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 Engl ...

s on subjects of

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

. 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 is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

in the

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

– 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'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...

– 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 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 beyond economics or on

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

basis.For example, Claude Ménard and Mary M. Shirley, eds., 2005. ''Handbook of New Institutional Economics''. Springer
Preview.
A

Google Scholar Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines. Released in beta in November 2004, the Google Scholar index includes p ...

"economics handbook
search
indexes the range of topics treated, as does a ''

New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics ''The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics'' (2018), 3rd ed., is a twenty-volume reference work on economics published by Palgrave Macmillan. It contains around 3,000 entries, including many classic essays from the original Inglis Palgrave Diction ...

'' Online article
search
by topics, using the

JEL classification codes Articles in economics journals are usually classified according to JEL classification codes, which derive from the ''Journal of Economic Literature''. The ''JEL'' is published quarterly by the American Economic Association (AEA) and contains surv ...

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 Rethinking Economics is a network of academic scholars and students in several countries that promotes pluralism in economics. It grew out of the broader International Student Initiative for Pluralist Economics and has groups in the United Kingdom, ...

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 economics, economic thinkers who share or shared a common perspective on the way economy, economies work. While economists do not always fit into particular schools, pa ...

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