Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #113224 in Books
• Published on: 1990-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 864 pages

Customer Reviews

Difficult but useful...
I agree with everything the other reviewer has said, but would add that, although seemingly impenetrable when read for the first time, the book is quite good at cementing your understanding if you already have a grasp of the models. Kreps often presents results in a few subtly different ways, which is quite useful for intuition. That said, this also makes it more difficult if you need to set out a particular model in an essay, for example.

if you like proofs...
I must agree with the other reviewer that at first glance Kreps can be pretty intimidating. There seems to be a mathematical proof for everything, with algebra often replacing basic analysis. For this reason it seems a more appropriate graduate textbook - or if you have an aptitude for maths, for advanced undergraduates. If you persevere with Kreps the some of the proofs become more manageable and there is some value to just reading the descriptive analysis.

However, the style of writing appears a little awkward: when you compare it to Varian's intermediate Micoreconomics or Microeconomic analysis it does not have the same simple and straightforward structure. Kreps is clearly an economist first, and a writer second - you will find yourself having to read some parts of the book many times to get any sense out of it. However, if you are a capable mathematician Kreps is all you will need to succeed at Graduate level or get a First at undergrad.