ISBN0131860267

This book is an appropriate tool for an intermediate macroeconomics course-guess where I used it! The "Core" of the book is broken up into three sections: the short run (IS/LM), the medium run (IS/LM-AD/AS), and long run (Solow). This is very helpful and provides a natural progression.

Blanchard does skim over some of the more basic stuff, especially, as somebody mentioned, with the IS/LM model. For this reason I think it is very appropriate for an intermediate course where somebody probably has already learned some of the fundamentals in an introductory course. Unfortunately I felt that the Solow model was not in the depth that I would like, especially with respect to mathematics.

On that note, the book doesn't use a high level of mathematics, but the equations are there, and your algebra should definitely be up to par. This also provides a nice transition to those looking to take an advanced micro or macro course, as things tend to involve more and more mathematics as one goes on.

Overall, a good book, lacking in a spot or two, but a good textbook overall.

Unlike the graduate textbook (Lectures on Macroeconomics), this undergraduate textbook is full of economic intuitions, comparable to microeconomic textbooks of Varian's.
Especially, if you have an interest in Macroeconometic practices (books such as Ray Fair's...), Blanchard's is much better than Mankiw's, I believe.
First edition contained the exciting (but short...) section on identification problem and differentiation between causality and correlation. Those issues are of much more importance than they look when you actually "do" something with the macroeconmic issues.

Olivier Blanchard's handsome hardbound "Macroeconomics" (3rd Ed.) is a challenging and unfriendly freshman-level macroeconomics text that does a solid but daunting job.

This third outing was published in 2003, meaning it incorporates the Bushian twin deficits, the euro, the Argentinean retrieval, the rise and fall of the Asian tigers, etc. So that's nice.

Note that if you're teaching an economics class for the non-major, this book is most definitely inappropriate. For this purpose I would recommend either Stephen Slavin's "Macroeconomics" (8th Ed.), or, if you require more rigor, Mankiw's "Principles of Macroeconomics" (3rd Ed.), both of which are much easier on the math.

Olivier's juggernaut is more appropriate as a freshman level text for finance or economics majors who are slated to do some heavy-duty number-crunching later in their college career.

It is certainly NOT an intermediate text in macroeconomics (i.e., a junior-level text that incorporates integration and differentiation), so it would most profitably deployed in a rigorous or honors-level freshman-level class (in fact this is the standard text used in freshman econ at MIT -- its author is this brilliant French dude who sometimes teaches freshman econ there).

So be not deceived: this book assumes intermediate algebra, trigonometry, and even some (non-calculus) statistics. There's also some nasty addition and multiplication!

Though there's nothing in it beyond what a high school graduate ought to know, it would help to be clear on its demands. Many freshman books I have thumbed through seem to require only beginning algebra, if that. Not here: algebra is woven into the fiber of this book like a fingernail to the flesh, and any student unskilled in the equational arts will have a rotten time of things.

One good thing about the book: it comes with a cool CD on which you can manipulate the graphs, chapter by chapter, in a fun and instructive (and time-killing) way.

One bad thing about the book: although there are review questions and problem sets at the end of every chapter, there are no answers anywhere in the book. Sheesh! Presumably, given the math level required and the merciless tone of the text, we are meant to see this as a book for adult learners, so why are we being treated like children? Is Mr. Blanchard afraid I'm gonna copy the answers?

This is simply the best Macroeconomics text out there. The book is easy enough to read for the layman, yet contains concepts hard enough for those who want to be challeneged. It also includes real world examples for those who want to understand the application of macroeconomics rather than just the theory.
The study guide should come with the book. (At least that is how I got it when I brought it new...). The study guide is very helpful as it contains excellent summaries of each chapter and questions following those reviews with answers in the back.
Neither the study guide or the book, however, contain answers to the text, so be prepared to work a little bit harder on those end-of-the-chapter questions ;)

The book is generally a good text. However, I have a lot of problems with how illustration of ideas by calculus is handled. I find several inconsistencies which even my instructor have problems in explaining. I recommend it to the mathematically challenged person not to mathematical enthusiasts.