3 comments about Macroeconomics with MyEconLab plus eBook 1-semester Student Access Kit (8th Edition) (MyEconLab Series).

1. The book came in almost new condition and was accurate on shipping time. It is easy to read and explains things well even though the topic still is difficult. It brings it to student level and relatability. All in all thumbs up.



2. I love the book. The explanations and illustrations are easy to follow. However, what I did not like was the shipping service. It took Amazon 1 week to get the book to me and I had paid for the 1 day shipment.



3. Macroeconomics is a very solid beginning economics textbook. All the principles are well taught and easy to learn. The graphs and illustrations help with the main points. Especially in the first chapters, the review problems and real-life examples are extremely helpful. However, the book was a little too detailed for the level class I took. My professor probably skipped 50% of the textbook. Many of the explanations in the book could have been explained much more simply. Also, the book is divided into several sections, which is helpful, but the section summaries are at the end of the group of chapters! I just thought that was weird. Overall, though, a good textbook.

No comments about Macroeconomics 2008-2009 Update Edition plus MyEconLab One-semester Student Access Kit (6th Edition).

No comments about Robustness.

5 comments about The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time.

1. Polanyi's great transformation starts in the 19th century with the installation of a self-regulating market system ('the satanic mill') for labor, land and money and by letting the whole society be run by the system without any intervention. It provoked a wholesale destruction of the `traditional fabric of society'.
   
   Attack on the market economy and democracy
   In fact, this book is not only an attack against `laissez-faire', but also against a `regulated' market system and against, for Polanyi, the main cause of this great transformation (democracy). His book is not less than a plea for a return to the `Ancien Régime', for Polanyi the Golden Age of mankind, `the traditional unity of the Christian society', `the social fabric of the village under the supremacy of squire and parson', the society of `the benevolent gentlemen of England with their compassion from the heart', when economics where `embedded' in the whole society.
   
   What was this Ancien Régime?
   A disaster for 999 out of 1000 individuals. The poor had only one option: 'steal to be hanged' (J. Swift, D. Defoe, E.J. Burford). But for Polanyi, `under the regime of feudalism and the village community, noblesse oblige, clan solidarity, and regulation of the corn market checked famine'.
   The kings owned the salt mines and sold (!) as a monopoly their salt (a necessity for survival) dearly: one block of about 5 kg was worth a whole village, population included (the ancient salt mines of Krakow are well worth a visit). For Polanyi, `it is the absence of the threat of individual starvation which makes primitive society more humane.'
   Polanyi defends the guild system, feudalism and mercantilism: `Feudalism and landed conservatism were only seemingly contrary to the general interest of the community' and `neither under tribal nor under feudal nor under mercantile conditions was there a separate economic system in society'. But the guild system was an antidemocratic closed shop and mercantilism (F. Colbert) was a system for strengthening the Nation, in other words, the power of one man (`L'Etat, c'est moi').
   
   What is the cause of this great transformation?
   `The democratization of the political State which caused the separation of the economic and political sphere', `the transition to a democratic system and representative politics'.
   
   What is Polanyi's solution?
   `The passing of the market-economy can become the beginning of an era of unprecedented freedom.' What we need is planning, control, power and compulsion to ensure conformity which is needed for the survival of the group. Contradictio in terminis? Absolutely not: `the individual person should not fear that power and planning will turn against him'.
   
   Of course, submitting the whole society to a pure self-regulating market system (e.g., the gold standard) is asking for disaster. The market system, a must for democracy, should be regulated and parts of the fabric of society should be managed by the State under a democratically elected government (R. Kuttner, J. Stiglitz). Indeed, `The economic order is merely a function of the social order'.
   
   This book is an extraordinary reactionary and naïve defense of a `black' past.
   However, the introduction by J. Stiglitz is excellent and justifies a modest outlay.



2. Adam Smith's *Wealth of Nations* may well have been the premier work in the history of economic thought, but his ventures into the realm of economic origins are, alas, founded on Platonic myth. Polanyi's work *Great Transformation* incorporated anthropological work from known primitive societies, plus available historical documents, to construct a far more empirical explanation of the origins of the market economy.
   
   In this work, published fourteen years later, Polanyi (and colleagues) returns to the anthropological and archaeological evidence to reconstruct exactly how prices, real wages, and exchange relationships were organized. The early empires this book addresses include ancient Mesopotamia, Western Africa, Anatolia and Greece, Mesoamerica, the Sahel Steppe, and India. Additionally, a series of essays in the back by the books several authors draw upon primitive and classical empires to examine how early man used commerce, and how that later led to institutions of trade.
   
   This receives four stars because, while it is a milestone in the field of economic history, it has since been superseded by more recent, nuanced analysis. His essay "The Economy as Instituted Process" is compelling, yet schematic; of course he brushes over countervailing evidence, because he is sketching out a stylized model of how labor, land, and tools were reified and subordinated to markets.



3. Adam Smith's *Wealth of Nations* may well have been the premier work in the history of economic thought, but his ventures into the realm of economic origins are, alas, founded on Platonic myth. Polanyi's work *Great Transformation* incorporated anthropological work from known primitive societies, plus available historical documents, to construct a far more empirical explanation of the origins of the market economy.
   
   In this work, published fourteen years later, Polanyi (and colleagues) returns to the anthropological and archaeological evidence to reconstruct exactly how prices, real wages, and exchange relationships were organized. The early empires this book addresses include ancient Mesopotamia, Western Africa, Anatolia and Greece, Mesoamerica, the Sahel Steppe, and India. Additionally, a series of essays in the back by the books several authors draw upon primitive and classical empires to examine how early man used commerce, and how that later led to institutions of trade.
   
   This receives four stars because, while it is a milestone in the field of economic history, it has since been superseded by more recent, nuanced analysis. His essay "The Economy as Instituted Process" is compelling, yet schematic; of course he brushes over countervailing evidence, because he is sketching out a stylized model of how labor, land, and tools were reified and subordinated to markets.



4. While this is now a classic text, having been written in 1944, as time passes it provides a more and more compelling explanation of modern economic history; I have found it to be of immense value - definately worth reading!



5. "Our thesis is that the idea of a self-adjusting market implied a stark utopia. Such an institution could not exist for any length of time without annihilating the human and natural substance of society; it would have physically destroyed man and transformed his surroundings into a wilderness." (p. 3)
   
   As one can see from possibly the most famous Polanyi quote, "The Great Transformation" is about the market and its consequences. This book is not an easy read; as Joseph Stiglitz acknowledges in his Foreword, it certainly has accessibility issues due to its language, certain details in its reasoning and the background knowledge it assumes on the part of the reader. However, I can only give this book five stars because of two great ideas it develops.
   
   The first one is that the market economy is a fairly recent social construct. For most of human history, markets did not play a major role in economic organization; the "natural propensity to truck and barter" attributed to human beings by Adam Smith is actually apocryphal, as shown in Polanyi's discussion of early societies (p. 45). Polanyi describes in great detail the rise of the market society - the development of national markets, the slow move toward a free labor market and all the legislation that accompanied it. When seen in this perspective, the failure of shock therapy in Russia makes perfect sense: the market is in no way the natural state and it needs extensive institutional infrastructure to function properly (see "Globalization and its Discontents" by Joseph Stiglitz for more on this).
   
   The second major idea here is the idea of double movement. It says that in society there are two main opposing forces working against each other. One is a market liberal force which pushes in the direction of the self-regulating market, the other is a reaction that develops due to the immense costs and pain imposed by the market. If the current financial crisis in the US leads to more regulation of finance, in Polanyian terms it will be a reaction to the unsustainable costs imposed by deregulation of finance. The interesting part about this idea of the double movement is that it essentially turns Hayekian spontaneous order on its head. For Hayek, the market society is a spontaneous outcome due to inherent human propensities while the state is a parasite that tries to suppress the expression of the human nature with interventionist meddling. For Polanyi, "Laissez-faire was planned; planning was not", i.e. the market society arose through deliberate state action, whereas the reaction in the opposite direction was spontaneous (p. 147).
   
   Polanyi traces the changes in the international system to the market and covers the ideological developments behind the self-regulating market, but you will have to see for yourself. Once again, this book is a hard read, especially if you are just trying to educate yourself and do not have anyone to clarify the intricacies. However, the Foreword by Joseph Stiglitz and the Introduction by Fred Block are both quite helpful. "The Great Transformation" is rightly considered a heterodox classic and if you are interested in a different take on the market economy, do yourself a favor and pick this up!

No comments about Macroeconomics: A Modern Approach.

3 comments about Schaum's Outline of Macroeconomics.

1. 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.




2. 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.



3. Nobody keeps Schaums outlines in stock anymore because the shelves have been taken over by standardized test prep books. Where does that leave us schlubs that are trying to learn something? Anyway, the class is over and the book is still back ordered!

5 comments about Macroeconomic Essentials - 2nd Edition: Understanding Economics in the News.

1. I found this text particulary inspiring the first semester I used it in my introductory macroeconomic class. The manner in which the material is presented makes the text a useful reference guide for business professionals who need to great refresher text to bring them up to date on the basic workings of the economy. Most of my students liked the book.



2. I have looked through a wide variety of books on Macroeconomics and only this one has really satisfied me. It covers all the topics well; clearly, but not in a simplistic manner. And when you have finished studying a chapter and done some of the exercises at the end, you will understand the principles very well. The use of media exercises not only is more applicable to every day life, but also helps to stick the concepts into your brain so they are more easily retained.

   With all this said, the book is quite approachable. It is written for the everyday student to understand concepts that are critcial in your everyday life; from investing to decifering the political conversations about the economy/deficit/balance of trade.

   I highly recommend this book.




3. Book is new although there was a marking at the bottom of the pages.



4. Macroeconomics text books are like books on Options - where theory from academics is the usual content when people need a book that tells them how to make money out of this.
   
   This book is a good workable approach to practical understnding of interelationships in a subject area that is over academicised.
   
   If you study to the point where can do the end of book exercises then you will have a good grasp of macroeconomic essentials as they apply in the real world.



5. It's a laugh to think that "Macroeconomic Essentials" has everything that a student or ordinary citizen needs to know about macroeconomics as reported in the news. Anyone who used it to understand the current housing bubble cum banking crisis (or international trade, or health economics, or the economics of global warming...etc., etc., etc.) would be in for a rude surprise. However, the book does distinguish itself from the typical macro textbook by focusing on a few core themes, rather than on a mass of technical details and equations. In fact, it contains most (maybe all) of the material that a normal non-economist could possibly hope to remember from an undergraduate macro course. That's an achievement. Highly recommended.

No comments about Macroeconomics Study Guide and Workbook.

4 comments about Boyes, Macroeconomics, 7e.

1. Even though I agree with many of the opinions that Boyes expresses in his book, I dare say that he does not know the difference between an opinion and a fact. Teaching this sort of thinking to our impressionable college students is dangerous at best and disastrous at worst. College is a place where kids are supposed to be taught how to think. Indoctrination of our youth is the worst kind of sin because we are condemning the next generation to a lifetime of limited thought and stagnation of progress.
   
   There are many controversial topics in Economics. For most of them, Boyes only tells the student his own point of view. Nevermind the point of view of anyone else. This book even goes as far as including an EDITORIAL at the end of every chapter.
   
   Also disturbing, this book is full of mistakes. Mathematical errors, incorrect data, etc. I found at least two mistakes in every chapter. Most mistakes were minor, and a few were major.



2. The book is not suitable for undergraduates who have never studied economics before. There are no alternative explanations of concepts. The text is full of indoctrination. What were the authors thinking at the time of writing the book?
   What's wrong about HAWALA network? They say it is an alternative way of transferring money to remote, poor areas in less developed countries, but immediately call it a financial channel for terrorists.
   For instance, in Chapter 2 the authors try to explain benefits of trade in case of Haiti and Dominican Republic. The goods chosen are not related goods (from the point of view of a producer, it is hard to imagine how a country would shift resources from healthcare units (?) to food output), so I had to alter goods and numbers to make more sense of the case. I said Haiti and Dominican Republic were both producing sugar and coffee. That way it is easier for students to imagine how a country would shift people, land, and other resources away from sugar plantations to coffee plantations. In their explanation, it seemed to me that authors forgot that they were trying to explain those things to recent high school graduates. They assumed students could understand their incomplete explanations.
   
   I do not recommend this book for introductory college economics.
   
   sincerely
   mr
   Chicago, IL



3. I cannot speak for the content of the book itself but just be forewarned that this is the Study Guide (not the student package and not the book itself. I've sent amazon the corrections and they may eventually be implemented with the page numbers and I'm submitting a picture as well.



4. It came fast, but wasn't in as good of condition as they said. But it works, and I am pleased with it!

2 comments about Macroeconomics for Today.

1. I found the text to be well written. Mr. Tucker is very thorough and yet concise in his layout of the chapters and it is very easy to read. The charts and graphs really illustrate what is being discussed and each section has a review section to reinforce what you have just read.



2. I ordered this book because it was cheaper then on other sites. I bought it new for the purpose of not having to buy an additional access code for my online class. Since when bought new the access code to WebCT should come in the new book. I received the book with no CD. So after all that, I still had to pay an additional fee for a code when it should have came with the book. A very big hassle. I called customer service and all they said they could do was send me another book if I returned the book I had purchased to them. That would be an 8 week turn around, and by that time I would have been half way through my class. So instead I had to purchases the code on my own. I will not buy books from Amazon again. There are other text book web sites that understand the demands of buying books for schools.