Schaum's Outline of Macroeconomics

As far as prerequisites are concerned, some basic knowledge of economics and money and banking will make reading this book easier and more understandable. Although calculus is not required, some knowledge of basic or college algebra is helpful.

Since this book covers intermediate macroeconomics primarily intended for those at the undergraduate, upper division level, college students, especially, should find this book useful as a supplement to their textbooks. It may help to clarify problems that students may encounter in their course work. In the words of the author: "The book can be used by undergraduates or graduate business students as a supplement to current standard texts or by instructors as an independent text supplemented by empirical and/or policy readings. The book may also be useful to graduate economics students as a review of the analytical core of macroeconomic theory."

However, the benefits derived from this book need not be limited only to college students. Those wishing to use this book for independent self-study can, with some extra effort, gain valuable information since the author does a fairly good job of presenting in a clear manner the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics.

At the beginning of each chapter, the author gives a chapter summary and outline. The chapter summaries briefly present the concepts that will be further explained in the main text. The outlines are a repetition of the same sections that are listed in the table of contents. Furthermore, in order to reinforce the concepts presented in the main text, the author not only provides the usual solved problems but also includes multiple choice and true or false questions which give the student a wide range of practice.

However, there are some weaknesses of this book which readers should be aware. First, due to the brevity of some of the concepts presented, it may be advantageous to refer to other economics books in order to get more in-depth information, and thereby, a better understanding. This is particularly true for those using this book for independent self-study. Second, some terms and concepts are defined and presented for the first time in the "Solved Problems" section at the end of the chapter rather than in the main text. Third, this book does not contain a glossary.