Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

~ Olivier Blanchard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Textbook covers the stock market response to expansionary monetary policy, equilibrium output and net exports, AS/AD in a open economy, and the Great Depression and the IS/LM. DLC: Macroeconomics.

From the Publisher

This book conveys the excitement of macroeconomics, covering many of the main macroeconomic issues of the day--issues often missing from other texts. Its example-rich approach provides a strong emphasis on the role of expectations, the openness of modern economics, and the role of dynamics. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 548 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 2nd edition (April 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013013306X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130133069
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,559,566 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the thresher, June 2, 2005

By	Caraculiambro (La Mancha and environs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

Olivier Blanchard's handsome hardbound "Macroeconomics" (3rd Ed.) is a challenging and unfriendly freshman-level macroeconomics text that does a solid but daunting job.

This third outing was published in 2003, meaning it incorporates the Bushian twin deficits, the euro, the Argentinean retrieval, the rise and fall of the Asian tigers, etc. So that's nice.

Note that if you're teaching an economics class for the non-major, this book is most definitely inappropriate. For this purpose I would recommend either Stephen Slavin's "Macroeconomics" (8th Ed.), or, if you require more rigor, Mankiw's "Principles of Macroeconomics" (3rd Ed.), both of which are much easier on the math.

Olivier's juggernaut is more appropriate as a freshman level text for finance or economics majors who are slated to do some heavy-duty number-crunching later in their college career.

It is certainly NOT an intermediate text in macroeconomics (i.e., a junior-level text that incorporates integration and differentiation), so it would most profitably deployed in a rigorous or honors-level freshman-level class (in fact this is the standard text used in freshman econ at MIT -- its author is this brilliant French dude who sometimes teaches freshman econ there).

So be not deceived: this book assumes intermediate algebra, trigonometry, and even some (non-calculus) statistics. There's also some nasty addition and multiplication!

Though there's nothing in it beyond what a high school graduate ought to know, it would help to be clear on its demands. Many freshman books I have thumbed through seem to require only beginning algebra, if that. Not here: algebra is woven into the fiber of this book like a fingernail to the flesh, and any student unskilled in the equational arts will have a rotten time of things.

One good thing about the book: it comes with a cool CD on which you can manipulate the graphs, chapter by chapter, in a fun and instructive (and time-killing) way.

One bad thing about the book: although there are review questions and problem sets at the end of every chapter, there are no answers anywhere in the book. Sheesh! Presumably, given the math level required and the merciless tone of the text, we are meant to see this as a book for adult learners, so why are we being treated like children? Is Mr. Blanchard afraid I'm gonna copy the answers?

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Intermediate Macro Book, June 30, 2004

By	thisismyname "myname" (nowheresville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macroeconomics (Hardcover)

This book is an appropriate tool for an intermediate macroeconomics course-guess where I used it! The "Core" of the book is broken up into three sections: the short run (IS/LM), the medium run (IS/LM-AD/AS), and long run (Solow). This is very helpful and provides a natural progression.

Blanchard does skim over some of the more basic stuff, especially, as somebody mentioned, with the IS/LM model. For this reason I think it is very appropriate for an intermediate course where somebody probably has already learned some of the fundamentals in an introductory course. Unfortunately I felt that the Solow model was not in the depth that I would like, especially with respect to mathematics.

On that note, the book doesn't use a high level of mathematics, but the equations are there, and your algebra should definitely be up to par. This also provides a nice transition to those looking to take an advanced micro or macro course, as things tend to involve more and more mathematics as one goes on.

Overall, a good book, lacking in a spot or two, but a good textbook overall.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great text, April 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Macroeconomics with Active Graphs CD (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

The biggest problem with most economics textbooks is that the authors just don't shut up. Blanchard is the exception. He writes informally, but doesn't say more than is necessary. As a result, the textbook doesn't feel like a textbook (which makes studying orders of magnitude easier), and it's much shorter. Each chapter is, on average, about 15 pages long, which can be read in less than an hour. And the amazing thing is that you learn just as much macroeconomics as you would anywhere else! Also nice is the history of economics section added at the end, and the role of such economic giants as Samuelson, Solow, Friedman (and lots of other people at MIT, UChicago, and one or two from Stanford and ... psh... Harvard.)