Seth Weissman

He's sort of arrogant, but he gets his points across, and the material isn't that bad. His stories about how smart and successful he is and about his daughter might get old after a while, but the class isn't boring, and he stops often for questions. Plus, the textbook, as previous reviewers have noted, is awesome, so if you don't want to come to class, you really don't need to.

Do you want a good, clear grounding in basic economics? If so, STAY AWAY from this class. weissman jumps around the syllabus, fills you with anecdotes that are interesting but are never tested, has very difficult problem sets that are not reflected in the midterm at all, and will in general, confuse the hell out of you. seems like a nice guy though.

Seth Weissman is truly a mediocre professor. He does get points across to his students, however his lectures are not stimulating and not even close to interesting. His exams are pretty fair, but considering that Columbia Econ classes are so huge, the curve is usually so good (unlike Barnard econ classes that are much smaller in size), that an A is not very hard to get. Showing up to class is not quite necessary either as well as recitations. The text book is so easily understandable, almost in total baby language, that as long as you do some reading and your problem sets, you are set to go.

I had never taken economics before, and i found this class to be very interesting. i actually enjoyed going to lecture and hardly ever missed class (i wish i could say that about my other classes). i am even thinking of majoring/concentrating in economics. oh and i got an A- in the class too. But, do i know Econ? Did i actually learn anything? NO, not really. i did very well on the problem sets because my t.a. was very cool and usually gave us most of the answers. I did ok on the midterm, and we never got the final grade, but i must have done well eventhough i thought it was quite impossible. I really did like Seth, and i would love to meet his daughter - whom he talks about every class - she sounds adorable. but i dont feel like i learned all that much. you'll be fine in this class if you have some backround in Econ, but i would recommend a different section where you may actually learn more if this is your first time taking econ. often, seth digressed with his "stories" and sometimes he'd waste a half hour arguing with one or two students. the book was good though, but the problem sets had NOTHING to do with either the book or with lecture. Seth was very unorganized, but he lectured without any notes most of the time and i was very impressed by that. Seth hates the book, and i think that's why all the hw and lecture have like NOTHING to do with the book. it helps when you bu…

His lectures were often interesting, with him talking about practical applications to economic ideas, but they did little in the way of actual teaching anything about economics. I had a good time listening to them, but when the problem sets and exams came along and actually included numbers, most of the class had no idea what was going on. The problem sets were obnoxiously hard, with such confusing wording that the ta's didn't even know what he meant. The midterm was fairly easy and the final was impossible even though it was probably written by a ta, since it had the poorly translated wording of a fortune cookie. Overall, i really enjoyed the lectures for the class, but the economics itself was confusing and i don't feel like i learned much outside of the textbook.

Although Professor Weissman attempts to make the class more current by discussing present, real situations, his lectures are convoluded and incomprehensible. He never gets to the point and is extremely disorganized with his presentation. His problem sets are also very difficult and need to be deciphered by the TAs who are often confused themselves. The midterm and final are also difficult and make you wonder why you even bothered to study. Anyhow, it seems as if he tries, but I'd take another Principles class, one that actually teaches the principles. Everything I learned I learned from the text.

Professor Weissman's class was one of the highlights of my freshman year. Applying current events and humor to his explanations of economic concepts, he made the class both interesting and understandable. And if I didn't understand his explanations, the textbook provided plenty of clear explanations to complement his lectures. I highly recommend him to anyone who plans to take Principles.

This course was a lousy introduction to economics. Weissman's lectures are inadequate for completing the homework assignments or doing well on the midterm and final exam. If you have to take Principles of Economics, take it with a different professor.

Anyone needing or wanting to take principles, I'd try to take Weissman's section. Though the time was terrible (5:40-6:55), I honestly didn't mind going to class. He made such an effort to make class interesting, mainly through making it applicable. Instead of just going over concepts and examples from the book, he would take basic concepts and apply them to actual issues (the ban on selling organs, Lithuania's attempts to join the EU), making it much easier to retain and understand. He was friendly, accessible, and enthusiastic as well, and he even made efforts to make the 200 person lecture seem much smaller. Questions were encouraged, and he would often pose questions for the class to answer in addition to asking for class input on certain decisions (whether to move the midterm up a class, etc.). The midterm was fair and brought in material from both the book and the lecture, and the final was a little more difficult, but still graded on a curve. Overall, definitely one of the better principles class.

One of the most disorganized professors I've ever had. He never responds to your emails; this guy just doesn't seem to care about his students at all. And if you happen to be a good note-taker, that won't help because you won't be able to follow your notes when you try to review it. The content of his disorganized lectures are okay (he'll have interesting examples sometimes), but he loves to talk about policies and never gets to the real basic point. His problem sets are difficult and his tests are extremely difficult as well. More like a higher-level econ course than a principles one.