Reddit reviews Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics, 3rd Edition (Schaum's Outlines)
We found 6 Reddit comments about Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics, 3rd Edition (Schaum's Outlines). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
McGraw-Hill
You're very welcome. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. These would be a good start
Varian on Micro
Dixit on Optimization
Dixit on Game Theory
Romer on Macro e.g. Solow, ISLM, MF, RCK, etc
Schaum's Outline to Math
Mises on Human Action
Alchian on Micro
Hirshleifers on Price Theory
Learner on Macro
The only possible issue I see is your selection of textbook: Principles of Mathematical Economics - I've honestly never heard of this book.
The graduate school go-to textbook is Mathematics for Economists by Simon and Blume. However, I think this book would be overkill for you, as it is geared towards pure, PhD level, economics. Also, I was in a similar place to you, with respect to mathematical training at one point, and Simon & Blume proved to be too large a leap.
My advice would be to use one of the following books (in order of my preference):
1. Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis by Sydsaeter
2. Mathematics for Economics
by Hoy
3. Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics
by Chiang
They'll bring your basic command, of the basic required mathematics up to scratch AND these books cover linear algebra. You will also then be in a good place to tackle Simon & Blume if you ever need to in the future. Another piece of advice: PRACTISE PRACTISE PRACTISE. For what you are doing, you don't need to have a deep understanding of the mathematics you are using BUT, you do need to be very comfortable with applying the techniques.
So, as you are working through (for instance) Sydsaeter, I would be attempting the related practice questions you find in:
Hope this helps.
P.S. Almost all of these books are available for 'free' on Library Gensis
The math used in economics is predominantly calculus, until you get to higher levels (I.e. grad school) and statistics. If you know limits and derivatives you’ll be fine for all of the basic Econ courses. If you want to be a keener add linear algebra and real analysis, but these aren’t required courses at the undergrad level.
As far as specific books, way back when I was in undergrad this book saved my life. Some of the sample questions (with answer key) were literally identical to some of the homework assignments/exam questions.
my matrix skills were lacking and it would be useful to brush up on that stuff. Schaums outline is lifesaving !
It shouldn't be overwhelming if you prepare properly. Try to at least get your hands on intermediate level micro / macro texts and read through them to understand the basics. For an econ MA you don't need a ton of math. I usually suggest this Schaum's outline because it covers the needed areas up to differential equations and it has a lot of problems to help you learn the material. Add any decent introduction to econometrics, e.g. Stock / Watson, and you should be set.
Keep in mind you don't need to know everything in those textbooks, so don't worry too much if it looks like a ton of material. What you might want to do is try to get copies of the syllabi for the undergrad courses in econ at the universities you're applying to for an MA. That way you can see which textbooks they use, what material they focus on, etc.
Schaum's Outline of Introduction to Mathematical Economics
was by far the most helpful to me. It contains excellent exposition of all the topics needed. Also the problem sets show the full workthrough, so you can check and see where you screwed up if at any point during the work through of the problem. I know this is sounding like a testimonial but I went from knowing nothing about multivariable calc or linear algebra to being able to having a decent foundation in some of the techniques needed (e.g. constrained optimization problems w/ multiple variables, using matrices to check the second order conditions, other special determinants, comparative statics, etc). It's not a substitute for an actual math course, or the course you're going to take your first year in grad school, but it will help immensely if you work through it prior to or alongside that course. or if you need to refer back to thoroughly explained examples.