tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post844736707603581922..comments2024-02-15T03:13:49.505-08:00Comments on Economic Policy Advice for Barack Obama: Book Review: Olivier Blanchard's Macroeconomics, 5th EditionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-12172423075234754832013-07-18T10:57:28.161-07:002013-07-18T10:57:28.161-07:00Yes, he actually considers it a work of genius!Yes, he actually considers it a work of genius!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-74486032364537164872012-05-25T01:49:32.264-07:002012-05-25T01:49:32.264-07:00But Brad Delong considers Blanchard's book, th...But Brad Delong considers Blanchard's book, the one he admires most?<br />http://econ161.berkeley.edu/macro_online/competitors/blanchard_excellences.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-18907159297590285792009-12-29T03:22:19.204-08:002009-12-29T03:22:19.204-08:00You've done a fairly thorough job of asserting...You've done a fairly thorough job of asserting that Blanchard's "Macroeconomics" is a poor textbook. <br /><br />So now comes the important question - What is a better intermediate Macroeconomics textbook?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-59143475637301711022009-11-28T15:57:35.511-08:002009-11-28T15:57:35.511-08:00I do think that successful textbook authors can ma...I do think that successful textbook authors can make a lot of money. I might respond at greater length if this blog allowed me to paste text into this little editor, but it doesn't.<br /><br />However, the U.S. Congress published a study on the topic of textbook prices, which you can find at http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acfsa/edlite-txtbkstudy.html.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-40538363149246147492009-11-26T01:00:10.189-08:002009-11-26T01:00:10.189-08:00Nice points.
I wonder how much market power the p...Nice points.<br /><br />I wonder how much market power the publishers have? It must be possible to do some shopping w/ publishers, right? Entry can't be thaaat difficult, and there are clearly huge markups for somebody for a $100+ textbook bound in China. <br /><br />I'm quite curious how much economists get for textbooks. I suspect the likes of Mankiw must get millions... For the smaller texts, I'd imagine they also often crack six figs, but I could be wrong. Anyone know? <br /><br />-TVAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-81711922617181088042009-11-25T02:23:57.387-08:002009-11-25T02:23:57.387-08:00Re: Krugman's "International Economics&qu...Re: Krugman's "International Economics" -- the book I saw for $110 was Krugman's "Macroeconomics," not that one, but no matter.<br /><br />You might be interested to note that the book you point to is a "Pearson International Edition." North American pubs often charge higher prices inside N.A. than outside. The copyright page of that book says that "If you purchased this book within the United States or Canada you hsould be aware that it has been wrongfully reimported without the approval of the Publisher or Author." An edition of that book authorized for sale in the U.S. and Canada probably costs more and differs only in the ISBN and a few lines on the cover and copyright page.<br /><br />Note that I'm not defending publishers in their pricing or other practices, and you're correct, I suppose, that authors are somewhat complicit. I do not think they have any leverage here, though, or any way to effect the behavior of publishers other than refusing to write textbooks for publication at all.<br /><br />The point in the process at which professional academics do have some leverage is in the textbooks they choose to use for their courses, and I'm encouraged when I see efforts by colleges and universities to push back against publishers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-11029212066137200722009-11-25T01:57:37.549-08:002009-11-25T01:57:37.549-08:00You are surely correct that the author did not do ...You are surely correct that the author did not do any of the production work: editing (such as it was, anyway), art prep, typesetting, or page-makeup, or for that matter, the actual printing and binding. The publisher farmed all that stuff out, probably to India for the latter production stages and maybe to China for printing and binding. That's the way textbooks (from major pubs like P-H, et al.) are made.<br /><br />I'm sure that the author was also motivated by profit as well as possible prestige, should the book become widely used. You can conclude that no one should write textbooks for major publishers, I suppose, but it seems a little utopian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-50001163433752658652009-11-24T12:13:23.324-08:002009-11-24T12:13:23.324-08:00http://www.amazon.com/International-Economics-Paul...http://www.amazon.com/International-Economics-Paul-R-Krugman/dp/1408208075/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259093067&sr=8-1Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-81993843964537794752009-11-24T12:12:53.452-08:002009-11-24T12:12:53.452-08:00I see this Krugman text for $87, which is still pr...I see this Krugman text for $87, which is still price gouging, but more reasonable than $136. Anyway, I've read Krugman defending textbook prices -- I completely disagree. <br /><br />If it's the publisher's fault, then Blanchard should refuse to let his name be put on the cover. <br /><br />I realize that the publisher probably did all of the formatting, editing (what little was done, anyway), and probably wrote the questions and perhaps some of the textbook itself, in addition to doing all of the marketing. Blanchard's a busy guy -- w/out someone to do all of that, he probably wouldn't have written a textbook at all. But if that's the case, then he shouldn't be writing textbooks at all. It does not look to me like his heart was in the book in any case -- it was just something he did one summer for money...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3622225605650065211.post-27167318004710456272009-11-24T11:31:52.526-08:002009-11-24T11:31:52.526-08:00Hi --
I don't think you can properly blame au...Hi --<br /><br />I don't think you can properly blame authors for high textbook prices. Prices are set by the publisher (or "the market," if you prefer), not the author. I doubt that Blanchard's book differs much in price from similar books. Looking quickly at Amazon, it looks like Mankiw's macro book sells for $141. Krugman's is $110, and that's for a paperback book!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com