Does the book Macroeconomics by McConnell and Brue 16th version have the same content as the 17th version?

Question

I am assuming that they have the same text..maybe just different page numbers?? Am I correct??

Answer 1

The more significant changes include the following:

Chapter-Level Learning Objectives

Several learning objectives have been included on the first page of each chapter. After reading a chapter, students should have mastered these core concepts. Questions in Test Banks I and II are organized according to these learning objectives.

Worked Problems

We continue to integrate the book and our website with in-text web buttons that direct readers to website content. Specifically, we have added a third web button consisting of a set of 50 worked problems. Written by Norris Peterson of Pacific Lutheran University, these pieces consist of side-by-side computational questions and the computational procedures used to derive the answers. In essence, they extend the textbook's explanations involving computations—for example, of real GDP, real GDP per capita, the unemployment rate, the inflation rate, per-unit production costs, economic profit, and more. From a student perspective, they provide “cookbook” help for problem solving.

Two New Internet Chapters

Two new Internet chapters, along with an existing web chapter, are available for free use at our website, www.mcconnell17.com. The first of these, “Financial Economics” (Chapter 14Web), examines ideas such as compound interest, present value, arbitrage, risk, diversification, and the risk-return relationship. The second new chapter, “Resource and Energy Economics” (Chapter 27Web) is particularly timely. It covers topics such as the optimal rate of extraction, resource substitution, resource sustainability, oil prices, and alternative energy sources.

Consolidated Chapters

With overwhelming support of reviewers, we have consolidated the first two chapters of the prior edition into a single chapter, “Limits, Alternatives, and Choices” (Chapter 1). This new chapter quickly and directly moves the student into the subject matter of economics, demonstrating its methodology. This consolidation has the side-benefit of reducing Part I (the common chapters in Economics,Macroeconomics, and Microeconomics ) from six chapters to five. We also combined the prior edition's separate chapters on fiscal policy and the public debt into a single chapter, “Fiscal Policy, Deficits, and Debt” (Chapter 11). The topics are closely related, and consolidation integrates them smoothly.

Consumer Surplus, Producer Surplus, and Deadweight Loss Analysis

Our previous chapter on elasticity is now “Extensions of Demand and Supply Analysis” (Chapter 18). Along with elasticity, this chapter introduces consumer surplus, producer surplus, and deadweight loss. These topics appear again in the pure competition and pure monopoly chapters. Knowing that some instructors do not want to cover deadweight loss analysis, we have taken care to present the ideas in a way that will enable instructors to skip these insertions.

New and Relocated “Consider This” and “Last Word” Boxes

Our “Consider This” boxes are used to provide analogies, examples, or stories that help drive home central economic ideas in a student-oriented, real-world manner. For instance, the idea of trade secrets is described with the story of “cat gut” and violin strings, while McDonald's “McHits” and “McMisses” demonstrate the idea of consumer soveriegnty. These brief vignettes, each accompanied by a photo, illustrate key points in a lively, colorful, and easy-to-remember way.

Contemporary Discussions and Examples

The seventeenth edition rerferences and discusses many current topics. Examples include the economics of the war in Iraq, China's rapid growth rate, large Federal budget deficits, the Doha Round, recent Fed monetary policy, the debate over inflation targeting, the productivity acceleration, the recent profit paths of Wal-Mart and General Motors, rapidly expanding and disappearing U.S. jobs, rising oil prices, recent antitrust actions, farm subsidy programs, welfare caseloads, prescription drug coverage under Medicare, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), immigration impacts, large U.S. trade deficits, offshoring of American jobs, etc.