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That class was boring as @#@$
Passed w/ a B though
Passed w/ a B though
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Craftsy21 wrote:
intro econ classes should be simple, macro and micro.
I agree completely and would add that it is unproductive to include any more just a little math in an intro class. Economic ideas are, initially counterintuitive and advanced algebra and calculus, advanced or otherwise, is a distraction and not helpful at that point.
My extraordinary intro to micro professor, who is the reason why even people, who disagree with me often times respect my economic reasoning, even told me,when I was in his price theory class, that he did not want to much math or very much abstract theory or anything about game theory or ideas from industrialorganization. He said it was disservice to the econ major who need a solid foundation and can learn the advanced stuff later and it was an even biggerdisservice to the business and social science students, who only take the intro classes.
He choose quality over quantity, we covered about ten different things like demand, supply, elasticity, average and marginal costs, marginal revenues and firmsin competitive markets and firms in market that are less competitive and more monopolistic. What he did he made us understand thoroughly because you will notgo far in more advanced courses if you are still tripping over quantity demanded versus demand and making other rudimentary mistakes. He also was wise todedicate the entire first lesson to helping tell us what economics was not (it is not business administration or a magical way to predict the stock market) andhe showed us slides and pictures such as color wheel to talk to use about how we must think at the margin and a road map to tell us that economics is aboutabstraction, simplifications of reality that serve us better, for certain purposes, then detailed portraits. Just like a squire learns about chivalry beforeusing a sword, we have to learn the correct philosophy before seeing a single model, chart or graph.
To all of the CSUN students who need micro econ or price theory or managerial econ, this professor's name is Richard Tontz, take him if at all possible.
You'll be fine. They're intro classes - it'd be no harder than taking History 100, it'll take some studying if you're foreignto the ideas but there's no complex thinking involved in 100 level econ classes, as there shouldn't be.Originally Posted by BCF06
I'm taking both Micro and Macro at the same time because they are my last classes. Is this going to be tough?
LittlePeteWrigley wrote:
Damn Rex. After reading and reflecting on your posts, I kinda want to take micro now (I was intending on taking macro now, then micro).
I've heard some GODAWFUL things about the micro teachers at my school and some contrasting opinions about macro profs. I found it a lil' ironic that you emphasized the need of a good instructor.
Worst case scenario, let's say that I do take macro now, will I really be at a disadvantage? I'd say I have a decent knowledge of economics, but am no where as learned as some here (I've learned a lot from your posts), so I don't believe that I'll be lost or anything.
Also, what books would you recommend I check out? I'd like to squeeze some reading in before school starts.
Get Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics. It is like 280 or so although some of it is macro so in order to get a good micro foundation youprobably would only need to read about 200 pages of it and it is a pretty easy 200 pages because it is full of inetresting empirical examples and is written byone of best peopel ever to have written about economics or any subject, the book also has no math or charts or graphs.
Read that and you will have taught yourself a good foundation, which will make macro very easy. In some intro macro classes, you memorize various formulae andjust do math problem and/or you just take things as articles of faith, if A happens then B happens type of stuff. A lot of peopel pass macro through rotememorization and end up having wasted lots of time memorizing meaningless ideas.
If you read Sowell's book, you will have that base established (and while a great teacher of micro is ideal, reading Sowell's book is better than a badmicro teacher) and you will not need to rely on rote memorization and the you will not have to study very much for macro, you will understand why an answer isthe righ tanswer and you can reason your way through a problem because you understand it at its core.
If you read Sowell's book, you will end up saving lots of time during the semester because you will not have to study nearly as much as most of yourclassmates so that will give you more time to study for other classes and/or more free time to enjoy. and you also can get something out of your macro classand being able to understand and appreciate it will help you with further study of econ, business or any other social science.
One more reason I suggest you read basic economics is while it truly is flattering to know that some o my posts have been educational for yo uand you soundlike some who has probably picked up a lot of knowledge from various sources like political and business news, you really still reall ywant a very cohensive,coherant and unifed economic mindset and Thomas Sowell's book provides exactly that in a very lucid and enjoyable manner.
psh rex reads mind thats how he passed
Why the? Why not give me abecause in addition to reading minds, I can see the future and like Jedi Knight, canmake my most trusted weapon, my TI83 fly back into my hand through telekinesis and if all else fails I was able to convince my professor to give me A'swith a wave of my hand. Like the Internet, Economics is serious business.
Originally Posted by kash55
You just liked the teacher.Originally Posted by AC4Three
I really enjoyed it, although I think it's harder than micro.