international

For anybody - but especially students - interested in exploring the subject of international economics, this is the book to start with. It is illuminating (as it is always the case with Krugman's writings) on otherwise technical concepts as comparative advantage, trade policy and exchange rate determinants, but it is also entertaining, with its "reality checks". The first part of the book deals with the "real" economy, the second part with monetary international economics. It will save you a lot of time to begin your study of the field with this book. If you have had previous experiences with international economics but either forgot most about it or had trouble making sense of the whole thing you will probably get a good grasp of the subject after reading this manual. The bibliography is accurate and rich, the exercises won't give you an headache. Readers with some background in economics are most likely to take full advantage from the book. For the others, well, some introductory economics will be necessary. Once you've read this book, you can continue more safely your studies/readings on international economics.

Krugman and Obstfeld provide a full detailed analysis and examples for the basis of trade among nations. It is relatively straightforward to comprehend for both economists and noneconomists.

International trade is an important component of economic policy for the growth and development of countries. This book examines various theoretical trade models and provides real world examples of policy formulation and their impact. The authors do not take any political positions, thus making their analysis a purely objective, or positive study.

I would highly recommend this book to students interested in doing research in international trade and development. It is a must read for prospective international economists. Noneconomists might also find it as a useful reference.

Well, I will start off by saying that the book really probably only deserves somewhere between 4-4.5 stars, but I'll give it 5 to offset some of the questionable reviews below.

No, the book is not perfect. However, it is an academic standard at pretty much any major college or university for teaching undergraduate International Econ/Trade theory, and for good reason. The book makes a clear a concise presentation of basic theory and policy, perhaps in points it is a little too simple. As pointed out, while I'm not sure about the 6th edition, there were some diagrammatical mistakes in the 5th...I bet, however, these were done by a graduate student. A quick bit of reasoning and a second of thought should yield the appropriate picture, however. And yes, I think a bit of Krugman's bias comes through, though its not terribly off-putting.

The book could use a bit more math I think. The real equations and difficult problems are few and far between, and are, for the most part, pretty straight forward. At the very most it would take a basic understanding of calculus, but the majority of the problems and equations can be explained and done without it. I have read a number of undergraduate economics books with far more intensive math. Despite this lack, however, the intentions come across pretty well.

No, this book is not for beginners to economics. At least an undergraduate course or reading in both micro and macro are needed, and really and truly, an intermediate level in each is probably better if one wants to get the most out of the book.

If you find the subject matter within to be terribly math intensive and you cannot get motivated to read the subject matter because it doesn't use "pizza and beer" (and um...I don't think I'd want an imported pizza anyway, but thanks), well I guess the subject and this book are not for you. However, if you are trying to enrich your understanding of economics at a very basic level, this book provides a good way to do so.

And, if you want graduate level book, and like Obstfeld, I recommend he and Rogoff's book.