2 comments about The Best Test P CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics (REA)--The Best Test Prep for (CLEP).

1. Based on reviews for the previous edition of this book, I bought it as a study aid for the CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics exam. The subject of Macroeconomics is very dense and specific vs. other exams such as Management and Marketing, for which the REA books served as a great aid. To help my studying, I also bought the official CLEP study guide for Macroeconomics and the questions are much more difficult than the REA book suggests, although it doesn't provide the much needed explanations. For those looking to take and pass this exam, there are no short cuts - one must study a text book, and truly understand the concepts of the subject, and should only use this book to reinforce something they already know very well. While the expanded answer section with explanations is helpful, only a small handful of the 160 questions were covered in the test.



2. Book was very great and helpful in my opinion. I am sure it will fully prepare me for the CLEP Exam.

No comments about Kaplan AP Macroeconomics/Microeconomics, 2008 Edition (Kaplan Ap Macroeconomics/Microeconomics).

1 comments about The ABCs of RBCs: An Introduction to Dynamic Macroeconomic Models.

1. Contrary to the (potentially) misleading title, this is a graduate-level text, without any doubt. Its ambitious goal is to introduce readers to the theory *and practice* of dynamic, stochastic, general equilibrium macroeconomics.
   
   McCandless takes a series of models, increasing in complexity (from the neoclassical growth model to a small, open economy version of the baseline staggered prices model) and solves for the steady state and the transitional dynamics of the associated log-linear model. Eventually, you're given the matrixes required by Uhlig's toolkit. (You're ready to take the model to the computer and do impulse response functions and simulate moments.)
   
   This book is not a self-contained treatment. You'll need a fair grasp of microeconomics, a regular textbook to understand the macroeconomic theory basics (Romer's?), another text for dynamic programming and related numerical methods and something for Matlab, if needed.
   
   The "RBCs" part is also misleading. True, it features Hansen's 1985 models, but the author also lumps together under this label models that, traditionally, are called "New Keynesian". This makes perfect sense to me: his rejection of old, divisive and counterproductive labeling is refreshing. He also seems completely disinterested in the "old macroeconomics" and its relation to the "new" literature. (cf. Gali)
   
   I gave this book 4/5 stars because there's far too little hand-holding in it, for a book containing "ABCs" in its title. If you're looking for "ABCs", start with Romer. A better title would have been "The ABCs of Taking DSGE Models to the Computer". Also, the chapters on (stochastic) dynamic programming are short and somewhat superficial. Most readers will need something dedicated.

4 comments about Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles.

1. does a good job of explaining in simple terms the effects different financial and economic organizations and markets have on one another. if you've ever been laid off or lost money in the stock market (as i have), this book can help you place your personal loss in the broader context and perhaps anticipate things so that you're better prepared in the future.



2. This is by far the best book I have seen on business cycles. Other books are either too handwavy or too abstract and dry. This book is very precise and comprehensive and at the same time very readable and accessible. It is an excellent blend of theory and real world.
   
   The book explains many theories of business cycles. Some of these theories are widely known, while some I have not seen else where. But all are explained very well.
   
   The book also shows how these theories apply to real world events like the Great Depression, the East Asian crisis, the Argentina crisis, and the Japanese depression. All are excellent case studies.



3. Great Book! This book explains all the major economic theories and then reviews all the major recessions and depressions of the 20th century. It is written well and keeps the reader interested and engaged.



4. Don't believe it when they say readable. It is not actually UN-readable, but it is hard to believe any "informed general readers" actually make it all the way through. Which is a shame, since this is a very important subject.
   
   Try "The Return of Depression Economics" by Krugman. It covers most of the same ground, and is extremely informative, but does it in a very readable fashion.

5 comments about Unstoppable: Finding Hidden Assets to Renew the Core and Fuel Profitable Growth.

1. 
   In two previously published books, Profit from the Core (2001) and then Beyond the Core (2004), Chris Zook shares what several years of extensive and intensive research revealed about "how companies fail to recognize the potential of their core business and, as a result, prematurely abandon it in pursuit of hot markets or sexy new ideas, only to realize their error - often, when it is too late." He suggests a systematic way for organizations to assess their full potential and to make certain, also, that they do not fall into "this common, and typically human, trap."
   
   In this volume, Zook draws upon an even wider and deeper wealth of research sources that include about fifty interviews, mostly of CEOs. The title is explained by the fact that he and his associates chose to study most closely those companies "that beat the odds. We also analyzed patterns of failure and estimated the odds of success offered by various paths in various situations." He goes on to observe that all of the success stories built their renewal on their "hidden assets" that had been previously been undervalued, unrecognized, and/or underutilized. "These assets were not central to the strategy of the past, but they held the key to the future. Furthermore, the older and more complex the company, the greater was the likelihood of finding promising hidden assets." In other words, many companies already "hold most of the cards for "a winning hand" but do not realize it.
   
   I highly recommend all three of Zook's books because, together, they answer three separate but related, and critically important questions:
   
   1. How to define and grow an organization's core assets? (Profit from the Core)
   2. How to expand its boundaries into new territory? (Beyond the Core)
   3. How to redefine and renew its core? (Unstoppable)
   
   No company is forever "unstoppable" but most (if not all) companies can take full advantage of the information and counsel Zook provides in this book to find correct answers to all three of these questions achieve core renewal without "leaps to distant and hot new markets, ...being the first adopter of a pioneering new strategy,...[or making] as `big bang' acquisition." In fact, unless a given organization has "beaten the odds" by sustaining profitable growth, it should first define or redefine its core assets and then grow or renew them, before committing any resources to organizational and/or territorial expansion.
   
   Zook is to be commended on the care with which he defines various terms. For example, undervalued business platforms "that might have once been secondary in importance but now have the potential to be the foundation for a new major core business"(e.g. IBM's Global Services Group). Also unexploited customer assets that tend to exist in three primary forms: "knowledge gathered as part of serving the customer but that, over time, accumulates an inherently greater value of its own...a unique position of trust of relationship with a set of customers [that gives] much more access and influence than has been recognized (e.g. American Express and Harman International). And finally, underutilized capabilities ("the most difficult hidden asset to discern but no less powerful") that result in losses of position to competitors in terms of cost, speed, logistics, design, and quality of customer service (e.g. the United States Postal Service's inability to invest as much as FedEx and UPS in system upgrades). "At the root of such competitive reversals we often find a yawning capability gap that was undetected, dismissed, or ignored."
   
   I especially appreciate Zook's skillful use of various reader-friendly devices such as check-lists that focus on key points covered within a chapter: "Seven Steps to Redefining Your Core" (pages 24-25), a "State of the Core Diagnostic" (Figure 2-3 on Page 44), "Detecting Undervalued Business Platforms" (Pages 82 and 83), "Identifying Hidden Customer Assets" (Page 115), "Defining Your Core Capabilities" (Page 140), and "Ten Principles of Core Growth and Redefinition" (Page158). These and other check-lists facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key points later.
   
   Although hidden assets are the "real key" to redefinition and capabilities are "the building blocks of renewal," and I agree with Zook that they are, it is important to keep in mind that transformation and renewal initiatives should never end. Zook asserts that "the real focus of business should be external - on competitors, shifts in technology, and customer dynamics." However, ironically, for many companies now searching for profitable growth, some "of their most challenging demons are internal" and their "most difficult foes" are often themselves. Unless they identify and then leverage the hidden assets they already have or to which they have easy access, they will either be out-of-business or acquired by another company within the next ten years.



2. In an age of ever-shortening corporate life-cycles, Chris Zook examines the way in which some companies have successfully adapted to a harsher and more investor and public conscious corporate environment by expanding, redefining and reinventing their core businesses. As the future of large successful corporate conglomerates becomes increasingly uncertain in the wake of market forces, such as private equity buyouts, hostile or activist shareholder activity and other evolving market forces, which threaten to undermine long-standing successful market strategies, some companies somehow emerge from the shark-infested waters with little resemblance of their former selves and do so with greater vitality, profitability and vigor than ever before. Never before has one author caused a reader to re-examine the strategies that have shaped the global corporate atmosphere for so many years. Companies can no longer simply search for traditional market synergies among affordable competitors, or simply aim to lower production costs or hope to engineer a new product or discover a new market. Instead, these companies will be forced to seek out lesser known `hidden assets' in order to shift their core profit structure. They will also be forced to focus and refine that core and defend it vehemently against emerging low-cost competitors who seek to steal or infringe upon their core. Companies today will be forced to take actions such as these in their aim to become unstoppable, or they will inevitably suffer the consequences which more and more companies find themselves succumbing to.



3. Chris Zook has written two previous books about paying attention to the core of your business and how to mine it for every dollar it will yield. This book talks about what to do when your core is beginning to falter. Rather than letting the rapid changing marketplace stop your company he suggests redefining your core. However, rather than leaping onto some popular bandwagon that has nothing to do with your present core, he advocates finding hidden assets within your company. He offers a process for understanding where you are in your strategic cycle, the Focus-Expand-Redefine (FER) growth cycle. Using this structure, he shows you how to know when it is time to redefine your core and the dangers of getting it wrong.
   
   Zook shows you what to look for in the way of platforms that you could promote from secondary status to become primary areas for your business. These might be technologies you acquired along with the purchase of a company, but it wasn't why you bought the company. It could be adjacent geographic areas, or markets that you could expand into without having to completely recast your company. Or it might be orphan products that you can use to exploit changing market conditions and the new opportunities they often create.
   
   I also agree with and enjoyed the author's emphasis on paying attention to the things your customers can teach you. If long term customers are leaving you they are being served by new competitors, new technologies, or are going out of business. You need to find out exactly what is happening. This also includes learning to segment your customer base as finely as possible. If you can learn to serve micro-segments of your customer base rather than having to treat them as if they were all the same kind of person, you will be able to develop those markets more fully. Your customers will also offer suggestions for improvements to your existing products and services, so pay attention. If you don't meet their needs, your competitors will. When they suggest new products to you, listen even more closely.
   
   The other place to find hidden assets are in your capacities. That is the ability your company has to execute and repeat value creating tasks at a high level of quality. You should inventory the dozens to hundreds of capacities your company has and then figure out which are the most critical. Those are your core capabilities. Are there other things you could use them for? Are there capacities that are important in supporting the core that could be recast to become core capabilities in their own right?
   
   I think this book offers some important food for thought. When you can work the FER cycle of growth you can become unstoppable, not because the old core doesn't burn out, but because you kindle and ignite a new fire to run your company's engine before it does.
   
   reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI



4. Normally the third book in a series either rehashes the prior two books, or requires that you read all three to understand the authors points. Unstoppable is unique in this regard as the book stands on its own and does not require you to read the other books.
   
   Zook talks in depth about how enterprises can find source of growth from the core of their company either by finding hidden assets, customers or capabilities. The strength of this book is its detailed discussion of each of these sources of growth from the core and extending the core. Zook also provides detailed tools to help the reader apply these ideas to their company. This is particularly unique in a book that addresses issues of growth and growth strategy.
   
   In some ways, Zook's book should be used as a companion to the book "BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY" which talks about identifying opportunities where there are no competitors. Used in combination, Blue Ocean will open up new possibilities, while Unstoppable will provide a way to execute on these opportunities and build off of your core to achieve them.
   
   The book is clearly written with detailed case studies and verbatims form actual companies going through their growth processes. This is unique for any business book and Zook's use of extensive interview comments makes the book seem real and actionable rather than academic.
   
   While Zook's book is well researched, there is a subtle and important bias in the research. Zook's results and statistics are largely based on analyzing projects that he and his company have conducted, rather than looking at the general marketplace. This is strength in that the book can talk about implementation details because they did the work. However, it is a subtle weakness in that the cases suffer from selection bias that has a tendency to color the results and conclusions. Zook's attention to detail, pragmatism, and exposing tools do compensate for this research weakness and for most it will not matter, but recognize that it is there.
   
   Overall, I would recommend this book for any executive who is looking to change their enterprise or recognize the need to do more in order to grow. This is one of the top 10 business books I have read so far this year so highly recommended.



5. This is the concluding volume in Chris Zook's trilogy on the business core. The previous two books focused on supporting, exploiting and expanding your current core, whereas this book shows what you can do when your current core falters. Zook points out the high risks of defending your core until your company dies, or of jumping to the next new thing and getting it wrong. Then he shows you how to find and exploit your hidden assets. He uses many examples to illustrate his points in a compelling way. The approach is action-oriented and he provides many good questions to ask, lists to use in working things through, and some useful charts and graphs (but not too many). We recommend this book if you are thinking of taking on such a project: It will whet your appetite and motivate your team for what you are going to do. However, before you undertake something this complex and risky, you may want to enlist somebody like Zook who has the expertise to help you.

No comments about Computational Macroeconomics for the Open Economy.

3 comments about Principles of Macroeconomics.

1. I needed the combined version of Case Fair principles of economics 8th edition. I thought this paperback version of macro would be the same with less stuff I didn't need, but the chapters do not match the ones in the hardcover book.
   
   
   other than that this is the most exciting economics book i have ever read - it is gripping!!!



2. This book is very detailed and does a good job in, in several areas, trying to put information in 'layman's terms. Some of the answers to the questions are in the back of the book which is helpful if you are completely stumped on a problem. I'm not a big MacroEcon fan and am really glad my class is over; this book, even with layman's terms, went far beyond into details that made my head hurt. (In a good way, I guess)



3. It's been over a month and I have still not received my book. I have tried to contact the seller and have had no response. I have filed a complaint with amazon but have still not heard anything. This way an awful experience and has me second guessing about buying things from this site anymore.

4 comments about Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money.

1. There are many things this book does well. (In fact, everything this book does, it does well.) First, and most remarkably, it tells stories. Not only is the author brave enough to reveal his own financial foibles, he includes interviews with individuals who have suffered financial ruin and lived to tell the tale. The stories are striking in their variety and poignancy, and they are made all the more salient by Vyse's beautifully written prose. The author paints a clear picture of his subjects' various crises, so that each story--no matter how different it may be from our own--has a sense of familiarity. We understand that these are fellow Americans who for the most part have worked hard and played by the rules, and we can't help recognizing their humanity and vulnerability as our own.
   
   Moving beyond the stories that open each chapter, Vyse looks not only at the internal, "psychological" processes associated with financial difficulty--such as the seemingly inexplicable tendency to overpay for items on eBay--but he also uses a broad lens to examine the social and political forces that conspire against our best efforts to stay ahead in the financial game. Rather than simply attributing the bankruptcy epidemic to "shopaholism" or endemic self-indulgence (as many others blithely do), Vyse weaves together hard science, cultural criticism, and macroeconomic analysis to create a disturbing image of our personal--and national--economic landscape.
   
   Finally, the majority of Vyse's suggestions for not going broke are practical, common-sense solutions that almost every American can employ. But even in presenting his suggestions, Vyse acknowledges that there are larger forces which need to be addressed before a majority of Americans can enjoy financial security. Far from being a panacea, Vyse presents his suggestions as something of a self-defense strategy in a world where our senses and sensibilities are constantly bombarded, and our financial futures are bought and sold by corporations without hesitation or regulation.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human behavior, American culture, economics, politics, or public policy--and to anyone who just wants a good, thought-provoking read.



2. I completely agree with the reviewer above. I found Vyse's sociological take on Americans and spending fascinating. He poses the same questions to his readers that he has posed to his university students and I found that my kids (teenagers) were interested in these questions and that they encouraged conversation. It was playful and energizing to take a look at the irrational ways that we relate to money and spending, and to choose ways to "trick" ourselves into spending less, rather than simply berating ourselves. An example of irrationality is the concept of "sunk" money. If we've already spent money on something, and we consider that money "sunk" or gone, we don't have as much motivation to recoup that money than we would have to "make" that much money. This helped me force myself go through the irritating process of trying to recover money from a travel insurance company when my son was too ill to go on a class trip to Costa Rica. I had already paid for the trip, so my motivation was lacking. When I posed the question to myself "would you spend an entire day dealing with an insurance company for $2500?" I decided that it WAS worth the aggravation of dealing with the paperwork.
   I also appreciated Vyse's compassion toward modern Americans and the trouble he took to detail the kinds of necessary expenses that our parents did not have. For just one example, he points out that there are thousands of medications that did not exist in 1970. Even with good insurance, these medications can cost hundreds of dollars a month.
   If you enjoy reading about money, this book is very different from all of the other cookie-cutter money books out there.



3. Heavily researched and well written personal finance book. Very good for those who dont have a clue about the subliminal ads and other money traps. I supose many people are tricked into all that stuff due to the broken financial aspects of many lives. Recommended for those who dont have a clue about the subject. Well written.



4. Going Broke is a excellent book on why Americans cannot hold on to their money and stay out of debt. Author Stuart Vyse does a good job of explaining why 1) Americans are bankrupt due to over extending themselves.2)Instant gratification has replaced delaying the need of things.3)How modern inventions such as computers and credit cards have made the availability of buying things quicker and more convenient.4)How advertising influences us on a daily bases from tv to movies, to cell phones to junk mail.5)How society's view of needs are really more of wants and luxuries. The final chapter offers some help for those trapped in debt and addiction of spending. At the end of each chapter are real life examples of people caught in this deadlly trap.[[ASIN:0684859386 Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes And How To Correct Them: Lessons From The New Science Of Behavioral Economics] is another good book on this subject. Well done.

2 comments about The Credit Crunch: Housing Bubbles,Globalisation and the Worldwide Economic Crisis.

1. Graham Turner rightly blames Alan Greenspan for the current financial mess. More than anything else, Greenspans rate cutting after the bursting of the it bubble, produced the housing and credit bubbles of the US, which now are bursting and unwinding.
   
   However, Turner blames Greenspan for his stance towards international trade for the former Fed chief main fault. According to Turner, the trouble is outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, mainly to East Asia. To compensate the unemployed and impoverished workers in the West, the Fed and other central banks have kept the rates low. Why? To create a housing bubble, from which homeowners could extract equity to spend.
   
   This conspiracy theory just doesnt make sense to me. I am pretty sure Greenspans actions were decisive in making the bubble, but Im equally sure that Greenspan didnt think it was a bubble.
   
   On the bright side, Turners book has some interesting parallels between Japan in the 90s and the US now. This saves him two stars. On the hole, the book is not worth reading.



2. Graham is one of the best applied economists of our generation. He was the first economist to go public about the Japanese banking crisis in the 90's and almost lost his job over it whilst working for a Japanese Securities Company. He correctly anticipated the economic consequences of the reunification of East and West Germany on the German economy. He has a long track record of highly accurate predictions. Note that this book was written substantially prior to the public meltdown of the banking system in October 2008. Graham Turner has identified the causes and anticipated the outcomes of the macro-economic trends of the last 3 decades. He goes further than most economists and addresses the political dynamics that underpin the lack of regulation in the Western banking systems.
   
   For the purposes of full disclosure, I worked professionally with Graham for approximately 6 years in the financial markets. He is a person of great integrity. During that period of time we never once discussed politics. His analysis was always based on a highly objective independent research into the causes of the both macro and micro economic phenomenae. I have not been in touch with Graham for over ten years. It was a complete surprise for me to see Graham on a TV broadcast commenting on the current crisis, when they mentioned this book.
   
   Any person interested in the reality of the current collapse of the banking system, the underlying causes and the likely outcome should read this book. It is the best analysis that I have seen so far, and comes from an Economist who has an exceptional track record.
   
   I cannot recommend this book more strongly.

1 comments about Principles of Macroeconomics (with Xtra!).

1. This is a demanding high school (or undemanding college) introductory textbook on the subject. Only the most rudimentary algebra is required, and honestly one could easily get through the book without even that.
   
   The edition is handsomely printed, with a font that's easy on the eye and plenty of colorful and helpfully-glossed graphs. The chapters themselves are not too long, which helps with a student's morale, believe me.
   
   Recently I was put into a situation where I had to go, in the space of about 4 months, from knowing jack-squat about economics to being able to teach college-level macroeconomics!
   
   Well, I frantically collected a ton of textbooks and articles about macroeconomics, ranging from the elementary to the abstruse and got to work.
   
   And I gotta say: when something befuddled me and I found myself threshing about from text to text for the best explanation, it was nearly always Mankiw who came through with the critical phrasing that made the idea click and got me saying: "Ohhhhhh! I get it!" most often.
   
   Not that this was always the case. There were times when I found better explanations elsewhere (e.g., Chapter 19, on the foreign currency market, is exasperatingly elliptical and could use a major dummying-down), but more often than not, Mr. Mankiw had the goods: the clearest and most easy-to-follow way of wording or graphing a slippery or counter-intuitive concept.
   
   Of course, it's easy to hate Mr. Mankiw: he's young, he's handsome, he's brilliant (one of the youngest full professors ever at Harvard), and he's rich (his textbooks are now standard in AP courses nationwide). Jerk!
   
   Because of these reasons, I would love to trash his book, showing how it "ain't all that."
   
   Well, it is. Gulp.
   
   Only one note: If you're planning on getting this book to study macroeconomics independently, you will find one irritating drawback: there are exercises at the end of each chapter, but no answers in the back. Essentially, therefore, it's a book for schoolchildren, not mature learners.
   
   But its explanations -- believe me -- can't be beat.