eBook Microeconomics: Theory Applications with Calculus, Student Value Edition (2nd Edition) ePub

Mezilabar

I am a student at the University of Michigan and this is the book we use for our intermediate microeconomics theory class. To start, this is NOT the book for you if you are weak in math (ie. can't stand calculus) and lack a solid understanding of basic microeconomics. If you are only trying to get the fundamentals, like say, how monopolies behave in a market economy or what a supply and demand curve looks like then go for the one by Pindyck. This book is for those who want to gain a DEEPER understanding of micro. Like given a trade between two individuals, what would be the equilibrium bundle reached by both parties considering their unique indifference curves. And how much would a consumer demand given a budget constraint. These are some of the topics covered in this book and Perloff has done a superb job showing the concepts.

The math in this textbook is somewhat advanced for the average undergraduate. if you don't know what a partial derivative is, then you will be lost. There are some first order differential equations and Lagrangians in there as well. In order to get the most out of this book I would say you need to have a solid understanding of calculus I and II, and a basic knowledge of III and IV. The concepts themselves aren't that complicated it's just that Perloff uses a lot of calculus to show them. But like I said, if you ARE good at math then this book will tell you more about intermediate micro and leave you with a far better theoretical background than any other.

Indeed, this is arguably the BEST undergraduate textbook for intermediate microeconomics. It's written like how a true microeconomics theorist would write it, and it is way better than the classic by Varian. The book actually shows you the mathematical derivations behind the concepts and Perloff always cut to the heart of the issue and explain things in the most succinct manner. Plus there's also a ton of problems after each chapter with solutions in the back. Given the fact that microeconomics theory is essentially a physics or a math class, Perloff's book gets an A+ for giving students lots of problems to work on. Without which anyone would be lost on a quantitative based exam.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book for anyone with a serious interest in microeconomics and/or a desire to pursue micro theory at a graduate level later on.

Shaktit

I'm an engineering student who decided to take an intermediate microeconomics class to satisfy some elective degree requirement. I didn't know what I was getting myself into with this course: previously this class was taught at the 400 level, with a prerequisite introductory microeconomics taught at the 300 level, then the econ department pulled a fast one on us, and replaced both courses with this one and re-numbered it at 300 level, with no pre-reqs. The class is now known as having incredibly low averages because many students struggle with the difficulty of tackling these mid-level concepts without the introductory prerequisite class.

This book is pretty unpopular among my fellow students in my intermediate microeconomics class, but in hindsight - with my hardly sought after "A" locked safely into place :) - I can say that the textbook is pretty good when taken for what it is: a serious mid-level, calculus-based microeconomics book. It requires the reader to spend time and effort into reading every sentence, and it can be dense and even confusing at times. Either the concepts become better written as you venture into chapters 10-14, or I became better at digesting it, because for me the book was easier to read as I progressed.

Low parts:
When the author works through specific examples, it can be long and drawn out. The disadvantage is that often the intuition behind the concepts (intuition that could be generalized) is hidden inside the specific example problems, so you never know if you can skip portions that are just doing some number crunching because sometimes some core concept are embedded in them.
Also, some portions are just plain written poorly and are difficult to read through. Part of this is because Micro-theory isn't always the most interesting thing to learn and there is a certain amount of trudging involved.

High parts:
The beginning chapters and end of chapter summaries are helpful and concise. The author typically underlines important concepts, and often there are some portions of the chapter where he really generalizes well and hits on all cylinders explaining the concepts clearly.

Sometimes there will be several pages without much really important content, but then there will be a page where everything on it is gold. The biggest difficulty is really sorting out what is necessary and what is extraneous.

Like others have said, you better have had a solid introductory calculus sequence or don't even bother with this. As an engineering major this wasn't an issue for me, but this experience would be unfathomable without a solid background (A or B) in single and multivariate calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra. The math itself is not mechanically difficult to solve, but you need to understand the concept behind, say, a Lagrangian, or the null-space. There are other engineering majors and even math majors in the class with me who are struggling, (granted they are C students).

Overall, it's not the worst textbook I've had, but in engineering we often get some pretty bad textbooks, so maybe I'm just immune.

mr.Mine

It's well written and informative, but it handles more like a mathematics textbook than an economics survey. That is understandable considering the heavy emphasis on Calculus concepts. Nonetheless, the author is quirky and personable. If you like professor humor, good quotes, and relevant examples, this is the book for you and your class!

Vonalij

Recommended for high school student preparing for AP and college students. This is a textbook that clarifies concepts and provide problems and application.

MeGa_NunC

Helps tremendously

Mr_TrOlOlO

The book was in a bad condition with too much writing, underlining and highlighting inside. Worse was none of this was mentioned in the description before I decided to rent it.

Very bad experience. A bad name for Amazon's well established reputation.

Moogura

I am using this book for college intermediate micro and I have to say that it really hasn't helped one bit. Economics is best understood when presented with numerous examples and this book contains very few. For the price, don't buy. I don't even use mine anymore and just look up whatever is confusing. I suggest anyone else to do the same.

School requirement.