KEY BENEFIT: This book is well known for its coverage of modern topics (Game theory, Economics of Information, and Behavioral Economics), clarity of its writing style and graphs, and integrated use of real world examples.

KEY TOPICS: The emphasis on relevance and application to both managerial and public-policy decision-making are focused goals of the book. This emphasis is accomplished by including MANY extended examples that cover such topics as the analysis of demand, cost, and market efficiency; the design of pricing strategies; investment and production decisions; and public policy analysis.

Economists and strategists looking to stay current with economic information.

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Second, even though I've had extensive economics background, the book could be suitable for beginners. The first two chapters give a concise overview of a basic Econ 1 course, explaining the basics of supply and demand, market structure, etc. - everything a person with little economics background needs to know to be able to understand this book. However, if you find this book to simple for you, keep in mind that Prentice Hall publishes it as "Intermediate Economics" - for use in 2nd or 3rd year in an undergraduate economics program.

Unlike many other econ textbooks I've encountered, this book is neither math-heavy nor theory-heavy - it has a good balance of theoretical information coupled with enough mathematical examples to get the message across. However, many students (and some reviewers on this website) find that there aren't enough examples and exercises (with answers) in the book - for that I'd HIGHLY recommend getting the Student Study Guide. It quickly summarizes each chapter (good for emergency test/quiz studying) and provides plenty of sample problems as it summarizes the concepts. It also includes a quick chapter quiz and gives the solutions to all problems found in the Study Guide.

Also unlike most outdated econ textbooks today, this one includes excellent chapters on Game Theory and pricing strategies. I've heard from a few business majors here at Berkeley that they're encouraged to read those two chapters as good examples of how these concepts apply to business and economics. The book features many "Sample Boxes" - small paragraphs on how the current topic of discussion has been applied in the real world. This helps understand that economics is a real science (in a sense that it can produce theories that are testable in the real world) and has some useful applications.

Overall, this is a very good economics textbook for intermediate microeconomics. The book alone deserves 4 stars, but coupled with the study guide, it's definitely a 5.

25 of 28 found the following review helpful:

Product Note about the Package EditionMar 18, 2000
By David A. Stumme "grenadier"
Just for those who might be wondering, the package edition includes the hardcover textbook as well as the corresponding workbook. Since the description does not make this clear, I thought I would mention it, since this is quite a bargain if you're buying both anyway.

20 of 22 found the following review helpful:

A good book for intermediate level studentsFeb 01, 2004
By SamBK
Organization of the books is good. Topics are discussed with enough clarity and each topic comes with lots of graphs and illustrations (which I think are a great help at that level). The level of algebra and math is at an intermediate undergraduate level (economics major). I think it is a complete book for anybody who wants to have an understanding of microeconomics. I am a Ph.D. student of economics now and if I am going to teach an undergrad micro course, I will certainly choose this textbook.

10 of 10 found the following review helpful:

Not the same as the International VersionNov 18, 2009
By AnneC
I want to warn anyone buying the international version that the problems are different from the US version.
Also, some of the notation is different (ex. rupees instead of dollars) and some of the examples are different.
If you don't have problems assigned from the book, the international version will work fine.
Many sellers claim that the editions are exactly the same, but they are not!

13 of 14 found the following review helpful:

Gaps in conceptual explanations: not for the intelligent readerSep 20, 2008
By Agyaat
I currently use this book to teach at the University of Michigan. (I chose it because it's what has been used here before.) The book is written in an accessible, reader-friendly style. It has many examples and pictures, which make it attractive -- a feature, I suppose, that is necessary to hold an undergrad's attention in these times we live in.

But what annoys me is the absence of conceptual rigor/detail and the sudden jumps in explanation. I want my students to be able to see what is going on and appreciate the simple elegant logic of microeconomic theory. Instead the book reads like it's delivering information to you, but isn't really explaining why it makes sense.

Here's an example. In Section 4.2 on Income and Substitution Effects, the effect of a price change is decomposed into income and substitution effects using constant utility. But as many of us know, there's an alternative way to do this too, which is holding purchasing power constant. For some reason that approach isn't mentioned. Instead, the text reads as though we were interested in the constant purchasing power approach, but then suddenly switches to a constant utility approach by saying "This substitution is marked by a movement along an indifference curve." But why? Wouldn't any intelligent student at this point start wondering how we went from purchasing power to utility? Flip back to Section 4.1 and find that the word utility has been quietly introduced there in a sentence that's in parentheses: "(Because the price of food has risen, the consumer's purchasing power -- and thus attainable utility -- has fallen.)"

Pooh. I don't like books that sneak important ideas into parentheses in order to avoid answering the all important question -- i.e. "Why?"



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