Principles of Macroeconomics

How can I give this book 5 stars and at the same time tell you not to use it? Read on: This is a college freshman-level macro survey book that uses only elementary algebra and geometry. It's got a slightly conservative bent, deemphasizing, for example, the income inequality implications of certain monetary or fiscal measures. But personally I love this book. I got a lot out of reading it. It helped to clarify some things I had been wondering about for years -- literally. I had been teaching economics for a few years before settling down to read this. The publisher sent me an evaluation copy for free. If you're teaching AP Economics, I can tell you that the College Board people hate this book and, on their website, specifically disrecommend it for an AP course. Sure, it's missing some things you're going to have to supply if you're teaching AP Macroeconomics (e.g., it's got no Keynesian cross), but the reason I liked it so much was precisely why they hated it. You know how economics books (and heck, even algebra books these days; it's a plague) try to get you "into" the subject while skirting around the unpleasant math or disembodied formulae? Well, this book doesn't do that. It gives it to you "dry," so to speak, leaving you to get interested in the subject somehow else. This was a big boon for me, since after years of teaching econ, I didn't need yet another book that asked me "What do you suppose YOUR MPC is?" and instead just gave me the cold, dry math for solving econ problems. That is why this book was for me, stuffy as it can be, kind of a breath of fresh air. Anyhow, the reason I say don't switch to this book is simple: There won't be an eighth edition. This is coming personally from an email communication from the author (in May 2008). In response to my inquiry about a new edition, Dr. Ruffin wrote that the two of them are retired now and the book (the 7th edition went to press in 2001) will not be updated again, at least not by them. So if you switch to this edition, you're going to be looking silly in a few years when everybody else has got an updated edition. But if you're a little wobbly about teaching macro and have been craving a "just the facts, ma'am" approach, this volume will be a welcome addition to your reference shelf. Dr. Ruffin and Dr. Gregory: thank you.