ECON 102
Macroeconomic Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 101. Theory of income, employment, and price level. Analysis of secular growth and business fluctuations; introduction to monetary and fiscal policy. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I trusted the decent reviews this class had before Winter 2021 and I feel bamboozled. Prof didn't even have a syllabus until like week 4 of the course, randomly decided that the midterm was going to take place at 6pm on a Monday with no exceptions (people have jobs/are in different time zones/do things outside of class time??), was all over the place with regards to lecture material (didn't end up finishing a lot of material we were supposed to cover), admittedly made the midterm super hard to "ensure a normal curve," acknowledges that 15% of the class will fail, and was just generally rude to students. He would sometimes laugh when people when they asked questions during lecture :( His questions on problems sets and tests are also sometimes so vague and subjective, even the TA's have no idea wtf he's talking about. Also, don't get me started on his grading rubrics. You will get marked down on the most silly things. Anyway, don't take this class unless its literally your last quarter at UCLA and you have no choice.
Winter 2021 - I trusted the decent reviews this class had before Winter 2021 and I feel bamboozled. Prof didn't even have a syllabus until like week 4 of the course, randomly decided that the midterm was going to take place at 6pm on a Monday with no exceptions (people have jobs/are in different time zones/do things outside of class time??), was all over the place with regards to lecture material (didn't end up finishing a lot of material we were supposed to cover), admittedly made the midterm super hard to "ensure a normal curve," acknowledges that 15% of the class will fail, and was just generally rude to students. He would sometimes laugh when people when they asked questions during lecture :( His questions on problems sets and tests are also sometimes so vague and subjective, even the TA's have no idea wtf he's talking about. Also, don't get me started on his grading rubrics. You will get marked down on the most silly things. Anyway, don't take this class unless its literally your last quarter at UCLA and you have no choice.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - The TA's were pretty helpful despite being confused, so I really appreciated that even though the professor often dismissed our concerns about the hw or the rests. I found it funny that the TA's didn't even know how to help us with the hw for this class since the wording was ambiguous and confusing sometimes. I hated hw 2 (excel and solow model) because there were no clear instructions, was time consuming, and had long parts that didn't make any sense, although you didn't need more than a basic understanding of excel for that. i also disliked how some of the TAs told us that they couldn't "tell us the answers," when we asked for help on the hw in the beginning of the quarter so they just gave us confusing hints. It was very hard to try to master the material on our own, since a lot of the hw was incredibly time consuming. I thought the professor should've given more reign for all the TA's to be able to teach us the concepts more when we ask for help on hw questions. I felt like I was going to fail the class the entire time, but luckily grades are curved. Tests: Midterm was straightforward even though it was hard (but not as hard as final), as long as you did the hw and paid some attention in class. The final was super difficult and I had no idea how to do most of it. I still think that if you try your best, you can (at least) pass this class. Some positives: I liked the discussions that the professor posted on Canvas (10% of our grade is participation) since it was relevant to both the class and what was happening to our economy today. He clearly is a guy who is very passionate about macro. His lectures would've been way more interesting if only there were less confusing math on the slides that he rushed through. I also liked that we were able to use notes on the test (paper materials only).
Spring 2022 - The TA's were pretty helpful despite being confused, so I really appreciated that even though the professor often dismissed our concerns about the hw or the rests. I found it funny that the TA's didn't even know how to help us with the hw for this class since the wording was ambiguous and confusing sometimes. I hated hw 2 (excel and solow model) because there were no clear instructions, was time consuming, and had long parts that didn't make any sense, although you didn't need more than a basic understanding of excel for that. i also disliked how some of the TAs told us that they couldn't "tell us the answers," when we asked for help on the hw in the beginning of the quarter so they just gave us confusing hints. It was very hard to try to master the material on our own, since a lot of the hw was incredibly time consuming. I thought the professor should've given more reign for all the TA's to be able to teach us the concepts more when we ask for help on hw questions. I felt like I was going to fail the class the entire time, but luckily grades are curved. Tests: Midterm was straightforward even though it was hard (but not as hard as final), as long as you did the hw and paid some attention in class. The final was super difficult and I had no idea how to do most of it. I still think that if you try your best, you can (at least) pass this class. Some positives: I liked the discussions that the professor posted on Canvas (10% of our grade is participation) since it was relevant to both the class and what was happening to our economy today. He clearly is a guy who is very passionate about macro. His lectures would've been way more interesting if only there were less confusing math on the slides that he rushed through. I also liked that we were able to use notes on the test (paper materials only).
Most Helpful Review
I thought he was one of the most down-to-earth econ professors around. I mean, he rides a motorcycle to work! Other than that, he's pretty funny too. He's very smart too...probably one of the smarter econ professors at school. He doesn't throw any surprises on the exam. He assigns homework every other week (beware! the homeworks that are graded are worth quite a bit of the overall class grade...I believe he graded 2 of the 5 problem sets. the 2 graded sets were worth 44 each of the possible 100 points in the homework section which is worth 25% of the course grade) (hope that made sense). He is very technology savvy, and loves to assign excel projects in the homework sets. He is a very young professor, but he's comfortable in front of a 300 person lecture hall. The material of the class was very microoriented and very mathematical. He doesn't spell out the implications of the material, you must do that on your own time. Overall, good class. I think I pulled an A.
I thought he was one of the most down-to-earth econ professors around. I mean, he rides a motorcycle to work! Other than that, he's pretty funny too. He's very smart too...probably one of the smarter econ professors at school. He doesn't throw any surprises on the exam. He assigns homework every other week (beware! the homeworks that are graded are worth quite a bit of the overall class grade...I believe he graded 2 of the 5 problem sets. the 2 graded sets were worth 44 each of the possible 100 points in the homework section which is worth 25% of the course grade) (hope that made sense). He is very technology savvy, and loves to assign excel projects in the homework sets. He is a very young professor, but he's comfortable in front of a 300 person lecture hall. The material of the class was very microoriented and very mathematical. He doesn't spell out the implications of the material, you must do that on your own time. Overall, good class. I think I pulled an A.
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I enjoyed this class and Professor Farmer because he related the material to the current economic situation. The lectures are all based on power points that he uploads to the class website. It seems that he also always has his lectures on bruincast for those that don't like to go to class. Attendance for the TA sections count for 10% of the class but they are really helpful for the weekly homework assignments. There are two midterms and a final for the class. He was pretty generous with the grading because you will automatically get the higher or one midterm at 40% and the final for 50% or the final can count for 90%. His tests are about half concepts from the readings and half is econ. math(maximizing with lagrangians and etc.). There isn't going to be anything that is "tricky" or anything on the tests, they are generally straight forward and follow the assignments very closely. I think Farmer only teaches once a year and only in the Fall but if you're trying to plan ahead, I would recommend him because you will learn a lot and he is generous with the grades.
I enjoyed this class and Professor Farmer because he related the material to the current economic situation. The lectures are all based on power points that he uploads to the class website. It seems that he also always has his lectures on bruincast for those that don't like to go to class. Attendance for the TA sections count for 10% of the class but they are really helpful for the weekly homework assignments. There are two midterms and a final for the class. He was pretty generous with the grading because you will automatically get the higher or one midterm at 40% and the final for 50% or the final can count for 90%. His tests are about half concepts from the readings and half is econ. math(maximizing with lagrangians and etc.). There isn't going to be anything that is "tricky" or anything on the tests, they are generally straight forward and follow the assignments very closely. I think Farmer only teaches once a year and only in the Fall but if you're trying to plan ahead, I would recommend him because you will learn a lot and he is generous with the grades.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Although I have taken some great classes at UCLA, I have to say that Econ 102 with Professor Geerolf has been the most interesting and informative class I've taken at UCLA hands down. The first few weeks of class are admittedly difficult and confusing as he provides a mathematical and theoretical foundation for the rest of the class, but as the class progresses, it becomes clear that there is a method to his madness and the more interesting arguments he makes later on in the class can only be understood through the theories he teaches at the beginning. Professor Geerolf's class reshaped how I viewed economics and provided me with a markedly stronger perspective on current events (particularly related to the economy). For those willing to put in some effort to learn something interesting and of value, I cannot recommend this class strongly enough.
Fall 2020 - Although I have taken some great classes at UCLA, I have to say that Econ 102 with Professor Geerolf has been the most interesting and informative class I've taken at UCLA hands down. The first few weeks of class are admittedly difficult and confusing as he provides a mathematical and theoretical foundation for the rest of the class, but as the class progresses, it becomes clear that there is a method to his madness and the more interesting arguments he makes later on in the class can only be understood through the theories he teaches at the beginning. Professor Geerolf's class reshaped how I viewed economics and provided me with a markedly stronger perspective on current events (particularly related to the economy). For those willing to put in some effort to learn something interesting and of value, I cannot recommend this class strongly enough.
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