Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, Seventh Edition (Hardcover)

by Hal R. Varian (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Unrivaled in its unique combination of analytical rigor and accessibility, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach has garnered one of the broadest adoption lists in the market. Now appearing in its Sixth Edition, Professor Varian's hallmark text is better than ever, featuring new treatments of game theory and competitive strategy, and a variety of new illustrative examples. Modern, authoritative, and above all crafted by an outstanding teacher and scholar, Intermediate Microeconomics, Sixth Edition will expand your students' analytic powers and strengthen their understanding of microeconomics.

About the Author
Hal R. Varian is Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds joint appointments in Berkeley's economics department and Haas School of Business. Professor Varian earned his S.B. from MIT, and his Ph.D. from Berkeley. He has taught at the University of Michigan, MIT, Stanford University, University of Siena (Italy), University of Stockholm, and Nuffield College at Oxford University. His graduate textbook, Microeconomic Analysis, is one of the most widely read graduate textbooks in economics. He is the co-author of a best-selling book on business strategy, Information Rules.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 784 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; Seventh Edition edition (December 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393927024
• ISBN-13: 978-0393927023
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #19,361 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you read one micro book in your life, read this one, November 23, 2003

By	"me2n2" (Chicago, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, Sixth Edition (Hardcover)

I'm an economics graduate student at the Uni of Chicago and have worked as an economist for several years. Believe me, this book is going to be invaluable in being able to apply microeconomic thinking to real world issues. Read it and then read it again. It is a rigorous and accessible exposition of all the major tools in microeconomics and the mathematics content is perfect, illuminating and no more. A firm grasp of all the concepts in this book are a must if you want to be able to think like an economist, and a prerequisite for anyone considering graduate studies.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More math please!, May 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Intermediate Microeconomics (Textbook Binding)

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.'

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the economics, stupid, February 15, 2004

By	Stephen Turnbull (Tsukuba, Japan) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, Sixth Edition (Hardcover)

Sorry about the epithet, but in the election season, I couldn't resist! The book's detractors (relatively speaking) obviously aren't "stupid", but they do miss the point---which Varian tries to explain in the preface. So let's try a different tack. Today writing a computer program to do the math used in graduate economics is an undergraduate CS project. Let's let computers do the heavy lifting, and save people for the creative work.
That's what Varian is about. What the world needs is not more people who can manipulate derivatives of implicit functions, but more people who can connect data and stylized facts to appropriate (already known) theories. That's what this book tries to teach, and it is best of breed. Although it's not clear to me that "thinking like an economist" can be taught with great effectiveness (it's a "knack", not an algorithm), Varian over and over again demonstrates that he can clearly express the "inner working" of that mode of thought. As in Information Rules, he demonstrates that he can bring these ideas to those who are not going to be professional economists, but need to understand the analysis.
Of course, some in the audience for this book will make careers in which they seek, and find, data and facts that defy existing theory. For them, of course there are better ways to prepare for the technical prerequisites for graduate school. But years later, none of those books will be nearly as much help in avoiding a dissertation proposal that crumbles into dust, too dry to support itself.
Belongs with Samuelson's classic introductory text on your bookshelf.