Microeconomics... the Easy Way

Mankiw's latest edition of Principles of Microeconomics has improved from its previous versions. Overall, this textbook adequately explains the basic theories underlining microeconomics. However, flaws surround the textbook that leave me wondering how universities across the country still require it in their introductory economics courses. Through this review I will discuss the quality and flaws within Principles of Economics, Third Edition that give universities a reason to require and decline the use of Mankiw.

The author of the text himself, N. Gregory Mankiw, has established himself as an expert within the field. This Harvard University economics Professor has been published in several scholarly journals, such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics, as well as other publications, including The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune. In addition to his teaching and writing, Dr. Mankiw is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office, and a member of the ETS test development committee for the advanced placement exam in economics. Clearly, Mankiw authority in the subject is undeniable. However, this text does not fill the scholarly background that gave the author grounds to produce it.

The textbook has improved from its last two editions, mainly to serve as a marketing device used to boost profits. This text suffers from several of the problems that plague the textbook industry today: "watered-down" course material. Mankiw over-simplified the concepts in Principles of Economics to explain the top part of a flower without elaborating on the roots that allowed the flower to develop beautifully. Mankiw hardly emphasizes anything past basic theory, REALLY basic theory. Economics courses in universities require students to have a deeper grasp on economics within society as it underlies several other major concepts taught in higher education. Mankiw's text leaves out several areas in microeconomic principles and does not fully elaborate on other concepts. For example, Mankiw fails to provide a comprehensive explanation for the effects the different types of taxes have on an economy. Moreover, the text doesn't even touch on the calculations of supply and demand graphs necessary to fully understand the complexities within a market system. Mankiw clearly felt that leaving out these key areas would make economics easier to learn in the college setting, thus increasing student satisfaction and leading to a higher demand for his book- economics in the works. Furthermore, Mankiw's position as an expert within the field gives him even more selling power as universities are eager to teach with a book from one of the most prominent economists of our time. Mankiw is irresponsible for watering-down his text, decreasing the knowledge the common man will know about everyday economics, slowly, but in the long-run voters will be almost clueless as to what a flat tax platform in a presidential election will really mean.

Principles of Economics doesn't under-emphasize everything though. Mankiw's explanation of the various conditions that affect overall supply and demand as well as his detailed graphs illustrating elasticity are top-notch. The author presents the material in a clear-cut way, incorporating numerous well-known examples of which students can relate to. For example, Mankiw's example of rent control showing the negative affects of price ceilings perfectly correlated the concept to a significant, well-known issue within society today. In addition, Principles of Economics contains exhaustive reviews at the end of each chapter as well as an online tutorial that is first-class. The Principles of Economics Study Guide proves incredibly handy and provides an excellent complement to the text, adding tests and detailed explanations.

Mankiw's textbook may not satisfy the student who plans on advancing his knowledge in future courses or to those students who plan to study finance and enter the stock market realm. But, Mankiw gets the job done for the student who sets his aims in mechanical engineering or astronomical physics; just enough to know why there's inflation and anti-trust laws. The author only does the student a greater disservice holding more in-depth material and limiting the book to the very basics, as this restricts the general economic knowledge in society and ultimately brings down the expectations of students in the real world. Again, it leaves me wondering if Mankiw uses his own text when teaching his courses.