<p>Hello.
How difficult and time-consuming is it for someone who has absolutely no economics background and never took any economics courses before to self-study both AP Macroeconomics and Microeconomics?
Also, should I study textbooks, or can I only use books like Barron's, Princeton Review, Amsco to do well on AP exams?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Please, if you are going to self-study a subject, be sure you already have an interest in it. Don't take the test just for the credit, otherwise the time you spend on it will be torture. </p>
<p>Now to the point. I am self-studying economics and am using "Principles of Economics" by Mankiw. So far, the text is very organized and clear in its descriptions. ( However, I have already been exposed to a lot of the material, so that may have something to do with the ease.) I also suggest "The Worldly Philosophers" by Heilbroner for a good historical background of economic study and the reality behind the theories.</p>
<p>If you like economics for its applicability to investing, a few fun, although unnecessary, texts are "The Armchair Economist," "Investments for Dummies," and "Buffetology." The business parody "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" is also a personal favorite of mine.</p>
<p>I agree completely with rocket-resellers. The Mankiw book is also an excellent textbook. My econ professor mother thinks its the best out there.</p>
<p>It's hard to say how difficult or time-consuming AP Econ will be for you because it's not really about learning material so much as a way of thinking. If you are good at that sort of reasoning, the entire class will seem like common sense to you. If you have trouble with it, you may have to spend a more time on things.</p>
<p>"Economics" by McConnell and Brue is also a really good book.</p>
<p>We're using the McConnell and Brue book in my AP Econ class. If you're going to self-studying for the AP Econ test, make sure you practice doing lots of different graphs because you have to understand the graphs well in order to answer most of the questions on the AP test.</p>
<p>We have the Tucker book for Econ and it's really helpful. There are good explanations for the concepts and graphs.</p>