Economics handbooks are

handbook A handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference. The term originally applied to a small or portable book containing information useful for its owner, but the ''Oxford Eng ...

s on subjects of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. Such handbooks range in audience from the general reader to the advanced student and professional

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

Examples

Economics handbooks that form a series include, but are not limited to, the following: * Cambridge Economic Handbooks – associated with

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

in the U.K. It began in 1922 with volumes titled ''Supply and Demand'' and ''Money''. Volumes in the series carry an often-cited introduction of J. M. Keynes, its first editor. Later works in the series include more specialized topics but written for accessibility. Various publishers have carried the series outside the U.K., including and Harcourt and University of Chicago Press in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

First editions include some 25 volumes through 1993. * Economics Handbooks from

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American education science company that provides educational content, software, and services for students and educators across various levels—from K-12 to higher education and professional settings. They produce textbooks, ...

– began in 1948 with a volume titled ''The Location of Economic Activity''. The series includes over 40 volumes through 1982. * Handbooks in Economics from

Elsevier Elsevier ( ) is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell (journal), Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, ...

– include the early set ''Handbook of Mathematical Economics'', 2 v., 1981–82. ''Handbooks'' through 2011 include some 30 titles, most of them in 2 or more volumes. The general co-editors for the series in its first three decades are

Kenneth J. Arrow Kenneth Joseph Arrow (August 23, 1921 – February 21, 2017) was an American economist, mathematician and political theorist. He received the John Bates Clark Medal in 1957, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1972, along with J ...

and Michael D. Intriligator. *

Edward Elgar Publishing Edward Elgar Publishing is a global publisher of academic books, journals and online resources in the social sciences and law. The company also publishes a social science and law blog with regular contributions from leading scholars. About Edwa ...

– lists over 200 economics handbooks published from ''Economics of Defence, Disarmament and Peace'', its first volume in 1990, to th
present
Other economics handbooks, whether general or specialized, may come from publishers as part of a series beyond extending economics or on

ad hoc ''Ad hoc'' is a List of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning literally for this. In English language, English, it typically signifies a solution designed for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a Generalization, generalized solution ...

basis.For example, Claude Ménard and Mary M. Shirley, eds., 2005. ''Handbook of New Institutional Economics''. Springer
Preview.
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Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of Academic publishing, scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in Beta release, beta in November 2004, th ...

"economics handbook
search
indexes the range of topics treated, as does a '' New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' Online article
search
by topics, using the JEL classification codes.

Criticism

The textbook approach to teaching economics has been criticised by many as a problematic way of passing on knowledge because students gain the impression that textbooks present a true and uncontested version of economics. In contrast, what organizations that are active in

economics education Economics education or economic education is a field within economics that focuses on two main themes: *The current state of, and efforts to improve, the economics curriculum, materials and pedagogical techniques used to teach economics at all e ...

such as Rethinking Economics pledge for is to expose students to various

schools of economic thought In the history of economic thought, a school of economic thought is a group of economic thinkers who share or shared a mutual perspective on the way economies function. While economists do not always fit within particular schools, particularly in ...

and provide them with the analytical tools to critically compare and evaluate them.

Notes

{{Reflist, 1 Handbooks and manuals Monographic series Handbooks

Examples

Criticism

See also

Notes