Customer Reviews

Price Theory

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was lucky enough to take Dr. Friedman's two-quarter graduate sequence in price theory (called "microeconomics" elsewhere) in the early 70s at the University of Chicago. This book was the textbook. I have never revised my original opinion that Friedman's 301 and 302 were simply outstanding, maybe the best courses I ever had in economics.

You can put that in perspective when I tell you I spent ten years at Chicago, earning both my bachelor's and PhD -- by this I mean I took a lot of economics courses. If you know anything about the Chicago School of Economics you are aware that price theory occupies a special place in their scheme of things.

The good Doctor retired from Chicago around 1973 or 1974, if I am not mistaken (he moved to the Hoover Institution. You can't take "Milton" on price theory today -- but you can read his book. And it what a fine book it is. I recommend reading George Stigler's "The Theory of Price" before attemption this book. Master them both and you will have a very solid foothold on price theory.

A serious book for serious students - no glossy pages, no color, and not a single wasted word. Friedman's book is the most authoritative and definitive textbook on Price Theory around. The material may be more difficult than some textbooks but this is, after all, economics Chicago style. Price Theory offers a rigorous and demanding treatment of the subject, exactly what a serious student should want.

When i studied microeconomics i paid too much attention on the "inner" sense of models (perfect and unperfect markets). But this way of studying keeps a student a little bit far from what really matters in any of them: its power to explain, its power to catch up essential features from social reality (in this case, essential features from flesh-and-bone markets). Well, this book helped me a lot to restore my sense of reality when i think of basic microeconomic concepts (demand and supply curves, marginal cost / productivity, etc.). Friedman has an intuitive approach to microeconomics. He shows that models are engines to think of economic reality, they are not by themselves the ultimate goals of economic science. Study models. Do it properly. If in the road you feel your mind lost, take back to this classic and make a review of your usual assumptions. Economics is mathematics, yes, but with economic sense what stands for good understanding of what it is being modelled.

I strongly recommend to read this textbook in microeconomics before starting others, with a more mathematical approach.

Milton Friedman's Price Theory is certainly required reading for all economists. Among economics texts of its era it is rivaled only by George Stigler's Theory of Price and Gary Becker's Economic Theory; and, like those books, it remains worth reading even though it has been (quite properly) supplanted by more up-to-date texts like Varian, Kreps, and Mas-Colell et al.

Having said that, be careful which version of this classic book you buy:

Price Theory is the first, 1962, version. It's now of historical interest only.

Price Theory reprints the 1976 revision originally published by Aldine (also available used on Amazon as Price Theory), with a short introduction by Steven Medema, in paperback. If you want a crisp, new paperback copy of this book, this is the one to buy.

Price Theory from the publisher called "The Richest Man in Babylon" is, quite simply, a ripoff! It appears to be a reprint of the first published version, or possibly an early samizdat version of Friedman's notes. There's no excuse for selling a version of this vintage without making clear that it does not include Friedman's later revisions. Don't waste your money.

This is one of the best texts on the core concepts of Economics that has ever seen the light of day. It is not easy going, so you should first master a more elementary text, like Paul Heyne's The Economic Way of Thinking Economic Way of Thinking, The (11th Edition), and maybe even an intermediate text, like the famous Exchange And Production Theory In Use by Alchian and Allen Exchange and Production Theory in Use, but whether you prepare only a little or prepare a lot, this is the frosting on the cake.

It is truly unfortunate that Professor Friedman spent most of his professional life developing the macroeconomic and monetary literature, when he was so very lucid in the more important topics of price theory and political economy. But make use of the treats that he left us, even if they are far too few.

It is a good book. Nice to have it and it is shipping immediately and in good shape.

This is a good book and the seller is good too. The book delivered earlier than I had expected.

Price Theory is important in economics. Friedman has treated the subject very well in this book.