ECON 150
Labor Economics
Description: Lecture, three hours. Requisites: courses 11, 101, 103. Enforced corequisite: course 150L. Supply and demand for labor. Analysis of government, union, and other constraints on competitive system of wage determination. Wage level and structure. Wages and human capital theory. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
What can I say that hasn't already been said? The guy makes econ (hold your breath) INTERESTING. By far the best econ class and prof I've had. His lectures are organized, the topics are relevant to the real world (e.g. human capital theory, effects of immigration, welfare analysis, investment in education, etc.)he's very approachable and is concerned about student learning.
What can I say that hasn't already been said? The guy makes econ (hold your breath) INTERESTING. By far the best econ class and prof I've had. His lectures are organized, the topics are relevant to the real world (e.g. human capital theory, effects of immigration, welfare analysis, investment in education, etc.)he's very approachable and is concerned about student learning.
Most Helpful Review
Brown is a decent professor. He is unorganized and talks way too fast, but he's a nice guy, and it didn't seem like he was out to get you. His tests are fair, they require a thorough reading of the book, review of the practice probs he posts, and remembering tidbits from lecture. There aren't any curveballs like other Econ classes. If you put in enough time to study you should do fine. For the final, review the older material well. Its divided into equal thirds from the class, not weighted at all toward stuff not tested on. Expect to see repeated probs from the MTs. If you don't have patience, I wouldn't recommend this class, but if you're tired of getting screwed over by some of these Econ professors and their unfair tests, this would be a good class for you.
Brown is a decent professor. He is unorganized and talks way too fast, but he's a nice guy, and it didn't seem like he was out to get you. His tests are fair, they require a thorough reading of the book, review of the practice probs he posts, and remembering tidbits from lecture. There aren't any curveballs like other Econ classes. If you put in enough time to study you should do fine. For the final, review the older material well. Its divided into equal thirds from the class, not weighted at all toward stuff not tested on. Expect to see repeated probs from the MTs. If you don't have patience, I wouldn't recommend this class, but if you're tired of getting screwed over by some of these Econ professors and their unfair tests, this would be a good class for you.
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Most Helpful Review
Although she looks nice in class, she is not concerned about students during her office hours. Several friends of mine experienced this. We were all scared to go to her office hours, and I definitely won't suggest you to go. Remember, don't ask her "stupid questions" that you might have, although she looks welcome to be asked.
Although she looks nice in class, she is not concerned about students during her office hours. Several friends of mine experienced this. We were all scared to go to her office hours, and I definitely won't suggest you to go. Remember, don't ask her "stupid questions" that you might have, although she looks welcome to be asked.
Most Helpful Review
I was dumb....should have listened to other ppl's advice when they told me not to take him since they had him for econ 1 or 2. but i did. still haven't figured out why though. so lucky enough for me (sarcasm)....it turned out that it was his 1st time teaching 150. yeah, nice, huh? well not really. we were like his guinea pigs, per se! omg his lectures are long, draggin, hard to follow, and you literally have to be writing down the whole time, trying to copy down everything he says cuz trust me, everything he says is super important....um...except when he rambles on incessantly abt. his rich wife who's making mad dough...cute, he talks abt her as if he worships her...but enough of the same stuff over and over again already, man!.....he tends to ramble a lot......it's funny....sometimes he would take literally forever to talk abt. some stupid topic that's completely irrelevant to what ur learning....and amazing somehow he links it to econ (wait..shall i say...he TRIES to link it?) yeah.. So..yeah i just took the final today....possibly the hardest final i have ever taken in my life....omg it was soooooooooooooo LONG SOOO FRIGGIN" long omg omg omg!!..........there were like 7 parts...and under each part, you had to do 2-4 questions......and um...these aren't like easy questions...they are detailed analytical questions or math-oriented questions. Nice thing abt. this class is that there's always a big fat curve...but then if you really think abt. it.....a class that has a big fat curve tells u a lot how professor is...and i shall leave it at that... i literally busted my butt off for this class....had nightmares on a trillion and one graphs at nite.....did a big a above avg. on the 2 midterms.......we shall see how i did on the final.........but boy....he really really tests ur knowledge...so really....do make sure that you know EVERY FRIGGIN" graph he draws on the board and be able to explain the shifts and stuff. comment on the book: it's way tooooo simple. the prof goes BEYOND the book. the book is a supplement to the lecture notes. but if you do read the book over and over again, you will understand his lecture notes and the graphs. sooo.........sorry to blah blah blah for soo song...but that's my 2 cents on prof. hou take him if you want to be challenged. it's NOT easy...lemme repeat it again....IT IS NOT EASY AT ALL TO GET AN A in this class........so if ur a slacker.....STAY AWAY!!!
I was dumb....should have listened to other ppl's advice when they told me not to take him since they had him for econ 1 or 2. but i did. still haven't figured out why though. so lucky enough for me (sarcasm)....it turned out that it was his 1st time teaching 150. yeah, nice, huh? well not really. we were like his guinea pigs, per se! omg his lectures are long, draggin, hard to follow, and you literally have to be writing down the whole time, trying to copy down everything he says cuz trust me, everything he says is super important....um...except when he rambles on incessantly abt. his rich wife who's making mad dough...cute, he talks abt her as if he worships her...but enough of the same stuff over and over again already, man!.....he tends to ramble a lot......it's funny....sometimes he would take literally forever to talk abt. some stupid topic that's completely irrelevant to what ur learning....and amazing somehow he links it to econ (wait..shall i say...he TRIES to link it?) yeah.. So..yeah i just took the final today....possibly the hardest final i have ever taken in my life....omg it was soooooooooooooo LONG SOOO FRIGGIN" long omg omg omg!!..........there were like 7 parts...and under each part, you had to do 2-4 questions......and um...these aren't like easy questions...they are detailed analytical questions or math-oriented questions. Nice thing abt. this class is that there's always a big fat curve...but then if you really think abt. it.....a class that has a big fat curve tells u a lot how professor is...and i shall leave it at that... i literally busted my butt off for this class....had nightmares on a trillion and one graphs at nite.....did a big a above avg. on the 2 midterms.......we shall see how i did on the final.........but boy....he really really tests ur knowledge...so really....do make sure that you know EVERY FRIGGIN" graph he draws on the board and be able to explain the shifts and stuff. comment on the book: it's way tooooo simple. the prof goes BEYOND the book. the book is a supplement to the lecture notes. but if you do read the book over and over again, you will understand his lecture notes and the graphs. sooo.........sorry to blah blah blah for soo song...but that's my 2 cents on prof. hou take him if you want to be challenged. it's NOT easy...lemme repeat it again....IT IS NOT EASY AT ALL TO GET AN A in this class........so if ur a slacker.....STAY AWAY!!!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).
Winter 2021 - Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2025 - This was by far one of the worst classes I have ever taken. Lectures were not engaging at all and the slides were just copy and paste from the textbook. The professor was really bad at explaining concepts, so I taught myself everything from the textbook and google. The professor barely explains anything and always repeats the phrase "just read the textbook and you'll be fine", why am I paying tuition for this? Despite the fact that the professor merely skims over the econ material, the tests go way more in depth and I was caught off guard during the mid term because I did not expect that difficulty. I also felt like the tests were testing my math and english more than my econ concepts. Overall this class was super frustrating because the content is easy but the lack of teaching just makes it a hard class to ace. It was pretty frustrating when the professor barely went through the tougher mid term questions that most people did not get, not to mention there are ZERO practice tests and she just says "you either know it or not" I'm truly not sure how to feel about that explanation of not providing even one practice test. It bewildered me to see her use class time instead to play "games" and discuss material that wasn't that important to the class, for example spending 30 minutes asking people what their minimum wage experience is like instead of spending more time on the PS/WS curves. I'm all for a good discussion but considering how little teaching there was it wasn't great to sit through a lecture just listening to random stories when I'm stressing over the final. If you are great at self teaching then don't bother going to lectures and just read the textbook- it explains everything much better. In general, stay away from this class.
Fall 2025 - This was by far one of the worst classes I have ever taken. Lectures were not engaging at all and the slides were just copy and paste from the textbook. The professor was really bad at explaining concepts, so I taught myself everything from the textbook and google. The professor barely explains anything and always repeats the phrase "just read the textbook and you'll be fine", why am I paying tuition for this? Despite the fact that the professor merely skims over the econ material, the tests go way more in depth and I was caught off guard during the mid term because I did not expect that difficulty. I also felt like the tests were testing my math and english more than my econ concepts. Overall this class was super frustrating because the content is easy but the lack of teaching just makes it a hard class to ace. It was pretty frustrating when the professor barely went through the tougher mid term questions that most people did not get, not to mention there are ZERO practice tests and she just says "you either know it or not" I'm truly not sure how to feel about that explanation of not providing even one practice test. It bewildered me to see her use class time instead to play "games" and discuss material that wasn't that important to the class, for example spending 30 minutes asking people what their minimum wage experience is like instead of spending more time on the PS/WS curves. I'm all for a good discussion but considering how little teaching there was it wasn't great to sit through a lecture just listening to random stories when I'm stressing over the final. If you are great at self teaching then don't bother going to lectures and just read the textbook- it explains everything much better. In general, stay away from this class.
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