ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on why textbooks are important, the problems with currently dominant texts, and the difficulty of establishing progressive textbooks. It includes a case study of Principles of Economics, a textbook by Greg Mankiw, which is a good representation of the contemporary orthodox textbook - and everything that is wrong with it. The chapter also presents a case study of an alternative textbook, Principles of Economics in Context by Goodwin et al. that covers all the orthodox economics content that is normally in a first-year text, but does so in a manner that is a significant and welcome improvement on the dominant textbooks. The chapter examines the Institute for New Economic Thinking's CORE Econ Project, which is currently producing open-access teaching materials that are mildly reformist in nature. An alternative approach to remedy problems with the standard economics textbook is to create companion readers to fill in the gaps the textbooks leave and to reveal their limitations.
