Economics – Theory Through Applications

Reviewed by Florencia Gabriele, Adjunct Professor, Massachusetts Bay Community College on 6/29/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book is ideal for a community college introductory class. The concepts are clearly explained. The content is very approachable. I believe this book will be clear to understand for students who are just being exposed to the subject matter.
The book can be used in an Introduction to Economics course as well as Principles of Macroeconomics or Microeconomics if the instructor chooses the chapters to present

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content is accurate and appropriate for an introductory course

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book provides clear, useful examples that are relevant to any college student.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is clear and easy to understand. It uses concepts from everyday life that are relatable to students, making it easy for the instructor to adapt the book and use its examples. At the end of each chapter there a review questions that I would love to see being expanded in future editions of the book.

Consistency rating: 5

The book has a consistent organization that is followed in every chapter.

Modularity rating: 4

The book is divided into 30 chapters plus a comprehensive toolkit. This allows flexibility for any instructor willing to assign the different topics of each chapter. The toolkit allows anyone to dive deeper when it comes to concepts that require a mathematical explanation.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book can be used for Micro and Macro classes, the instructor will have to choose which chapters to pick. I believe this can be easily achieved.

Interface rating: 5

I found no problems reading the book in its pdf version as well as in the online version.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

None found

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

There are 2 chapters that cover international issues (chapters 20 and 21).

Comments

This is a good book to be used in an introductory principles of economics class. It covers all the topics that most classes would discuss.

Reviewed by Gabriel Armstrong, Instructor, Colorado State University on 11/20/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Economics: Theory Through Applications is very comprehensive and intuitive. The authors have created a fantastic outline of the subject, focusing on specific areas in an easy to understand context

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Russell Cooper and Andrew John are experts in their field. They are able to take extremely concise and and advanced ideas and simplify them in context to the point of easy understanding.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Russell Cooper and Andrew John have painted a picture of broad economics and the thorough application through which the study can be used. They are fantastic about setting the tone for easy understanding through context and pragmatism.

Clarity rating: 4

While simple in nature to start, the book becomes thoroughly advanced as it progresses. Cooper and John do a great job of expressing their ideas about economic theory well and give great examples of the use of practical application.

Consistency rating: 4

Cooper and John outline this book well, creating a broad picture but simplifying the concepts where appropriate to give the reader a thorough grasp of the concepts.

Modularity rating: 4

Divided into 30 chapters and a Toolkit, this text is great about the differentiation of the subject matter. It can easily be studied by individual concept or as a whole.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Each section is well thought out and organized. Clear and concise, indicative of any successful and useful text.

Interface rating: 5

The display is perfect. I read it in its .pdf format on a computer and had no issues with any interface.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Perfectly relevant, written from an unbiased and unencumbered standpoint.

Comments

Cooper and John have created a fantastic text. This would be incredibly useful not just for an Economics class, but as the subject pertains across all business and social sciences courses.

Reviewed by Tristan Coughlin, Assistant Professor, Augustana College on 6/12/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This text does a good job of covering a large amount of material while not providing the reader with extraneous information. The book covers an introduction to both micro and macroeconomic theory, so it's necessary to simplify as much as possible. This is done very well. Model assumptions and conclusions are explained in a way that is understandable to readers who may not be familiar with the mathematics behind the theory. The chapter 31 toolkit provides access to any mathematical or statistical tools that students may want or need.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The content of this textbook is very accurate and unbiased. The text simplifies many theories and models, as is necessary in an introductory text, but in doing so remains as accurate as is possible. The author also does an excellent job of providing applications of the theory without bias. The applications really bring the theory to life.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Because the textbook provides real-world applications, some areas may require updating. For example, the 14th chapter about environmental externalities and the 17th chapter about the car market might require updating every few years. However, the majority of the applications used by the author are timely and enduring. Indeed, a strength of this book is that it provides up-to-date applications of relatively old economic theories and principles.

Clarity rating: 5

A strength of this text is that it simplifies economic jargon and terminology in a way that is suitable to introductory students. For example, in regards to consumer preferences, it's easier for new students to understand that "more is better" than "preferences are monotonic". Necessary mathematical assumptions are often difficult to explain in a way that makes applicable sense, but this text does a good job of doing just that. The chapter 31 toolkit also provides some of the more complex details in case students are interested.

Consistency rating: 4

The text offers a consistent framework. Each chapter concludes with "End-of-Chapter material" that includes review questions, key ideas, and website links. Although some terms can be confusingly similar as theory jumps between macro and micro, the terminology is as consistent as is possible,

Modularity rating: 5

Graphs and tables work well together in this text. There is consistent formatting of headings and subheadings that make it easy to jump from one section to another. Each section is relatively short and provides a heading or subheading for each key idea.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

This text jumps around between micro and macroeconomic topics in a way that can make it difficult to divide an introductory class into half microeconomics and half macroeconomics. The text is perfect for a principles of economics class or an introduction to economics class, but splitting this text into it's micro and macroeconomic chapters requires a little extra time and effort.

Interface rating: 5

It's easy to move from topic to topic and chapter to chapter within this text. Graphs and tables are not interactive, but they are very easy to read and understand. Graphs and tables complement each other very well, and this is a major strength of the text. Students are able to see variable relationships numerically and graphically.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I found no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This text focuses primarily on American-style capitalism, but chapters 20 and 21 examine global issues. The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive.

Comments

This text is perfect for a principles of economics class for economics majors and non-economics majors. The book provides very clear and interesting examples of applications of theory that can often become tedious and muddled. The text does a good job of preparing students for further study in economic theory for those who plan to do so, while simultaneously providing applicable use of economic theory to students who don't. There's a balance between application and theory that makes the text useful for a wide range of introductory economics students.

Reviewed by Kaitlin Hakanson, Adjunct Instructor, Klamath Community College on 4/7/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

With 31 chapters, this textbook covers the majority of important concepts and terminology. The last chapter is titled "toolkit" and consists of formulas, definitions, and terminology that students will encounter throughout the text. This is a great feature that I think students and instructors would find useful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I did not encounter any obvious errors in the text. It is written for the traditional college student, which I think would leave some non-traditional students feeling as though they cannot relate to every example. That being said, the examples I read are realistic and do a good job of illustrating the concepts.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

There is discussion about the recent recession (2008), which is a big plus. This example is also nested in the global landscape, not just the U.S. 31 chapters is a lot, but they are organized in a manner that would allow easy updating without upsetting the structure of the text. In other words, it's modular.

Clarity rating: 5

The style and tone of this textbook makes it very accessible, and it is one of the strengths of the text.

Consistency rating: 4

The text has a good balance between the qualitative and quantitative aspects of economics. Some of the chapters are more focused on one side more than the other.

Modularity rating: 5

Thematic sections are properly labeled and headers are also used correctly. As an instructor, I find the text approachable and a great starting point for my own lectures and activities.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Since this text is structured to present real-world examples and then work backwards through theory, the titles of the chapters don't follow any obvious order. So, just based on my first-impression, there isn't a clear flow.

Interface rating: 5

My impression is that the authors did their due diligence on formatting, and so all of the graphics, images, headers, and other non-text elements look great. The text is also consistent in placement, font, size, and spacing.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I read about 10% of the book and did not encounter any obvious grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The concepts and examples are typical of European capitalist countries. There is discussion of income inequality, but all of the mechanisms for exchange are discussed in a market-based system using currency. Nothing is overtly offensive, but there wasn't a lot of effort into being inclusive of different economic systems.