ECON GU4370

hard midterm, very hard final, weekly recitations (and mid semester PSets as completion)

Agree with the April '07 reviewer below. Nothing all too impressive. Regular fare for a poli sci seminar. Very stingy with the grades though. I got straight B-s and C+s. Guy next to me had similar marks.

This class is extremely difficult. Professor Casella chose not to formally assign problem sets, explaining that she believed most students would just us AI. As a result, the grading was heavily exam-weighted: the midterm counted for 30%, the final for 60%, and mandatory weekly recitations for 10%. In theory, recitations were meant to be used to work through problem sets with the TA, but in practice we rarely made it through much the problem sets each week. The grading structure was also unclear. The midterm average was 52.7%, and on the final, very few students seemed able to finish. The exam was extremely long and involved cumbersome algebra that felt more like a race against the clock than a test of conceptual understanding. After the midterm, it seemed the prof realized students were not consistently doing the problem sets on their own, so they began requiring submission of the psets to the TA for completion (which I guess would factor to our participation grade?). Overall, I would not recommend taking this course unless you absolutely need it.

Although Prof. Wellisz is a very nice, and at times a funny man, he really should retire. Classes, as people have noted before, are very boring and, I found, very difficult to stay awake in. Things that he mentions in class are not very enlightening, and oftentimes one has heard them before in many other classes, such as game theory and macro economics, or simply by reading the newspaper every now and then. That is why the class is particularly easy. A few of the readings are very good; however, most are absolutely dreadful. The reading list is really overwhelming, but don't let it be. Skip all equations, anything that looks like a technical argument, and simply focus on the basic overview arguments (i.e., first and last few paragraphs of each paper). For our class, he posted his notes online which may or may not be helpful. If you attend class and are able to stay awake and focused on what he says, you may learn a few things and will have to cram a lot less. However, it is really not necessary that you attend this class at all, except for exams--and many people didn't. If you can learn things on your own fairly easily, it's probably a better use of your time to do the same, and never set foot in the class unless compelled by a test.

psets for completion (hard) and a midterm and final (both hard). You get what you give in this class.

Light. No homework, but a lot of reading. Midterm 33% Finals 67%

Casella's really knowledgable and has a wealth of experience. The only downside to that is that she thinks everyone taking her class is gonna be the next eminence in political economy, when for the most part they're just poli sci kids who happened to take principles in freshman year and are now too far gone down the poli sci-econ major to quit. If you put the work in to understand the concepts and the mathematic principles underpinning the models, it actually does get really cool and interesting. Still recommend even though you're likely taking this because it's required.

Yes, professor Wellisz is a old man. But you will learn A LOT from him if you attend his lectures and listen to them carefully. He has many interesting and funny experiences in political economy, having worked for governments in many different countries. I would recommend this course for people looking for econ class with little math.

– 3h of lectures – 1h mandatory recitation – Around 3h per problem set – Midterm and final require a lot of time (and are quite hard)

Lots of reading, but you don't have to do all of it. Midterm and final- not an easy A class.