Some Econ courses

[Ajay]

Wondering if anyone has taken these Econ courses at UofC and what they had to say about it. Another thing. I still need to do Econ 315 (Econometrics) but it doesn't even show it being offered in fall/winter on Infonet.

But here's the courses;

Econ 327 - Petro in the world economy
Econ 537 - World Oil Economics
Econ 483 - History of Economic Thought
Econ 349 - Economics of Social Problems
Econ 423 - International Macro
Econ 425 - International Trade
Econ 431 - CDN Labour Market
Econ 345 - Economic Analysis of Law I.

I know that's alot of courses to find info about.

[Weapon_R]

483
423
425
345

What exactly do you want to know about them?

[Ajay]

Interesting or boring as hell?

[Gainsbarre]

ECON 423 is a very interesting course...easily the best 400 level econ I've taken (401, 403 and 443 are the other 400 levels I've taken). The prof who is teaching it (Zuzana Janko) is also the best prof in the department, IMO. If you want to know more about 423 of have any specific questions about it, just let me know.

ECON 315 has been replaced with ECON 395...so you'll have to take 395 instead.

[Gainsbarre]

Oh, and I've chatted with the guy who will be teaching ECON 425 in Summer 2005 and Winter 2006 (Shan Jiang)...he's another grad student who can barely speak English.

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by Ajay
Interesting or boring as hell?

As with all courses, that will largely depend on the professor.

I found 483 (history) to be especially boring but also very easy. Basically, a rundown of the famous philosophers of the time (smith, mills, marx, etc).

423 and 425 I enjoyed, although I found 423 to be more difficult than 425. I also took 425 before 423. Both are challenging but offer some of the most interesting and useful information in economics.

345 wasn't bad at all, but I fail to see any application in the real world. The course desperately tries to apply economics to the study of law, and the theory fails on so many levels. its not a bad class, but you wont like it if you raise the bullshit flag often.

[canadian_hustla]

Econ 537 - World Oil Economics
Econ 431 - CDN Labour Market

Taken those two, except econ537 should be 527 last I recall.

World Oil Economics is easy, especially if you take it with white. All it is, is basic understanding of oil and its role in OPEC. 1 midterm, 1 final, 1 paper. That's it. The midterm and final require absolutely NO math skills (although some of the lectures incorporate higher level math to explain oil flow, and ideal refining times). Lastly, this course has a messed up grading scale - a C is something like a 55-58%. Basically do the readings and you will be fine

Econ431 is fucking hard, you will be expected to know a lot about labour curves, queing theory, unemployment, etc etc. This sounds easy, but the tests are extremely hard and very mathematical. Be prepared to write at least 6-7 pages of notes per lecture. I can't remember my prof, but the grading was based on: 2 midterms, 1 final, and 1 survey paper (this thing was fucking rediculous, he wanted something like 8 peer reviewed sources, and =~ 20 pages or something like that). This class was so hard that the prof (who wrote the book), actually would give you a sample of questions before a test, and you would have a couple days to work in a group to solve the answers. Sure enough, his tests would be comprised of these questions. The kicker is that the answers are not easy to understand, and I spent countless hours in his office trying to understand the concepts. This prof is very good, however he expects A LOT. You have been warned.

hope that helps.

[Canmorite]

What do all these numbers means? 305, 395?

[Weapon_R]

Originally posted by Canmorite
What do all these numbers means? 305, 395?

Class numbers

[CLiVE]

Econ 327 - Petro in the world economy
Econ 537 - World Oil Economics
Econ 349 - Economics of Social Problems
Econ 423 - International Macro
Econ 425 - International Trade

Took all of these. Believe some of the course numbers have changed since my day though.

327 and 537 (527?) - Very very dry. Will depend on the prof you get. I don't recommend 537.

349 was very interesting. Great course, one of the better ones I took. Interesting how Econ was applied to social problems.

423/425. Fairly straight forward and easy to get through.

May have taken 431. Can't remember. They all seem the same after so many years. :dunno:

[BebeAphrodite]

Originally posted by Ajay


Econ 537 - World Oil Economics
Econ 349 - Economics of Social Problems


I've taken both 537 which is Theory and Policy of Economic Development and 527 which is the World Oil class... so I'm not sure if you meant 537 or 527
My input is:
527 was super easy. MacFayden (if he's still teaching it) is a really generous teacher and I found him to know a lot and was good BUT he was super duper boring.
537 was taught by scattered brained Coe (my most detested teacher in all of U of C) and I thought it was the hardest class that I've ever taken. I found it harder than 315. 12 outta about 30 something students in that class went to the dean to complain because the class average was 50% on a midtermand we found him incredibly unfair. We also handed in paper proposals at the beginning of the year and only 7 people's paper proposals were accepted.. the rest were rejected (and of course you don't get full points when ur proposal is rejected). There were intially around 50 something students enrolled but those smart enough dropped the class FAST. I dont know if the structure has change but I was under the impression that Coe had helped to develop the class two years ago.
And also 349 was an easy class as well. I'd recommend World oil and 349.


Originally posted by canadian_hustla

Econ431 is fucking hard, you will be expected to know a lot about labour curves, queing theory, unemployment, etc etc. This sounds easy, but the tests are extremely hard and very mathematical. Be prepared to write at least 6-7 pages of notes per lecture. I can't remember my prof, but the grading was based on: 2 midterms, 1 final, and 1 survey paper (this thing was fucking rediculous, he wanted something like 8 peer reviewed sources, and =~ 20 pages or something like that). This class was so hard that the prof (who wrote the book), actually would give you a sample of questions before a test, and you would have a couple days to work in a group to solve the answers. Sure enough, his tests would be comprised of these questions. The kicker is that the answers are not easy to understand, and I spent countless hours in his office trying to understand the concepts. This prof is very good, however he expects A LOT. You have been warned.

hope that helps.

I will be signing into that class because this is the only class that fits my schedule and my friend's schedule so we can take a class together. Who did you have? The teacher teaching it this fall will be Bruce. hehehe, I'm sorta creeped out cuz this sounds soo hardd!

[maximus]

I found 349 very interesting. Thats probably what made it easy. Probably one of the most interesting on that list.

423/425 pretty straight forward and easy.

Bruce is not hard, he just dosn't accept bullshit answers. You know, the ones where people just blable on with no real relevance to the question and just try and rewrite their notes. Straight forward answers will get you marks not BSing. Its truely how a 400 level university course should be.

I agree that he marks the paper kinda hard but he gives you an opportunity to hand it in for him to read before the due date... TAKE IT! Not a paper you can finish 2 nights before don't ask me how I know.

[BebeAphrodite]

Originally posted by maximus
I found 349 very interesting. Thats probably what made it easy. Probably one of the most interesting on that list.

423/425 pretty straight forward and easy.

Bruce is not hard, he just dosn't accept bullshit answers. You know, the ones where people just blable on with no real relevance to the question and just try and rewrite their notes. Straight forward answers will get you marks not BSing. Its truely how a 400 level university course should be.

I agree that he marks the paper kinda hard but he gives you an opportunity to hand it in for him to read before the due date... TAKE IT! Not a paper you can finish 2 nights before don't ask me how I know.

Hmm.. I just changed it to 423. I'd prefer to have a straightforward class.

[Ajay]

Thanks for all the info! Definetly helps me with my decisions on classes to take.

I did mean 527 and not 537. I did 537 this past semseter with Tracey and it was pretty interesting and not hard at all.

I was thinking of doing 431 cause I did 433 with Bruce but when I think about it I'm going to stay away from that cause he can be an ass when it comes to marking. For 433 he required us to write a paper and it had to have a MIN of 5 peer-reviewed sources and had to be a MIN of 12 pages or so. So looks like 433 is outta the running!

I wanted to take 423 and 425 but they're both offered at the same time so I think I'll be taking 423 instead.

Once again thanks for the info , helps me make some decisions for courses I'm going to take this coming year.

[canadian_hustla]

^

:werd: Bruce is really intelligent, just extremely tough

and econ527 is a joke.

cheers