to much more advanced literature. The math is hidden in the appendices, so it is necessary for a serious understanding to cover these as well, but I don't see any problem with that. This book is as excellent as an introductory micro book can ever be.

I used this book for intermediate Economics course at UT Austin. I found it a great supplement to class lectures, etc. Though it lacks Math examples, there is an associated study guide for this book. For all the Math demanders, I suggest they buy the paperback edition of studyguide for this book.

I recommend it for two reasons:
In the first place it is very concise and complete without being excessively rigorous. Second, even maths are not used vastly, the ideas are explained with mathematic methodology and precision, like every Varian writing, witch makes it an important tool to develop analytic skills for future researchers.
I didn`t find a better intermediate microeconomics text book..

I wanted to learn some microeconomics, and went through the university library, examining their shelves of books on the topic. Varian's book was the best of them (note: I read the third edition).

It explained the concepts clearly, and was much more readable than all of the others. The organization and chapter arrangements were such that the material was broken into nicely-sized pieces. I highly recommend this book.

A very well-written introduction to the theory of neo-classical economic belief. States the (nonempirical) postulates explicitly (excepting the postulate of stability), illustrates how this leads to the prediction that regulations reduce efficiency, discusses game theory, law and econ, IT, and assymetric information. See my review of Microeconomics by the same author. Note also that, as in Microeconomics, there is no discussion of real empirical data. With only three exceptions there are no graphs obtained from real market data in Intermediate Microeconomics. Also, no mention of Radner's proof that equilibria make demands of information acquisition and processing on agents that cannot be met even by a Turing machine. Also, no discussion of the fact that (a) financial market data indicate stochastic dynamic models that have no equilibria either dynamically or statistically, and (b) when equilibria do occur in stochastic models of financial markets, then they are unstable (financial markets are not discussed in the text aside from the CAPM: there is no demand for liquidity in neo-classical economic theory, money is unnecessary, as is the Fed). The student should keep in mind that this is an already-falsified theory (a belief system) that does not describe how any market works in reality. In order to understand where and why this text goes wrong, read mirowski's Machine Dreams'.

It is a good introductory book. I major in Electrical engineering and can read this book without big trouble. However, I hope this book can give more analysis in math.

As many others have noted it contains very few numerical examples. I didnt have the workbook so maybe that would have helped, but so far this book is completely useless. I wouldnt recommend this unless you really love the pure formulas an no examples. If its required i guess its better than nothing

lowered my utility and it is a pain to read

i hope the next ed is better

I am completing my final semester in the Economics Department at the University of Rochester. Looking back over all of the books that I have read as an undergraduate student, this book ranks among the worst three (including books from other disciplines). Coming from a student who will be graduating among the top in his class and continuing on to pursue a PhD in Economics, steer clear of any Microeconomics section requiring this textbook, unless you have an excellent teacher, who you know, will fill in the gaps.