Customer Reviews

Mathematics for Economics - 2nd Edition

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some of the previous reviewers have complained that this book is too easy while others thought it was too hard. Personally, I think the authors have struck excacly the right balance between rigor and a "cookbook" approach. Just compare it to the major competing texts. Fundamental Methods by Chiang is way too chatty and a bit out of date (I haven't seen the new edition, but I understand that not much changed). Chiang will get you through undergrad in style, but it's not the best preparation for graduate school. On the other hand, Mathematics for Economists by Simon and Blume is great for advanced undergrads and beginning grad students, but I suspect it's too difficult for beginners who don't already have some solid math preparation under their belts. Hoy et. al. falls right in between these two books. It is an introductory text to be sure, but it covers a lot of topics, some not even covered in S&B. It is challenging but not impossible for beginners and will give them a broad survey of the field. I readily admit that the style is a bit dry, although it would be hard for it not to be with so many authors. Overall, I would recommend this book highly to ambitious undergrads or even underprepared grad students (like I was once). However, if you definitely need something more challenging get Simon and Blume.

This is a very useful introductory text for economics students who want to plug into the mathematics needed for more advanced economics courses. The treatment of multivariate calculus is intuitive and clear, but I wish there was less pre-calculus and more work on total differentials and differential equations. Chiang is better for those topics. The introduction to dynamics is a useful preliminary look at this deep topic

Very useful book for calculations for economic application: I say applications, because the examples are extremely useful for use with economic courses or theory.

I am studying at undergraduate level, and have used this book along-side set texts for 3-4 courses ... including intermediate microeconomics (so, if you have the Varian set textbook, this book is extremely helpful!!, with lots of relevant examples).

Very useful, easy to understand (straight forward).

Hoy et. al covers a reasonable amount of material but unfortunately not in any real detail. If you are looking to gain a relatively solid (not complete, but solid) understanding of mathematics and it's role in economics at an undergraduate level Chiang's Mathematical Methods for Economics is a much better text. The coverage is more complete and it is a nice text to read - both for self-study and for a class. There is some criticism that it is a little wordy but at this level that should be considered a plus. If you are just looking to get through a class or are just covering the math because you have too - with no real interest in pursuing mathematical economics, then Schaum's Mathematical Economics and/or Mathematics for Business and Economics, may be a wiser purchase. Yes, these are `cookbook' approaches (that is, how to do it with out any deep understanding) but are quite good for quick fixes. Having said that Hoy et. al has some nice graphics which may aid understanding, but is very brief in its treatment of most subjects. If you are still going to use the text, perhaps best to have another along side for deeper reading/understanding.

It is a good and comprehensive textbook for students who want to acquire from basic to advanced skills in calculus and linear algebria but unfortunately some important topics such as dynamic programming and Bellman equations which are currently used nowadays at many advanced level economics courses are found missing. I hope further editions would incorporate more explanatory information to guide beginners how to handle such new skills.

Undergrad econ students should probably either take a series of math courses or Math Econ early in their course of study. It really helps you to see through other courses. This book is great for a 1st Math Econ course, or generally if you haven't had alot of college math. It starts with the very basics, presents everything clearly without sacrificing too much rigor and gives plenty of examples.

this is one of the most clear and complete textbook on mathematics for economists. I hope in a new edition devoted to implement the book, perhaps published in two volumes.
maurizio mistri
professor of economics
University of Padua (Italy)

I bought this book for my class, Mathematics for economists. Luckily, I didn't have to use it much. However, when I did want to use it, it was not helpful. Instead it confused me more, the explanations are aweful and there are not enough examples. It did have great definitions though. Shipping was quick and the service was great.

I'm taking a introductory math econ course and I was assigned this textbook. I've been having a terrible time making any sense of the book, they do a very poor job of examples, and the students in my program seems to generally agree. Thus far we've managed a course average well below a failing mark (<40% as a whole) with the help of this book. This text may be fine for more advanced math students, but for those with a basic grasp of calculus, it's of no use; especially in a setting such as university where a lot of the learning is done independently. Needless to say, after researching the authors, I realized the only reason this book could have possibly been assigned: 3 of the 5 authors are currently professors at my university.

I am a business major going into Economics (I did not have a good math base).
the book is very well explained, but I found that there is different notation throughout the book, and there is no place in the book where different notations' are explained or defined. People who know much more than I do can recognize what each notation means.
too many authors could not agree on what notation was to be used. Plus, a poor editing job, got me very confused until I figure out.