ECON3106: Politics and Economics

6 x 3% problem sets. 3 of these involved deriving equilibrium conditions for some setup, the other 3 were responding to empirical papers. I liked these, they weren't super intensive, but you did have to understand the material to do well on them.

16 x 1% online quizzes. 2 of these were due for each week of lectures. Just short multiple-choice quizzes (4-5 questions each), nothing very intense. You can repeat as many times as necessary. Free marks.

4 x 5% discussions. These were in-tutorial discussions about research papers that we were given a week to read. This is the weirdest part of the course for me, it seemed very difficult to actually get the marks for this, 3-4 contributions per discussion were needed from my experience, but when you have 30 people in an online tutorial it gets very messy very quickly - you're forced to gun for the marks early on so that nobody steals your idea and so you can actually get a word in.

46% final exam. This wasn't very difficult overall. 2.5 hours to do 2 short math questions, 2 short responses, and 3 multiple-choice questions. The final exam covered (at most) 10% of the course, and didn't take anywhere near 2.5 hours to complete. There were strange word limit requirements though, with one saying that your mathematical reasoning had to be strictly below 20 words.

ECON2101. I'd also say take 2112 before this as well.

This is such a great course. I wasn't very convinced early on, but the topics flow nicely from one to another, individual preferences lead to social choices, then to lobbying and corruption, political advertising, and conflict. The course cleverly integrates empirical data throughout to reinforce what the theory is saying, and closes with a lecture devoted to exploring empirical data. It's well structured, well-paced, well taught, and well assessed. If you're looking for a third-year economics course that isn't super intense, this is your new best friend.

2 x 1.5 hour lecture per week. 1 x 1.5 hour tutorial per week.

2/5.

Pre-recorded lectures, four per week. This is one of the few times where I have felt that the pre-recorded lectures were superior to having live lectures, mainly due to the lecturers.

Gabriele Gratton, 5/5. His lectures are always engaging and he was super helpful throughout the term. If you have the opportunity to take a course under Gabriele, take it.

Federico Masera, 4/5. Not quite at Gabriele's level, but close. A big improvement (in my opinion) over 2206.

Full slides.

5/5.

2021/T2

82 DN.