Customer Reviews

Mathematics for Economists

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a marvellous introduction to many of the important areas of applied mathematics. The authors do a truly spectacular job of conveying the intuitive principles and pragmatic relevence of each topic, without falling into the "cookbook" trap to which many applied math texts succumb.

But my real point is that it is almost a shame that title specifies "for economists" - because this book will be extremely useful to people looking to improve their applied mathematics background for use in any number of fields. I'm a population biologist myself, and I turn to this book first when I need to brush up on a vaguely familiar subject or delve in to a new topic. Many of the examples are inded drawn from economics, but this is not hindrance - they are well-enough explained and defined that no economics background is required. The economics examples are so well-presented, in fact, that the relevence to problems in other fields will be very clear to even a moderately careful reader.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

This is indeed an excellent book. I like it because it is not "dumbed" to fit students with a weak background in mathematics and it is not a definition-proof-theorem-and-try-to-understand-if-you-can book as many advanced books in mathematics. It is well balanced between precise definitions and good explanations, using standard notation. I have used it for self-study and helped me to learn the definitions and theorems needed to jump to more advanced books (yes, to those skinny books with only definitions, theorems and so on). Other books on mathematics for economists are either too hard to understand the first time or they hid the difficults parts.

This book is beautiful.
clear simple explinations built up in a clear way.
1) explicitly defined Theorems
2) proofs with clear starts and ends.
3) starts at level that should be within the grasp of able A-level students
i.e. not much knowledge assumed.
4) contains goods maths followed by economic examples that use it.
5) A wellcome counterpoint to economic books and lectures that use bad maths
i) theorems with out showing the conditions are met
ii) use floating 'dx's
6)goes to a level beyond undergraduate level to give a strong powerbase.
7)Mathematics is the language of economics.
Until you are master of the relevant sections, understanding economics
will for you be like reading the Ancient Bible and not knowing hebrew.
Therefore even if yours economics degree includes maths techniques
modules, you will find yourself using maths, you have not been taught yet.
So buy this book and get on top of the maths in your course.
8)get it before you go, read it before you get to uni and then you can
spend the first few weeks partying instead of reading maths to keep on
top of your course.
9)read this book and feel like a million dollars.
10) if you have NO INTEREST IN ECONOMICS, and are doing maths get this
book and it will be a good primer on a whole heap of modules from
Linear Algebra to Analysis.

Because the comments in these reviews help you decide which book to buy, I just wanted to argue that it's not right to compare this book with Chiang's. Both are excellent, but they aim at different targets. Chiang's is less sofisticated, more practical, best suited for college or as a first introduction. And IT IS somewhat outdated. The notation is very basic. Simon and Blume's book is more advanced, aimed at students with more (basic) knowledge of math. Granted, it also covers basic material for the current standards of economics, but their notation and level are far superior. Read the review by "A reader from NY, US" below. Hope this helps.

The book does not merely provide a sequence of theorems, but helps to develops mathematical intuition which is really critical for economists. I don't have any hesitation to strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the essential mathematics for economics. One of the best economics books I've ever read!

I took the risk...it was worth it! I also read Alpha Chiangs book and still think Simons is better organized. You don't have to jump aroun between chapters. With Simons book you can go from ch. 1 right trough to the last one and really feel human capitalization at work. It doesnt have as much antiderivative analysis as Chiangs, nor does it have any linnear prog. Still, I think it still makes a better buy for beginners than Chiangs...the cover also looks better in ones study desk!!

This is a very interesting case. People must understand that books on mathematics must be adequate to the level of knowledge and to the goal in terms of study. Basically we can consider that Simon and Blume is for students that:
a) Wish to follow to graduate programs - PhD
b) Have a solid knowledge on Mathematics

This book is NOT for undergraduate students and/or for students that have lack of knowledge on mathematics. I suppose that for a beginner it is wiser to buy and to study books that cover the Essentials on Mathematics for Economics. If you are entering in a Bs/BA in Economics and you don't have a solid mathematical preparation, there are better options available.

If you are a graduate student that wish to follow a PhD program, then this book it is for you.

The text is a phenomenon. A book written not only for economists, but also for applied mathemeticians, finance professionals, and others interested in applying mathematics to economics and business problems. It provides solid math fundamentals to students of economics and finance and can easily rival any advanced calculus, linear algebra, or optimization text. Unlike lecture notes, its approach is complete and balanced. It's a text with character, flow, and content. I've read it several times.

This book is really excellent in the sense that it unfolds to the reader not only the logic behind the application of the mathematical tools to economics but also the fundamentals about the mathematical formulations themselves.

I majored in Math, so, based on the title of the book, I figured that I'd never need it when I started taking PhD-level economics courses. How wrong I was. Many of the topics that are the bread-and-butter of mathematical economics (concavity and convexity, Kuhn-Tucker optimization) simply never came up in my undergraduate courses. This book explained them clearly and intuitively.

If you're starting graduate studies in economics, then I'd also strongly recommend Sundaram's A First Course in Optimization Theory. Its subject matter is mostly a subset of Mathematics for Economists, but optimization an often-tricky topic that you'll need to master.