Principles of Economics [Hardcover]

N. Gregory Mankiw (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0030293235 | ISBN-13: 978-0030293238 | Publication Date: January 2001 | Edition: 2nd Pkg

In writing this textbook, Mankiw has tried to put himself in the position of someone seeing economics for the first time. The author's conversational writing style is superb for presenting the politics and science of economic theories to tomorrow's decision-makers. Because Mankiw wrote it for the students, the book stands out among all other principle texts by intriguing students to apply an economic way of thinking in their daily lives. Receiving such a praise as "perhaps the best ever" textbook in economic principles, it's no wonder Mankiw's prize project has quickly become one of the most successful books ever to be published in the college marketplace.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Harcourt College Pub; 2nd Pkg edition (January 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0030293235
• ISBN-13: 978-0030293238
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,465,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish all professors can teach as good as Mankiw does, December 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

I totally absolutely agree with the opinions of [other reviewers]. I am a student from Norway, and with limited Macroeconomics books available in Norwegian, we have to chew the most incomprehensible Macroeconomics book written by our own professor. He teaches at our college so we have no other choice than using the Macroeconomics book he wrote. Students say there is a book mafia system at our school, meaning we only use the books written by our lecturers whether the books are well written or not.

Lucky enough, the professor who wrote the most incomprehensible Macroeconomics book at my college also recommended us to read Mankiw's book and even claimed that this was the best Macroeconomics book ever written...even though, he said, it was at a slightly lower level than what he taught us. What he means by "at a slightly lower level" is probably due to the fact that our professor chokes the students with so much incomprehensible math and so many formulas which we do not understand and do not know how to relate to the real world unless we take Ph.D degree in Economics, whereas Mankiw refrains from doing so and instead gives us a passion to learn Economics and a critical mind to explore Economics issues further .

Last semester, I finally ended up reading Mankiw's book for pleasure, knowledge, and understanding, and dropped my Macroeconomics course with the incomprehensible professor and his equally incomprehensible book. I do not want to take a course which I do not understand and which I am implicitly forced to answer the exam questions in the style my Macroeconomics teacher wants. Yes, I do lack a credit and a grade in Macroeconomics, but I do possess a much better understanding than my classmates who just memorize rawly our Macroeconomics professor's way of answering. If our professor used Mankiw's book instead of his own book, he would certainly produce much better students who possessed excellent understanding in Economics and passion to study this wonderful subject.

Students must pay a hefty price when they end up with a professor who cannot teach and write. I wish we had more choices.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for beginners, April 4, 2010

By 

N. Mozahem (Al Ain, United Arab of Emirates) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

I cannot say that I have read too many economics textbooks, but I think that it would be pretty hard to find one that is better than this. This textbook is for the absolute beginner. No prior knowledge of economics is needed. The author starts from scratch and works his way up without assuming anything about the reader's knowledge. What's even more important is that this book is fun to read. This is one of those books that you actually find yourself reading to know more. Suddenly when you reach the end of the book you will be surprised at how easy and fun economics can be and this would encourage you to move on to heavier stuff. I used this book as a self-study guide and had no problems. The best textbooks are those that deliver the message by themselves, and this certainly applies to "The Principles of Economics".

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, Simple, and Useful, March 22, 2002

By 

E. E. H. (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

I read the first edition of this book on the trains to/from work, skipping the Questions and Problems in the end of the chapters. Extremely readble, this book is most relevant to daily life. Maybe it's simple, but consider quantum mechanics and general physics. Quantum mechanics is a whole lot more complicated than general physics, but we donot use quantum mechanics in daily life. One clearly understood idea is worth more than 1000 ideas we donot really comprehend. This book explains the basic ideas in economics in the most clearly way. Reading 2 less excellent books is not a good subtitute of reading 1 truly excellent one. (Discussing Jim Carrey's earning, the author writes, "If Jim Carrey is the funnest actor around, then everyone will want to see his next movie; seeing twice as many movies by an actor half as funny is not a good substitute.") This explains why Jim got ...[many millions] in 1995, and also why the author was prepaid ...[millions] for this textbook.