Like no other text for the intermediate microeconomics course, Goolsbee, Levitt, and Syverson’s Microeconomics bridges the gap between the theory and practice, providing an empirical dimension that makes the course immediately relevant and useful to students. With carefully crafted features and examples that offer unusual perspectives on the seemingly ordinary, Goolsbee, Levitt, and Syverson’s breakthrough text helps instructors move students from understanding basic economic principles to applying the powerful tools of economic analysis.
For a textbook remarkably readable and accessible, enlivened by real world examples
I enjoyed learning about microeconomics through the book. Some of the concepts are quite esoteric but overall the authors provide ample narrative around the content and I found it engaging, even when I never had much microeconomics in my education before.
I was assigned this textbook for a class on intermediate microeconomics but subsituted it for better material halfway through. Ultimately, it simply lacks the theoretical depth and 'sophistication' to be of much use for studying the subject on a level that is higher than introductory. Instead, long-winded verbal explanations and real world illustrations dominate this book. Unless you are studying microeconomics just for fun or are uncomfortable with calculus, do yourself a favour and get Varian's 'Intermediate Microeconomics' or Nicholson & Snyder's 'Microeconomic Theory', regardless of what your professor says. They are much more comprehensive and to the point.
It was solid, though not as immediately accessible to someone without a subject background like myself. The real-world application sections were the most interesting to me in comparison to the theory. I've since learned that there's a lot of 'neoclassical' economic theories and 'behavioral economics' theories and they aren't always in agreement - econ drama, I guess. Don't mind my bias on the subject, it's been my least favorite so far!
"One cannot help but be struck by the thought that if the rest of the world knew as much about economics as you now do after completing Microeconomics, we would all be a lot better off."