Principles of Economics (Mankiw).

Joe1919

Principles of Economics (Mankiw, Harvard, 2004).

I am presently hoping to do an economics course and am trying to brush up on my limited (leaving cert ordinary) knowledge of economics by reading the above book?
Anyhow, I find the author reasonably clear and understandable but I do have two questions in the back of my mind that perhaps someone can answer.

1. Is there a difference between 'American' economics and 'European' economics? i.e. is there different jargon or standards used and is there any pitfalls in European's reading American authors? Also, would you consider this to be a 'good' book.

2. Has this current recession changed any 'theory'? i.e. Will it be necessary to rewrite certain chapters?
For example, one of Mankiw's principles is the 'short-run trade-off between inflation and employment'. How relevant are these ideas (Phillips curve, effect of minimum wage on unemployment etc.) to present recession.
What chapters ( or general theories or areas of economics) (if any) will need changing or improving when we come out of the present recession?

The book is a good way to start the subject.

American and European 'differences' may be the different approach to social welfare and, in a more technical matter, the Cambridge (Mass) v Cambridge (UK) approach to the modelling of economics. But none of these will come up in any detail in first year economics. But no, economics is pretty much the same where ever you go at intro level.

For question 2, the short answer is yes. But in your case, you have to learn the basics so the answer is no. If you keep with the course, towards the end you will start to get into the different theories of how to model unemployment, inflation etc but at the start you will be taught the basic principles in a very simple and stylised framework.

To use an expression that I hate - you have to learn to walk before you can crawl so not a lot of the currently topical areas of economics will be covered in any great detail on your intro course. You will get to do these later on when you understand more about the nature of economic modelling, and you will really get to do this if you go on and do an MSc.

Time Magazine

Deleted User wrote: »

and you will really get to do this if you go on and do an MSc.

And of course zaraba, with his Arts degree, uses the phrase "MSc" loosely to describe all manners of postgraduate degrees in economics

mr.interested

I'd also recommend Economics by Parkin, Powell and Matthews. The book gives also an amazing one-year subscription to MyEconLab, where you can test your knowledge in quizzes, tests. It also contains a study plan (where a lot of questions are explained) and you can send any question directly to the authors.

(I've used the book to brush up my knowledge from an undergraduate degree, which wasn't done through English language, to prepare me to undertake a Master's degree in Dublin.)

Joe1919

The Economist wrote: »

And of course zaraba, with his Arts degree, uses the phrase "MSc" loosely to describe all manners of postgraduate degrees in economics

My primary degree includes History and of course, there is that old argument as to whether history is an Art or a Science.
Anyhow, this normally doesent bother me as I believe that there is a component of imagination in all cognition and hence Science is an Art to some extent.
I guess that a good Economics needs a good imagination and so I guess ( and hope that) Economics could be considered as much an Art as a Science.

Joe1919

Joe1919 wrote: »

My primary degree includes History and of course, there is that old argument as to whether history is an Art or a Science.
Anyhow, this normally doesent bother me as I believe that there is a component of imagination in all cognition and hence Science is an Art to some extent.
I guess that a good Economics needs a good imagination and so I guess ( and hope that) Economics could be considered as much an Art as a Science.

Some places award a BSc, others an BA. It really depends on the college rather then the course. I see no difference between them! Most of the 'standard' postgrad courses in Economics are MSc in Europe. In the States you either go for the MSc or PhD.

andrew

mr.interested wrote: »

I'd also recommend Economics by Parkin, Powell and Matthews. The book gives also an amazing one-year subscription to MyEconLab, where you can test your knowledge in quizzes, tests. It also contains a study plan (where a lot of questions are explained) and you can send any question directly to the authors.

(I've used the book to brush up my knowledge from an undergraduate degree, which wasn't done through English language, to prepare me to undertake a Master's degree in Dublin.)

Thats the book I used this year (1st Year Economics 101). I thought it was excellent, though it's not like I have anything to compare it to. Here's a limited (table of contents) preview

Hasschu

Paul Anthony Samuelson who is usually described as a generalist economist wrote a number of books one of which was a staple in first year university economics courses. Economics is divided along left wing, right wing or capitalist or socialist lines as opposed to geographic location. There are also the schools division such as in the Austrian school. We could go on forever fiat money vs gold for example. A fascinating subject deep and broad.

Time Magazine

Hasschu wrote: »

Economics is divided along left wing, right wing or capitalist or socialist lines

Nah, not really. At least not any more. Debates about the use of instrumental variable techniques or lagged inflation values aren't political.