Macroeconomics Seminar · Economics
he is brilliant, but i couldnt understand him. he mumbles and rambles on to himself. he said you didnt need to know calculus, but it looked like there were derivatives or something on his exams. i managed to pass his class without learning or understanding anything.
As noted above: only a midterm and final No reading, homework, or papers
Weekly readings + Group Project and Original Economics Research Paper.
1 problem set, 2 page outline due in October, 45-minute presentation, and 7000 word paper on a topic of your choice Grading was 50% paper, 25% presentation, and 25% participation
Midterm, research paper and presentation on the paper.
Non-mandatory readings assigned for each class. Majority of grade determined by end-of-class presentation about a macroeconomics topic of your choice and a 8-12 (!) page paper to be submitted at the end of the finals period.
After taking a senior seminar with Professor Mundell I understand the previous commentor's frustrations BUT I think they probably just had the wrong attitude about the class. As far as a seminar goes, this is about as easy as you can hope for. There are no readings, homeworks, or papers. There is a midterm and a final that is entirely based on class notes, his general ramblings in class, and a few papers he has written. If you study that material, everything is pretty clear and the exams are fair. The main thing with this class is that most of his economic theory is really outdated. He is pretty much a stubborn brilliant econoclast (see what I did there?) who just preaches his own beliefs. His lectures range from fascinating to incredibly boring and it is almost impossible to understand any of the graphs he draws. However, it doesn't matter! As long as you go to office hours and have him explain the most important models (or figure them out on your own) that is all you need for the exams. Overall, this was a totally painless seminar where I learned a lot about some really pertinent issues right now (optimum currency areas, currency stability, etc.). As long as you are not a control freak and can handle a class that is a bit disorganized and not completely clear, I would definitely recommend Mundell's Macro Disequilibrium seminar.
Broda is a sharp young economist from the New York Federal Reserve, however he is not an enthusiastic teacher and is unfriendly towards students who rise mundane points or questions. While he knows his matieral very well (like most economists), he gives the impression that he would rather work with mature and knowledgeable graduate students or other economists rather than with undergrads who want to fulfill a major requirement. The most problematic part of the course was the final seminar paper assignment. He gave no more than a few weeks to complete a difficult original paper, and certain students had more time than others to write it. As a Federal Reserve economist with a PhD from MIT, Broda expects graduate level research and doesn't realize most the students don't have the level of training and sophistication he demands. Unless you intend to do graduate study in international finance and money and know your macro, micro and econometrics well, you may want to take a course with a different seminar instructor. Broda is a bust as a teacher.
Bruce's teaching style is very laidback, which makes for a pretty stress-free seminar, especially one with only 10 students. He was also flexible on the paper deadline, letting us hand it in anytime before the end of the semester. We could write the final paper on any topic of our choice, as long as it related in some way to the seminar topic - central banking and inflation targeting. My only critique would be that the seminar was light on discussion, although this improved during the second half of the semester when we were giving our presentations to the class. He had to cancel or reschedule several classes because of travel conflicts, but he was great about working around our class schedules.
Leung cannot teach to save his life. Run from his class! He was able to cover only the tiniest amount of material in each two hour seminar period and did so in the most confusing manner humanly possible. He raced through mathematical examples and proofs without explaining his notation (which was usually full of "typos") or his reasoning. He simply silently and quickly wrote opaque formulas on the board and expected us to understand. He's very nice and easy-going -- which makes him bearable for a seminar in which most of the work is self-directed (he really wants you to meet with him about your paper topic). I'd seriously watch out for classes that require more reliance on good teaching (like Econometrics). I guarantee that each class is more frustrating than the next!