Teaching ECON 101 - pairing the Mankiw and Komlos texts

Abstract

Mankiw's widely used ECON 101 textbooks have come under criticism by economists of various ideologies, who feel that it is time to supplant the mainstream neoclassical paradigm given rising inequality, climate change, and the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Amongst the alternatives, the CORE text, and John Komlos' Foundations of Real-World Economics substantively stand out. While the CORE text is used at various institutions, it has also received myriad criticisms. Additionally, given the immense human capital investment in the neoclassical paradigm, there is inertia in changing wholescale to a different paradigm presented by the CORE text. The objective of this paper is to briefly appraise the CORE text and to showcase how the Komlos text can be paired with the Mankiw texts. This approach would be useful for those instructors not seeking a radical overhaul in teaching pedagogy.