Customer Reviews

Money, the Financial System, and the Economy (6th Edition)

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

 

 

Having taken only a few basic econ courses in college I was looking for a book that would explain the workings of the fed in detail. My main interest is in trading. I found this book to be perfect. It was neither too simple nor too complex. Everything was cogently written and accessible to a layman. I found answers to all my questions and it's organized in a manner that chapters can be read independently of one another. It will serve as an excellent reference manual.

In future editions it'd be helpful to have a stronger discussion of imperfect markets. Hubbard's neo-classicism is what made G W Bush pick him to lead the Council of Economic Advisors. But to get a more full picture of finance (especially on the international scale) one should read this side by side with Stiglitz's "Globalization and its Discontents".

This is a great book for undergrads who are not economics majors - the market features are covered effectively, thoroughly, and without the jargon that characterizes most exchanges between seasoned economists.

This is a decent book for undergrad econ majors, although by the time most of us get around to Money & Banking or Financial Economics, we've had intermediate macro and micro and are juniors looking forward to internships. Still, the presentation is not overly complex, and the assumption that the student is a beginner does indeed help for those who missed a full grasp of some of the finer points of theory.

This is not a great book for grad students, although there really aren't any great books for grad students in financial econ. MBA students will focus more in detail on the derivative and futures markets, particularly in terms of pricing assets. MSF students have their modeling books. Econ students really have to turn to the journals to broaden their scope in terms of theory, and especially to find answers to the "What if's" of imperfect markets.

Written by a grad student in Economics at the University of Missouri - St. Louis

Avoid the 6th Edition paperback version of this textbook if you can. The problem with this edition is that it was clearly photocopied from some source. My classmates and I noticed numerous errors in copies we purchased from both Amazon and our school's bookstore, which made us all wonder if a pirated copy slipped into the stores' inventories. Unfortunately, that was not the case because each of us has noticed the following problems with our copies:

1. The clearest evidence of this is that someone wrote on the original page 87 and his or her writing has now been preserved in every single copy.

2. There are vertical lines that indicate the edge of whatever sheet was photocopied.

3. Words are smudged and the contrast is poor in the text boxes, which use a dark background, making some parts difficult to read.

Charging so much for a photocopied textbook should be a crime. Sadly, it isn't to my knowledge so all I can say is avoid the paperback 6th edition and try to find a used copy as cheaply as possible.

This book is easy to read and explains the finacial markets and intermediaries well. I go to Ohio University and this is the primary text book for the class I am in, the chapters are relatively short and the questions are well laid out. We don't use the book enough for me to give it 5 stars.

As a resource for undergraduate work, I found this text invaluable. If I had known of this work earlier in my academic career, it would have appeared in more of my research as a source. A must have for almost any general or specific economic study.

Please do yourself another favour this year by not buying this textbook. The writter had a difficult time explain the meaning of money and frequency confuse what he was wrtiing in chappeters.