Eiichi Miyagawa

Miyagawa's delivery for this class is extremely straightforward. For every concept, he first explains it generally and then uses concrete numbers and functions to serve as an example. Doing the homework really helps reinforce what's taught in class. The homework sets come from a whole packet which also contains many more practice problems to do. If you attend class, do homework, and do those extra practice problems, you are set for this class. His midterm and final don't test your ability to memorize random formulas. They test your understanding of the concepts and how well you can apply them to new situations.

The class was very unstructured and was designed for you to discuss your research. I strongly suggest you already have a topic of interest from day one. There are basically two types of papers you "should" do. One that requires data - your own data you gathered yourself - and one that requires theoretical mathematical proofs that may require you to use advanced math-related computer programs. If your paper falls into either of these categories you should fare well. Professor Miyagawa is a stickler for strong logical reasoning of your work with required data or proofs. Doing a paper that requires your own data may be difficult to do because it's hard to collect data. But mathematical proofs are difficult too. Either way I suggest you start your paper early. You'll have to give two presentations. Also discuss your paper during his office hours if you can. You should. Good Luck.

This class doesn't have a textbook and reference material is pretty hard to find, but his notes are complete. The first third of the class is mostly micro (easy), and the second two thirds are mainly concerned with examing different types of decision making functions--this part is much more abstract than it sounds. His English is fine, and his accent wasn't a problem. He made most concepts interesting, but proofs of theorems often dragged on far too long. He didn't hold office hours every week, but he held extra ones before the midterm and the final. He was generally approcahable. This is a good class if you are comfortable with abstract concepts.

If you are coming into this class for an easy grade, leave right away. This class isn't exactly a breeze. You will have to put the necessary effort into studying to do well on his homework and exams. That being said, Eiichi is a very straightforward teacher. I have read reviews of him saying that he is horrible, but I do not believe it. Sure, he is not as extravagant as Xavier or as exceptional as Elmes, but he is by no means a joke professor. He definitely knows his material and will try and make sure that you get it too. It is a little weird when he picks randomly on people in class but it's usually in jest. If you talk to him after class or during office hours, he is generally helpful. Just don't ask stupid things like, "so... what's going to be on the midterm?" or "can you show me how to do number 9?" If you are more thoughtful, you would ask a question such as, "what is the distinction between compensating and equivalent variations and how do they relate to the income and substitution effects?" Anyway, before I ramble on too much, I will conclude by saying that his class is not the most interesting, but you will get a decent grasp of Microeconomics afterward.

Course requirements are very vague. No syllabus, no reading, and no assignments, just one project (which can be done in pairs). He asks that you tackle a resource-allocation type problem in an interesting way. Not very approachable.

1. Do not take it 2. Do not take it 3. Do not take it Prof. Miyagawa is the most unenthusiastic teacher in the entire university and it's also impossible to understand what he is saying during the class. A professor should help or encourage students to study the materials, but he does not really care about the students and his teaching. The school should do something about his attitude towards teaching. It seems like he only cares about his own research.

Eiichi sucks. No way arround that. I don't even know where to start with him, but here's my try: Student: "Professor, are you going have a review for the final?" Miyagawa: "No, just know that I can cover anything from the begining of the semester" Student: "Are we going to get our problem sets back from last month?" Miyagawa: "I asked the TA to grade them, but I cannot force him to grade them. If he doesn't do it, there's nothing I can do about it." He covers easy/basic problems in class, and then gives you this rediculously hard puzzle on the mid-term that tests your knowledge of geometry (like being able to remember the equation of a circle). This is my fault because I wanted to take micro with an easier professor, but I would have been better off with Elmes. At least, she goes in-depth in her lectures. Unless you like to use Google to figure out how to solve problems, take the course with someone else.

First off, I have to echo a warning from another reviewer: the class didnÂ’t cover what most of my classmates expected. Public Economics is essentially the study of theoretical choice mechanisms. It has nothing to do with public policy, or anything of practical use for that matter. It was much like a Philosophy class in this respect. Some of my classmates found this very frustrating, but they dropped the class almost immediately. By the way, we covered different material than the previous sessions, so take all these reviews with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to content. I was relatively comfortable with the focus of the class, but found it exasperating for two other reasons. First, I have never experienced a dynamic in which there was so little interaction between a professor and his students. I could have been watching it all on video. Professor Miyagawa is extremely patient and helpful when a question arises, but it seems to throw him off track, and he never encouraged it. Thankfully, he shines when it comes to explaining difficult concepts and is very meticulous and organized in his lesson plan. It is best to just let him go and save your questions for later. (Unfortunately some of my classmates never caught on to this.) Second, there was no text, and very little homework. Personally, I need a text to help reinforce what is taught in class. The subject matter is…

DO NOT take a class with him unless you have to. Any professor would be better than him. Why risk your GPA taking a class with this guy? You'll have to do a lot of studying by yourself to understand the material covered in class. My friends (6) and I were very sorry we took that class with him. I managed to get an A- but it was very hard. DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH HIM. Period.

I begin with a warning: The title of this class is strongly misleading. It is actually a course in social choice theory, which is mostly game theory applied in interesting ways to non-traditional problems, all related in varying degrees to problems of collective action. He begins by telling the class that it is a course in "mechanism design," which is kind of like game theory in reverse (that is, engineering situations so that agents acting in their own self-interest will come up with an arrangement favored by the engineer). Only the tail end of the course actually deals with this; most of the course instead covering a variety of subjects that have little to do with traditional economics--modeling marriage markets, finding optimal housing allocations, and in-depth studies of preferences over policy spaces (as well as much more). It's mostly game theory (but nothing like the game theory you learned in Micro or in the game theory elective). It straddles the line between economics and useless math, and has little real-world application, but is interesting and mind-expanding nonetheless. Those who fall faint at the sight of proofs, however, should avoid this class. Most of the class involves him writing theorems and proofs on the board. Don't run away though, the proofs are relevant and interesting. For instance, when he creates a model for dating and marriage, he proves that you…