Despite its appeal, downloading a pirated PDF of Osnove Ekonomije raises significant ethical and practical issues. From an ethical standpoint, it violates copyright law. Mankiw and his publisher (usually Centar za izdavačku djelatnost Ekonomskog fakulteta u Zagrebu or similar local publishers for the region) invest substantial resources in research, writing, editing, and translation. Illegally downloading the PDF deprives the authors and translators of fair compensation for their intellectual labor.
Mankiw uses the example of attending college. The cost is not just tuition, books, and rent. The true cost includes the salary you would have earned had you worked full-time instead. He famously asks: Should LeBron James go to college? The opportunity cost for a sports superstar is millions of dollars, so Mankiw argues the rational choice is to skip college. Osnove Ekonomije Gregory Mankiw Pdf