Principles of Economics [Hardcover]

N. Gregory Mankiw (Author), G Mankiw (Author), Gregory Mankiw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1997 | ISBN-10: 0030982383 | ISBN-13: 978-0030982385

Described as "the most anticipated book in college publishing", Mankiw's Principles of Economics is finally here. And what makes it stand out from all of the other principles texts? He wrote it for the students. He wanted to bring economics to life for them and keep them interested in it. How did he do this? He has written a briefer text that explains economics by the rules not the exceptions, and by applications, not a lot of theory. In keeping with this theme, he has revealed to students how economics affects their everyday lives by building in a strong policy orientation to show them economics in "action". These are just a few of the strong points this book has to offer. Available spring 1999: EconActive software for students which includes 33 interactive Java graphs, cyber-problems, quizzes with feedback on answers and also includes brief chapter notes/key terms taken from the book. Features: * Chapter 1 introduces students to the 10 most important principles of economics which are then found throughout the book. * Chapter 3 is an early and accessible introductory discussion of one of economics' most powerful and universal insights: how people gain from comparative advantage and trade. This enables professors to include international applications at the beginning of the course. * Chapters 4-9, common to both splits, are concise and focus on Demand and Supply and its applications. * In Chapter 6, economics' most basic tool, supply and demand analysis, is put to work early to analyze the effect of real government policies. * Chapters 7, 8, and 9 expand the coverage of supply and demand to show what market outcomes mean to different groups of people and then use it to analyse taxation, the gains/losses from international trade, and explain the efficiency of markets. * Quick quizzes, case studies, "In the News" excerpts, "FYI" boxes, and end-of-chapter problems and applications are rich.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Economist August 23rd 1997 "Mr Mankiw has produced something long overdue: an accessible introduction to modern economics. By writing more in the style of a magazine than a stodgy textbook and explaining even complex ideas in an intuitive, concise way, he'll leave few students bored or bewildered. A second innovation is the book's structure and emphasis, which reflects today's economic realities and economists' understanding. Most refreshing, though, is the book's even-handedness. Mr Mankiw seems to revel in setting out how different schools of thought have contributed to economists' current state of knowledge. If, as it deserves, it becomes popular with the millions of students who take introductory economics, tomorrow's graduates might not only understand economics. They might even enjoy it." The Wall Street Journal September 22nd 1997 "Professor Mankiw wins good reviews for clarity and readability." USA Today December 1st 1997 "...I must report that Mankiw's Principles of Economics is a grand success...Mankiw succeeds because he does not evade the difficult concepts required for a solid understanding of economics." Fortune November 24th 1997 "The most talked-about economics text of our time...will likely teach the next several generations of undergraduates the laws of supply and demand."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 797 pages
• Publisher: Dryden Pr (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030982383
• ISBN-13: 978-0030982385
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,335,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

N. Gregory Mankiw is Professor of Economics at Harvard University. As a student, he studied economics at Princeton University and MIT. As a teacher, he has taught macroeconomics, microeconomics, statistics, and principles of economics. He even spent one summer long ago as a sailing instructor on Long Beach Island.

Professor Mankiw is a prolific writer and a regular participant in academic and policy debates. His research includes work on price adjustment, consumer behavior, financial markets, monetary and fiscal policy, and economic growth. His published articles have appeared in academic journals, such as the "American Economic Review", "Journal of Political Economy", and "Quarterly Journal of Economics", and in more widely accessible forums, such as "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", "The Wall Street Journal", and "Fortune".

He has written two popular textbooks--the intermediate-level textbook Macroeconomics (Worth Publishers) and the introductory textbook Principles of Economics (South-Western/Thomson). Principles of Economics has sold over a million copies and has been translated into twenty languages.

In addition to his teaching, research, and writing, Professor Mankiw has been a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office, and a member of the ETS test development committee for the advanced placement exam in economics. From 2003 to 2005 he served as Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

To view his blog: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arming a new generation of students, and citizens, March 5, 2000

By 

Stephen B. Cobb "Shameless Reductionist" (Nashua, New Hampshire, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

Economics is the most abused science, the one most prone to fallacies (to which Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is devoted), and yet certainly one of the most important. I purchased this textbook ten years after graduating from college, having read rave reviews and predictions of what it would mean for new generations of students freed from the long-outdated Keynesian textbook by Paul Samuelson, and indeed I was not disappointed. The book is not merely complete, comprehensive, and modern--it is designed to get knowledge into your head with maximum efficiency and enjoyment. A reviewer below called accused it of oversimplification, which I would call inaccurate even if it weren't an introductory text, in which space simply does not permit inclusion of the details of outmoded theories. Unless you are a student, you are unlikely to read it from start to finish, but you will find yourself skipping from one interesting topic or sidebar to the next that catches your eye.

Samuelson once said, "I don't care who writes a nation's laws, or crafts its advanced treaties, if I can write its economic textbooks," and Mankiw even slyly quotes him in his preface. Along with politics, the knowledge of economics is mandatory for being an informed voter. If more citizens were armed with this textbook, bonehead politicians would be a lot more respectful, and responsive to our real long-term needs.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Introduction to Economics!, June 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

If you read only one book on economics, read this. It deals clearly and concisely with the substance of economics and with the economists' approach -- an approach that far too few people appreciate, and which this book will instil in you. Claims that the book does not have enough math and does not cover Keynesian macroeconomics are misguided.

Regarding the supposed lack of math, one must remember that math is merely a tool that should be used to clarify and not confuse economics. If one can explain economics in English, so much the better. Economics needn't be hard. Mankiw's economics is at least as good as the best of the harder and more mathematical textbooks, and better than the rest. The need is for good economics to be explained well to a large audience, and this book does it superbly.

Regarding the exclusion of Keynesian short run macroeconomics, all I can say is "Whew! Finally! At last!". Keynesian short run macroeconomics taught at the undergraduate level is mindless, unintuitive curve pushing and generates neither understanding nor love for the subject. Teaching that (especially in a first course to a general audience!) is absolutely unforgivable. If anyone is married to Keynesian economics, they can use Mankiw's "Macroeconomics" which covers with exceptional clarity and brevity all the standard material in an intermediate macro course including the ugly Keynesian short run macroeconomics. However, I am against such an approach. The proper way would be to do Mankiw's "Principles of Economics" in the introductory course and then cover the market-clearing approach to macroeconomics of Barro's "Macroeconomics" in the intermediate macroeconomics course.

48 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A dangerous oversimplification, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Principles of Economics (Hardcover)

Mankiw's textbook is a giant leap backwards in the teaching of economics to undergraduates. Naturally, it is always commendable to attempt to simplify complicated concepts to students, but there are limits - particularly in a principles textbook, perhaps the only economics that many people will ever encounter. In this case, it can be considered downright dangerous.

Mankiw "dumbs down" economics, underestimating the average intelligence of a university student. The clearly anti-analytical tone of the book can be counterproductive at times. Several comments from my students noted that Mankiw's style makes it seem that, say, a particular argument is "obvious" when Mankiw explains it, but they could not produce it by themselves since the argument does not seem to use any of the tools which they are busily acquiring. In other words, what is "obvious" to Mankiw and to someone with more training in economics, is rarely "obvious" to the student. The student with analytical bent who has made the necessary investment into learning the tools will find them useless in a lot of the problems set out in the book.

The irritating "scientistic" tone of the book makes it seem as if what Mankiw says is "the truth" and "accepted" by all economists. At least Barro's principles text was considerably more honest in its partisanship and announced loudly that there were other views. Mankiw does not do this. What makes this "scientistic" tone even more irritating is that it is used with particular verve in areas where current economic debate is most controversial - thus giving a misleading view of even the "mainstream" of economics. Furthermore, it makes a lot of economics boringly "deadpan" rather than a living and growing discipline.

Most remarkable, given Mankiw's supposed specialty, is the incredibly compressed and poorly-written last few chapters on macroeconomics. He has singlehandedly decided to obliterate 70 years of research in macroeconomic analysis and leap back to the empirical platitudes of the 1910s and 1920s. It is one thing to be anti-Keynesian, it is quite another to pretend that the Keynesian Revolution never happened. Not even Barro did that. What is most dangerous is that Mankiw is now teaching thousands of students that unemployment is caused by labor market frictions and high wages, and never a word on effective aggregate demand (which, until Mankiw's textbook, was THE mainstay of macroeconomics).

On style: Mankiw writes in a nice conversational tone, albeit a bit too elementary, and always with very carefully chosen words. His examples are not always well chosen and even disturbing at times (e.g. the initial discussion of the impact of seat-belt laws).

I used this book to teach elements of macroeconomics this year. It was a terrible choice and I shall never do so again. Perhaps elements of microeconomics may be better served. Mankiw's textbook is not worth acquiring, assigning or reading. Barro or Colander are much, much, much better - and far more interesting.