ECON 106D
Designed Markets
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 11, 101. Enforced corequisite: course 106DL. Discussion of markets and other institutions that were purposefully designed, mostly by economists. Choices designers face when designing such markets. Markets and their context and corresponding economic models. Topics include matching between medical residents and hospitals, matching between high school students and New York and Boston high schools, kidney transplants, course allocation in business schools, eBay auctions, and prediction markets. Examination of how to optimize one's actions and outcomes in such markets. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2025 - Econ 106D with Professor Bloedel at UCLA is easily one of the most frustrating and least valuable classes in the economics department. The course content focuses on abstract dynamic decision models and recursive equations that have little to no relevance to real-world economics or any practical career path. Unless you're pursuing a PhD in a niche area of theoretical econ, you will never use what you learn here again. The real issue, however, is Bloedel’s teaching. Rather than aiming for clarity, he seems more interested in sounding intellectual. Concepts that could be explained simply are buried in layers of obscure math and overcomplicated logic. His lectures leave most students confused, and his responses to questions rarely make things any clearer. It feels more like a performance than an effort to actually teach. This disconnect shows up clearly in the grades. Exam averages consistently sit in the low 60s, sometimes worse. Overall, 106D is an irrelevant, overly theoretical course made worse by a professor who prioritizes complexity over comprehension. For economics majors, there are far better electives that are actually useful and well taught.
Winter 2025 - Econ 106D with Professor Bloedel at UCLA is easily one of the most frustrating and least valuable classes in the economics department. The course content focuses on abstract dynamic decision models and recursive equations that have little to no relevance to real-world economics or any practical career path. Unless you're pursuing a PhD in a niche area of theoretical econ, you will never use what you learn here again. The real issue, however, is Bloedel’s teaching. Rather than aiming for clarity, he seems more interested in sounding intellectual. Concepts that could be explained simply are buried in layers of obscure math and overcomplicated logic. His lectures leave most students confused, and his responses to questions rarely make things any clearer. It feels more like a performance than an effort to actually teach. This disconnect shows up clearly in the grades. Exam averages consistently sit in the low 60s, sometimes worse. Overall, 106D is an irrelevant, overly theoretical course made worse by a professor who prioritizes complexity over comprehension. For economics majors, there are far better electives that are actually useful and well taught.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - I took this class Spring of 2017 and enjoyed this class overall. The professor does a pretty solid job making the lecture engaging and tying the content to real life scenarios. Both the professor and all the TA's want you to succeed in the course and are great teachers. The content isn't particularly difficult either, but does get harder during Week 8 and 9 because of all the fractions. The first half of the class focuses on different matching mechanisms while the second half focuses on auctions. Grading Breakdown: 30% Max {Midterm, Final} 30% Max {Group Essay, Final} 10% Max {Presentation, Group Essay, Final} 30% Final So yes you technically only need to take the final. Everything else is pretty much insurance if you screw up on the final. But be aware that the final content and the test itself was harder than the midterm (which was super easy). Also everyone did super well on the midterm so I'd recommend not just taking the final.
Spring 2017 - I took this class Spring of 2017 and enjoyed this class overall. The professor does a pretty solid job making the lecture engaging and tying the content to real life scenarios. Both the professor and all the TA's want you to succeed in the course and are great teachers. The content isn't particularly difficult either, but does get harder during Week 8 and 9 because of all the fractions. The first half of the class focuses on different matching mechanisms while the second half focuses on auctions. Grading Breakdown: 30% Max {Midterm, Final} 30% Max {Group Essay, Final} 10% Max {Presentation, Group Essay, Final} 30% Final So yes you technically only need to take the final. Everything else is pretty much insurance if you screw up on the final. But be aware that the final content and the test itself was harder than the midterm (which was super easy). Also everyone did super well on the midterm so I'd recommend not just taking the final.
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