Bernard Salanie

Literally atrocious. He just spoke gibberish and incorrectly did Algebra for the entire lecture. I often found myself trying to take his sentences and reconstruct them in French, vainly hoping to make sense of his lectures. He blasts through difficult concepts and does not do a good job of explaining simple ones which be belabors for days. Do not take this class. I feel robbed of a semester of my life after this-- I did not learn economics at all but got an A- because everyone else was just as clueless. not even reading the textbook helps.

Absolute WORST professor IÂ’ve ever had. The other reviews area right on the point. This guy is not a teacher, you will not learn much if anything from his lectures. He cannot make the point (however simple) across during his lectures. His notes are poorly written, difficult to read and interpret, and worst of all have nothing to do with the homework assignments, which in turn have nothing to do with the exams. He does not teach out of the book and I suspect he has never even read the book himself. Homework assignments are directly related to the book. Exams are very difficult, require above average mathematical proficiency, have little to do with conventional and practical economical concepts, and are graded very harshly. If you take this class you will end up with a poor grade, hours of frustration, and a feeling like you did not learn much if anything worthwhile. I took macro during the same semester with Prof. Sala-i-martin who was one of the best professors IÂ’ve had in recent times. Luckily he salvaged my interest in economics.

I learned how to construct an Economics research paper, from topic selection to data collection to final paper draft.

models, assumptions, deductions and ability to prove.

Solving maximization problems, Walrasian & Hicksian demand, Walrasian equilibrium, Pareto optimum allocations with private property, Uncertainties

Econometrics methods for first part of PhD sequence.

It is an advanced micro theory course intended for students inside the MA Economics program. We cover four topics, including mechanism design, matching theory, insurance, and networks. The professor will assign referee report for a micro theory paper which is closely related to our course material.

Professor Salanie creates questions for problem sets and exams that can not be solved through the use of the textbook that has been assigned. This would not be so great of a problem if he was able to clearly articulate the material during lectures, but instead he uses circular reasoning to come to questionable solutions (if he ever does reach a conclusion). He is very difficult to follow and does not appear to come in to class with any specific plan of what he wishes to express, which would explain why he often goes off on tangents and rarely defines even the most basic of concepts. Although Principles is apparently supposed to teach us the basics of economic theory, the class taught by Salanie is entirely based off of math and its applications, which is very difficult for those of us who have no background in economics which would allow us to understand the underlying concepts. Essentially, the only people who do not seem to be having extreme difficulty with the course are those who have already taken both macroeconomics and microeconomics courses already. The TAs are extremely competent, and fully responsible for saving my grade. Because the textbook is so far from the material that we are tested on, the only useful resource for the class are the TAs.

This is a professor who likes to teach theories and concepts but not explain them with examples. You have to pay close attention during lectures to really understand exactly what you need to learn. You'll find yourself not taking any useful notes in lectures because 1) Professor Salanie offers his powerpoint presentations after lectures online and 2) no concrete examples are offered in class and the main points are already in the book. This means you will have to struggle to remain focused on the material during class. The homeworks are generally very short and only act to make sure you understand the concepts. I felt that the homeworks might be more appropriate for the Principles of Economics course. On the other hand, the exams take you into detailed calculations that the homeworks might not have prepared you for. However, the recitations make up for what the professor and the homeworks don't teach: the TAs show problem solving techniques and work through detailed examples during recitations. After taking this class, I felt that I have learned the microeconomics concepts AND can work through problems at this level.

True that his lectures are not the best. But certainly, he is a very nice guy and cares about his students. Because of bad culpa review about him, i hesitated to take his class at first, but i ended up getting A. and it was very easy A. Although the class' average Midterm grades was not good, he really generously curved, so actually the average was B+, which is not bad at all. All being said, I think it was definitely worth it, considering how little efforts I put in there, and the grade I got. Even if he is not a good lecturer, he does go over important things, and you can study your own that part.