An analysis of Microeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction (Book Review Sample)

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An analysis of Microeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction
"Microeconomics: A Contemporary Introduction" by William A McEachern uses adequate illustrations and examples to affirm his point of views. The texts’ arguments in Chapters six, seven, eight, and nine are consistently developed and hence easy to comprehend. The author assumes that the audience is intuitively familiar with economic concepts but uses life experience to develop better points of view. In chapter six, seven, eight and nine the author has analyzed consumer choice and demand and the concept of utility. Additionally, he examines a firm’s production efforts and the costs it has to meet to attain a profit. In chapter eight and nine he goes to examine how a firm can effectively achieve profit maximization through the concept of perfect competition and issues related to market monopoly. Consequently, it is imperative to study these concepts and their relation to the current economic market as illustrated by William in his text.
Chapter six focuses on utility and satisfaction of wants. Utility is the level of satisfaction an individual retains due to his consumption of wants. The utility one gets from the utilization of goods or services depends on an individual’s tastes (Braeutigam and Gibbs, 73). Although the common assumption is that utility can be measured in a systematic way, this is not possible due to consumer’s different tastes and preference. Hence, the chapter enables one to understand utility maximization and the effect price has on consumers. Maximization of utility is a natural and realistic concept that is well illustrated by the author.
In chapter seven, the author explains the concept of Production and Cost in a firm. Long run and short run curves are used to illustrate the cost of production experienced by any given company at different period lengths. A Long-run is a conceptual period whereby fixed factors of production are non-existent while in the short run there is one fixed input among variable factors ( Mankiw, 277). Additionally, the economies of scale in a firm are used to explain productivity and profit maximization. Mostly, economies of scale outline the cost advantages a firm attains due to its output, size or scale of operation.
Chapter eight and nine the author introduces the theory of perfect competition and monopoly. Business entities in perfect competition can make a normal profit, economic profit or an economic loss in the short run. However, in the long-run the entry or exit of business entities can result in zero economic earnings (Mceachern, 82). In a monopoly structure, there is only one producer or seller that seeks to maximize profit. As outlined by the author in chapter 9, the disadvantage of monopolists is that they tend to take advantage of the market situation by implementing various policies such as charging exorbitant prices. Therefore, monopolists can be just as good as perfect competitors.
In conclusion, it is important to note that McEachern’s text contains fully integrated economic texts and provides interactive tools that benefit the audience. The chapters bring course concepts ...