What is Reddit's opinion of Mathematics for Economists?

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I'm going to write a book. It's going to be called, "Mathematics for Economics: the shit you actually need to know." It will have only five (longish) chapters:

1. Linear Algebra
2. Multivariate Calculus
3. Probability
4. Mathematical Statistics
5. Elements of Analysis and Topology

The core of the first two chapters is a treatment of differential calculus for systems of equations, including the inverse and implicit function theorems, with linear algebra integrated throughout. Optimization and linearization are given particular focus, as befits an economics-oriented textbook. Chapters 3 and 4 offer a brisk introduction to probability and mathematical statistics. Chapter 5 is an introduction to formal mathematics of the theorem-proof style, with an emphasis on results that are of interest to economists.

It won't be a big, awful textbook like Simon and Blume. That book is a thousand pages long. It's too heavy to carry around comfortably. No, my book will clock in at 600 pages maximum, preferably under 500 pages.

Are you prepping for the undergrad level or the graduate level?

Simon and Blume is the go-to for grad school prep.

For undergrad prep I'd just pick up any old calculus text and do some practice problems, or use something like Khan academy for calc.

1) Financial economics is a subset of economics, but “finance” isnt really. A degree in finance will be very different than one in economics, though they will overlap. When the public thinks of econ, they think of business and finance. This is false. Most financial economists will likely do very poorly in an investment bank (Eugene Fama, nobel prize winner in financial economics and father of the EMH, said he doesnt know much about investing)

2) Black-Scholes is a finance concept, and most PhD economists aren’t finance specialists. Why would an environmental economist or a development economist study Black-Scholes?

3) You dont know enough math to start with mathematical textbooks. Stick with Freakonomics. I’d say read Freakonomics regardless, so you better understand what academic economics is. If you want a taste of mathematical economics, then this is a classic: https://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Economists-Carl-P-Simon/dp/0393957330. Don’t try to game the admissions by quickly learning mathematical economics; itll be obvious you are bullshitting. Right now it seems like you are equating finance with economics, and I guarantee you that will piss off any econ professor. Frankly, it doesnt seem like you know what economics is yet!

4) in the US, we dont apply to specific degrees. We just apply to the university as a whole. The admissions committee doesnt care if we want to do econ or compsci, and most students dont pick their degree subject until their 2nd or 3rd year, We get a chance to explore various subjects first; i cant imagine being so certain of your career before you even apply to college...As such, we usually write broad statements on overcoming a personal struggle, taking a leadership role, or some philosophical idea.

Sorry I'm not explaining this very well.

Here is the book we used in my undergrad math for economics course.

>summary: An abundance of applications to current economic analysis, illustrative diagrams, thought-provoking exercises, careful proofs, and a flexible organization-these are the advantages that Mathematics for Economists brings to today’s classroom.

Essentially the class focuses on economic analysis and walks you through all the math that gets used for it, from the relevant calculus to linear algebra to differential equations and all their proofs in-between.

The problems you'll work through are all economic related but it'll be stuff like "determine if the utility-maximization problem is concave" or "use the lagrange method to solve the utility maximization problem subject to the budget constraint"

I would also recommend Mathematics for Economists. It covers a lot of the different fields, but only as they apply to economics.

It's not as rigorous as a whole course in optimization or real analysis, but it covers the important bits.

I have no idea, I came across it a few months ago googling for something, since then I've kept it on hand.

Edit: I never saw the subreddit description on the right!

Second edit: http://www.amazon.com/Mathematics-Economists-Carl-P-Simon/dp/0393957330, I guess it is not. Shall I delete the post?

Well, I googled the book, and used the "Look Inside" feature on amazon.

Author says the book is aimed at graduate students, but that this includes MBA students. He also says it can be used for undergraduates. As to the mathematical pre-requisites / level, it seems to be the standard Simon & Blume.

Have a look at what the author says here.

You can grab a 'mathematics for economists' textbook. a Classic is Simon and Blume

But imo Chiang and Wainwright covers much of the same material and is easier to follow. obviously look for a cheaper (used) version.

Also it is common to feel a bit overwhelmed and with these types of things and the only way to get comfortable is to keep practicing

MWG is pretty much your standard 1st year PhD fare when it comes to the microeconomics sequence, so definitely take a look at that book. Now, for actual "Mathematics for Economists" -type books other than what you already have up there, Simon & Blume is really the bare minimum, and I'd go as far as to say something you should have mastered even before a Master's. So what then do I recommend?

Carter's Foundations of Mathematical Economics is a rather nice book that contains a lot of what you'll need, as is de la Fuente. If you're interested in microeconomic theory, you'll need to have some skill in Real Analysis (the basics of which you'll find in the above books), and for this I do recommend taking a course or two or working through some good Real Analysis books (which you'll find aplenty of). For theory and metrics a handle on measure-theoretic probability would also be an asset, and for this I'd say Rosenthal's book is a pretty solid introduction.

also the textbook reference for this is Simon & Blume unless you for some reason need something way more complicated