In The Mail Today

I just received a bunch of books from Amazon.com today. Among them was "A Macroeconomics Reader" by Brian Snowdon and Howard Vane. It has a collection of articles tracing the historical development of Macroeconomics. Thought it might come in handy as I study for my prelims (they're coming up far too fast). I've already made it through a few articles on New Keynesianism and Rational Expectations. "Old" Keynesianism and Real Business Cycles are next. Many of my classmates would probably tell me that I've already got a number of the articles in this book and they'd be correct, but I love the idea of having them conveniently accessible on my bookshelf.

Snowdon and Vane have another book called "Modern Macroeconomics" which I read earlier this summer. It was the best summary (I don't know if I can call 700 pages "concise") of Macro that I've yet come across and illuminated many things that had perplexed me over the last year. I enjoyed it enough (maybe "appreciate" is a more accurate word than "enjoy"), I decided to get the companion reader.

I also received a number of other books I should have been reading over the last year, including "A Guide to Econometrics", "Mathematics for Economists", "Optimization in Economic Theory", "Economists' Mathematical Manual", "Thinking Strategically", and the DVD of “Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond. (As an interesting aside, I debated the merits of Diamond’s thesis in 2003 with a ship’s captain while on my way to go SCUBA diving at the Great Barrier Reef during my trip to New Zealand and Australia in 2003.)

Perhaps a little too late, but I want to refocus this year on learning some of the things I struggled with during my first year. As I prepare for the prelims, I am realizing how much working two part-time jobs while going to school full-time impacted me. I also came into the program with a much weaker economics background than most of my classmates (my undergrad was in mechanical engineering and masters of business administration). I've also been out of school much longer than most of them and am surprised by how much I've forgotten.

To all the incoming PhDs at GMU, my advice is to get a copy of Snowdon, Hirshleifer, and Pemberton (or Chiang) and start reading through them. Also, pick up a copy of Kennedy before your second semester. I wish someone had given me that advice before I came started. (Then again, I might not have enjoyed last summer anywhere near as much as I did...)

Wishing all my fellow PhDs good luck as they prepare for our upcoming exams!