15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good book for economics beginners, the extras not so great, May 14, 2007
This is a really good book if you want to learn the basics of micro economics. The topics are split up nicely into sections, the definitions are clear and concise, and the material is backed up with plenty of graphs and diagrams.
The reason this book only gets 3 stars:
1) It's expensive for a paperback. After being hauled around in my backpack for a semester, some of the pages started falling out. Good luck selling this book after the bindings go out.
2) The supplemental MyEconLab, the only testing and quizzing portion, has problems. It only works in Internet Explorer when you install the necessary plugins. Tough luck for those of us who use Linux and/or Firefox.
On top of that, MyEconLab is finicky. Many of the graphing problems will be counted wrong if you graph a line one unit too long, even though it is still a correct solution. At other times, a missing negative sign or a rounding error will lose you credit on the entire, multi-part question. Sometimes, MyEconLab will count an answer wrong for no reason. Pearson Education has supposedly been fixing the bugs so they may or may not be a problem anymore.
My final gripe with MyEconLab is that if you buy the book used, you have to shell out more cash to gain access to the online supplement.
Overall, if you want a good textbook to learn micro economics, this book is not bad. You can probably find books with similar information and a hard cover for about the same price. As long as you buy it used and don't use the online portion, I recommend this book. If you are counting on using MyEconLab, you may be in for a disappointment.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfactory Econ Reference BUT ANOTHER/CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE, October 27, 2010
I used this book for my introductory microeconomics course. I thought it should be known that there is another version of this book with ISBN 9780136022008. It has EXACTLY the same content as the regular text but is labelled as the student value edition. Instead of being a book, the pages are on loose leaf paper. This was great since it could still be carried around collectively in a binder or I could take certain chapters out to class. It is possible to find this other version for a lower price than that of the normal paperback text..
Microeconomics, Student Value Edition (3rd Edition)
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Macking Eco, January 28, 2011
The seller deserves stars.
Perhaps the seller should get five stars for keeping this book in excellent condition, but the notes didn't exclusively say that myeconlab was not included for persons who don't know what they're buying.
I wasn't previously familiar with O'brien's Macroeconomics, so I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know that I would have needed to purchase the access code in additon to the book, considering that the displayed title, here, is "Macroeconomics & MyEconLab Student Access Code Card." The seller stressed that only the book was for sale, but how was I supposed to have known that the seller wasn't making reference to software. As far as I now know, the code should be included, but not in the case of a used book. For this reason, the seller gets three stars. Live and learn!
This book is worth it.
Thus far, I'm on chapter three. I find this book to be very informative. If each student read Macroeconomics from cover to cover, I'm sure they could easily become economists--the book is that user friendly.
You would suppose that someone taking an economics class is math savvy. Well, Hubbard and O'brien don't make any assumptions. They fully explains all the discrete mathematical operations for all. Maybe they should name the book "Macroeconomics for Dummies," but whose idea was that? Forget about it! The face of the book implies simplicity without insulting its readers. Sorry! I didn't mean to stray.
Even if you're in doubt about any aspect of Macroeconomics, once you purchase their "MyEconLab Code" you will have limited access (not more than 1 year) for additional help. And if you still don't understand how to graph or create pie charts for example, you could select the "Ask your instructor" icon for further assistance providing that you are not working independently. In that case, maybe you could contact Pearson directly.
Overall, you may conclude that Hubbard and O'brien's Macroeconomics is an easy-read to enter it with a positive attitude, but the totality of the subject could be tricky, even confusing--like English.
I'm contributing this bit of information not only to offer my 'five-cents,' but also to equip you with basic information to aid in a wise decision, and hopefully relax your mind about poor perceptions you may have about macroeconomics...
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