Product Description

It has been twenty years since the last edition of this classic book. Kevin Wainwright (British Columbia University and Simon Fraser University), a long time user of the text, has executed the perfect revision: he has updated examples, applications and theory without changing the elegant, precise presentation style of Alpha Chiang. Readers will find the wait was worthwhile.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20472 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 668 pages

About the Author
Retired

Customer Reviews

Excellent. A must for any graduate student of Economics.
This is a really well written book which can be of value to students with a wide range of mathematical abilities and backgrounds. The basic mathematical tools required to study economics at a post graduate level are explained with the minimum of fuss, yet in a way which enables the reader to understand the intuition behind the manipulations. There are many useful diagrams and plenty of well thought out exercises.

If you are planning to study economics at a post graduate level and you don't have a first degree in mathematics then take the time to read this book before you start!

great for theory not for practice
Economists are under the delusion that economics is on par with physical sciences such as physics regarding "laws" and "facts".
To keep this delusion up you are forced to learn advanced mathematics to be considered a "serious" economist, this is another book to sustain this delusion.

As Dr.Chiang himself puts it in the introduction, the primary purpose of mathematical economics as a subject is to aid theoretical and deductive reasoning, not empirical and inductive analysis.

Although I am highly critical of the subject itself, there is no doubt in my mind that Chiang is both an excellent teacher and writer.
This book is almost enjoyable to work with, for a math book, and everything is clearly explained with Chiang's humanistic touch.
There is more text in this book than mathematical formulae, and Chiang is not afraid to use words to describe mathematics.
I particularly liked his rendering of vector spaces, it made me see the math in a completely new way.
This is probably the most humanistic book to learn intermediate mathematical economics from. It is a balanced and well-crafted book.

The first half of this book covers all the math you need to know as an undergraduate: matrix algebra, sets, differentiation, basic optimization etc.
The remainder of the book covers more advanced and obscure stuff: sufficiency-theorems, Roy's Identity, improper integrals, the Cobweb model, the Samuelson Multiplier-Acceleration Interaction Model...

A positive externality you will be exposed to from this book is how to express your mathematics in a professional manner: you will learn how to understand and write the type of math you see in professional journals.
This is important to know if you plan to continue with advanced studies and research, and is a detail that many math courses tend to ignore.

I never had any major problems understanding the concepts, my main difficulty was working out how to do the calculations on my Texas calculator and keeping the motivation up. Partly what kept me going was Chiang's humanistic way of teaching: his teaching style is that of a wise teacher who knows his students' limits and knows how to convey a concept very clearly.
You could probably just read through the book if you wanted to and still get a good understanding of it all, that's how well written it is.

This book is mainly for those who plan to continue with a Masters degree in theoretical economics, particularly advanced microeconomics.
If you plan to specialize in applied economics such as demographics or work in applied research, you are much better of just learning the basics of calculus and invest more time learning statistical techniques. Most of the stuff in this book has little practical use if you are not a theoretician.

Consequently, I think for practical business people wanting to learn some mathematical economics, the following books are much better to use: Bradley's Essential Mathematics for Economics and Business, and Jacques' Mathematics for Economics and Business.
The Schaum-book by Dowling, Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics (Schaum's Outline), is much better for revision than Chiang, as the text in Chiang's book "get's in the way" when you just want to look something up.

In conclusion, if you are any sort of practical business person you are way of target with this book, this is a book for students who aim to one day write their own articles in journals, play around with their models, and take themselves too seriously. This book is not for practical business application - it is a tool for understanding and developing economic theory. Whether its a good tool or not is a matter of opinion.

excellent both for learning and review
This book is an excellent introduction to the mathematics needed by economists. It covers all the background needed to begin in a typical economics Ph.D. program, and presents it understandably. I found that it is rigorous enough that I can apply what I have learned from it confidently. It uses total differentials where more advanced books might use vector calculus. This is a more intuitive approach, and better suited for an introduction. It includes some very good illustrations which clarify the concepts.