Robert Mundell

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 The main thing with this class is that most of his economic theory is really outdated.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.

I took this class in Spring of 2005. Let me preface this by saying that I got an A+ in the class, so this review is purely a matter of my frustration with Professor Mundell over the term, instead of grade revenge: Robert Mundell is the Howard Hughes of economics -- a genius of the 1960s (most notably for his work on the Mundell-Fleming Model and on optimum currency areas, which is the work for which he got his Nobel), who somehow became crazy as a loon in the 1970s and never came back. Mundell's brand of craziness unfortunately includes being "abusive-crazy." Let me relate to you an interaction I had with him in the middle of the term (after it was too late to drop the class!): Mundell's lectures were fairly difficult to understand. His lectures on the geometry of international trade were a series of unmarked random wavy lines on the chalk board, and, in another lecture, when trying to draw some bubbles to describe the international monetary system, he drew something resembling a La-Z-Boy recliner with a foot rest. A group of friends and I put together a study group, to put our heads together and make something of his lecture notes. We got nothing. No one had any clue what was going on. Right before the first midterm (he calls it a "quiz"), I asked Mundell if I could meet with him for the whole hour during his office hours, in order to go over the class notes about which I was…

The man is a genius. What more do you need to know to take this class?

As noted above: only a midterm and final No reading, homework, or papers

This course is probably decent for students who have seen the models before, but horrible ones who haven't. The syllabus promises so much, but the course delivers so little. There is virtually no reference material. He references old articles, but doesn't really follow them. He frequently makes mistakes on the board, but yells at students who ask for clarification in office hours. Of course, you're lucky if you find him in office hours: he didn't show for the two sessions right before the midterm "quiz." The second half of the class was just an oral history of the gold standard. We didn't really cover any of the material that made him famous. (Taken Fall 05).

Yes, this man won the Nobel Prize for Economics. We all understand that the econ department considers him the MAN. But be forewarned before you take this course. Even before he won the Nobel, you could tell that it was a bad sign when his TA's would be teaching more classes than him. OK, so maybe he's busy these days building his palatial villa in Spain and a little too important for us undergraduates, but cmon, we should reap some of the benefits of such an esteemed scholar, shouldn't we? After all, we are paying top dollar to come here, so you would expect the best for what you paid for, right?

You had to take a little initiative to get something out of this class, and you also had to listen closely to what Prof. Mundell to say. If it was really so easy, like high school as some people have said, people would have done better on the quizzes. The quizzes asked people to explain economic models and historical examples used in class. The readings add depth to the models. This is definitely a class worth taking.

I tend to disagree with the negative review. I found Professor Mundell to be accessible outside the classroom, and he was helpful in guiding my paper along. And, it isn't everyday that you have a Nobel Prize winner teaching you. It doesn't get any better than that.

It's unbelievable how much this class sucked. As the previous reviewers noted, he uses no book and no handouts, and he assigns exclusively his own articles. He doesn't stick to the course outline or syllabus and forgets what he's talked about in previous lectures. Grading is pretty half-assed and arbitrary, just like every other aspect of the course.

After three years at Columbia, I have not been more disappointed by a course or by an instructor. Like most, I was seduced by Mundell's credentials into taking the course. But, somewhat ironically, his course was more like a high school class than any other I have had at columbia. He uses no lecture notes, which guarantees that his lectures will be meandering and disorganized, and he repeats himself endlessly. Further you do not go into any of the "topics" in depth at all. Mundell does nothing to challenge his students - he belabors simple points that you learned in principles of economics, or worse, in high school. His tests require spitting out stupid catch-phrases. The course as a whole is disgustingly unstimulating and offers no insight into economics AT ALL. My advice: DON'T TAKE THIS COURSE! Instead, go to his website www.robertmundell.net and read through his international economics text papers - they are wonderful. You won't get anything more out of the course. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TIME - I WISH I HAD.