Text and other materials

There are TWO websites for this course:

The course website: This is where you go to access the supplementary material, to partake in class discussions, to take quizzes, etc., etc.

You will not be able to access this site until after you are registered and after I email you the log-on info- which will not occur until mid-August and until you have emailed me.

The publisher's free website: This contains brief chapter summaries and some video clips and PowerPoint presentations and review questions and practice tests, etc., etc.

The free website is at: http://mankiw.swlearning.com
Click on the link then select 3rd edition and Brief Principles of Macroeconomics and then pick a chapter and check it out!

Text:

Text is -- Mankiw: Brief Principles of Macroeconomics - 3rd edition

NOTE: The third edition is ONLY available as a USED book!
The bookstore has promised me that it will get enough copies to satisfy demand!

BUT -- IF YOU WISH --
You can buy the 4th edition from an online dealer (such as Amazon) or from some other college bookstore where the 4th edition has been assigned or by special order at a store such as Staceys.

The 3rd edition and the 4th edition are both supported at the publisher's free website.

Why did I go with the 3rd edition instead of the 4th edition?

Ans:
As far as I could see on a quick check, the two editions are pretty much alike except that page numbers are different. This means that if we went with the new edition:
(1) You would probably not be able to get a used book (the 4th edition has just come out) and thus you would be forced to pay more money just to get different page numbers;
-and-
(2) Since the course website is keyed to the text, I would have to go through and find each text reference and change each page number reference.

If you want the new 4th edition, is it OK?

Ans:
Sure! The only problem you might have is finding a page in the text that the course website references.

Remember:
Both editions are both supported at the publisher's free website.
But-
Whichever edition you buy, be sure to get the BRIEF Principles of Macroeconomics.

(There is another version called Principles of Macroeconomics that has lots of material that we will not be covering.)

About the text (either edition)

The author, Mankiw, does not try to "baby" the reader. A number of deep ideas and concepts are presented that will require work on your part to understand. I will try to guide you through the difficult parts. But in general, I think that the author's writing is more direct and clear than found in most texts. (If you end up having thoughts to the contrary, I would appreciate it if you would let me know. In fact, good, informative criticisms could be worth BPs [Bonus Points - explained later].)

Also beware- the author has a definite view of the world that you might find troubling. Just to give you a heads-up so you know where he is coming from: until last year, Mankiw (the author) was the Chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisors.

Relation of text to course website:
For each week, the course website will contain a summary of or a guide to the text material. Also, in most weeks, it will; contain extensive supplementary material NOT covered in the text.
Reason for the supplementary material: the text is brief and therefore skips some topics that I believe should be covered.

"Versions" of this text
The 3rd and the 4th editions of the Mankiw text both come in five different "versions". The version I'm asking you to buy is Brief Principles of Macroeconomics.

If you have a different version, them some of the chapter numbers will be different. There is a key on one of the early pages that explains which chapters are which in which versions. For example, Chapter 5 in the Brief Principles of Macroeconomics (3rd edition) is the same as Chapter 10 in the (regular) Principles of Macroeconomics (3rd edition).

Other material

Optional printed study guide -- 3rd edition
For the 3rd edition, there was an OPTIONAL student study guide by D. Hakes (published by Harcourt) that you might want to order. (While this is completely optional, many students find study guides to be particularly helpful.)

The ISBN for the study guide to the 3rd edition is 0324174640

For each chapter of the text, the study guide gives an overview, a review, definitions and practice questions.

Optional printed study guide -- 4th edition
Supposedly Mr. Hakes also wrote a study guide for the 4th edition but I have not yet seen it and do not know if it is out yet.

Excel
I have set up some interactive examples in Excel. You won't need to have Excel to SEE the examples, but if you do have Excel (version 6 or later) you will be able to download and experiment with them.

Remember -- this is a separate browser window. You can resize it and move it around. When done, click on the Close or "X" button for this browser window.