Customer Reviews

Schaum's Outline of Macroeconomics

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

 

 

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to have some understanding of macroeconomics. This book can be used as a supplemental text or for independent study or as review/reference material. The author, for the most part, presents clear and understandable concepts in a concise manner.

As far as prerequisites are concerned, some basic knowledge of economics and money and banking will make reading this book easier and more understandable. Although calculus is not required, some knowledge of basic or college algebra is helpful.

Since this book covers intermediate macroeconomics primarily intended for those at the undergraduate, upper division level, college students, especially, should find this book useful as a supplement to their textbooks. It may help to clarify problems that students may encounter in their course work. In the words of the author: "The book can be used by undergraduates or graduate business students as a supplement to current standard texts or by instructors as an independent text supplemented by empirical and/or policy readings. The book may also be useful to graduate economics students as a review of the analytical core of macroeconomic theory."

However, the benefits derived from this book need not be limited only to college students. Those wishing to use this book for independent self-study can, with some extra effort, gain valuable information since the author does a fairly good job of presenting in a clear manner the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics.

At the beginning of each chapter, the author gives a chapter summary and outline. The chapter summaries briefly present the concepts that will be further explained in the main text. The outlines are a repetition of the same sections that are listed in the table of contents. Furthermore, in order to reinforce the concepts presented in the main text, the author not only provides the usual solved problems but also includes multiple choice and true or false questions which give the student a wide range of practice.

However, there are some weaknesses of this book which readers should be aware. First, due to the brevity of some of the concepts presented, it may be advantageous to refer to other economics books in order to get more in-depth information, and thereby, a better understanding. This is particularly true for those using this book for independent self-study. Second, some terms and concepts are defined and presented for the first time in the "Solved Problems" section at the end of the chapter rather than in the main text. Third, this book does not contain a glossary.

OK, this is not a self-study workbook for the casual person. This is a rigorous, college text, and slogging through the material can be rather difficult. The heart is math. You need to know the equation y = mx + b, and how this appears on a graph.

I doubt that his book will work as an independent study book, since the material is presented in a rather stark and schematic matter. The descriptions on equations, graphs, and external factors, and how they interact can often become quite obscure and inscrutable. However, it does a fabulous job of having many examples on how a change in external factors or the equation can affect the graph, and vice versa, providing much illumination as a supplementary text to a standard text on macroeconomics that does a mediocre job of describing these phenomena.

It has these chapters:
2 on introductory stuff
6 on the IS-LM Framework
3 on aggregate supply and demand
3 on money supply, consumption, and business investment.

This is the right book to teach macroeconomics. With only a little algebra the author takes the student through all the economics math that most other intermediate books avoid and that are necessary for serious understanding of economics.
However this is not the book for a self beginner.

This book is good for first or second year undergrads who need to understand fundamental definitions. Essentially there is no standard book on macroeconomics because there are many models. A good macro book for graduate level would be the one which covers all models and explains the shortcomings of each - Alas that book would need to be an encyclopedia!

I have used Schaum's for technical courses since the early 70s - and continue to believe they provide better examples than any other source.

I received the item in 2 days & the condition of the book was excellent. Can't ask more!!!