Econ 101

I decided it would be good to do some formal reading in economics. I avoided it in college since (i) it sounded boring and stuffy, (ii) it sounded dangerously real-world and money-grubbing, things I was trying to avoid at the time, and (iii) it seemed kind of pointless. It looked like all economists did were to criticize past, failed, policies, which were always made upon recommendations of economists at the time. That, or they engaged in polemical debates where the economics theories were purely constructs built up to support preconceived political ideas.

But lately, the more I read the more it sounds like economists do some cool kinds of analysis and ask interesting questions. Plus, they use a lot of math, which can only be a good thing. So I’ve been thinking it might be kind of fun to read some econ textbooks and see what they have to say. Of course, I might decide that points (i) and (iii) are indeed the case. But we’ll see … given that I have time to get into it.

So I ordered some econ books from half.com, and without even reading them, I was already treated to my first econ lesson! That lesson being: college students get hosed. Well, I actually already knew that, but it was still something to see. I bought five books: a textbook each for econ 101, micro, and macro, and then Schaum’s outlines for micro and macro. The textbooks were by a widely used author, and were published in 2000, 2004, and 2004. The outlines were published in 1990 and 1992. Price? Seventy-five cents each for the textbooks, about three bucks for the outlines. Total of $8.50, and shipping brought it to $19.50.

List price for the textbooks on Amazon: $142, $122, and $133. The Schaum’s are $18 each, bringing the grand total to $397. On the plus side, Amazon would provide free shipping for that order. Talk about depreciation; a book you bought for over a hundred bucks two years ago is now worth approximately nothing. Of course everyone knows what’s going on; the book publishers release new editions, invalidating (somehow) the old, and their captive market has to play along. The Schaum’s hold their value much better since people buy them for content, not to match version numbers.

I guess I should give a shout-out to the anonymous college kids who just subsidized my econ library – thanks!