This book attempts to distill econometrics into a form that preserves its essence, but that is acceptable—and even appealing—to the student's intellectual palate. It insists on rigor when it is essential, but it emphasizes intuition and seizes upon entertainment wherever possible. The book is motivated by three beliefs. First, students are, perhaps despite themselves, interested in questions that only econometrics can answer. Second, through these answers, they can come to understand, appreciate, and even enjoy the enterprise of econometrics. Third, this text, which presents select innovations ... More

This book attempts to distill econometrics into a form that preserves its essence, but that is acceptable—and even appealing—to the student's intellectual palate. It insists on rigor when it is essential, but it emphasizes intuition and seizes upon entertainment wherever possible. The book is motivated by three beliefs. First, students are, perhaps despite themselves, interested in questions that only econometrics can answer. Second, through these answers, they can come to understand, appreciate, and even enjoy the enterprise of econometrics. Third, this text, which presents select innovations in presentation and practice, can provoke readers' interest and encourage the responsible and insightful application of econometric techniques. In particular, the book gives readers many opportunities to practice proofs—which are challenging, but which it has been found to improve reader comprehension. Learning from proofs gives readers an organic understanding of the message behind the numbers, a message that will benefit them as they come across statistics in their daily lives.