Prof Stuart puts the entire course grade on only on 1 final exam, which is entirely free-response and graded subjectively. I took this course twice and got my lowest grade at UCSB, even after going to every single office hour for writing feedback on my 2nd try.

very helpful during office hours and exams are easy

I did not mind this class. Stuart had all of the lectures posted so you could go at your own pace before the midterms. 3 midterms, 3 FRQs on each with 150 word limit for each question. I took 100B w another professor b4 & had to drop, and it was all math. With Stuart, I really was able to understand the concepts as opposed to j memorizing formulas.

The worst prof I've ever had. Ended w/ an 89 but received a B so he down-curved without telling us. Gave awful lectures where he would would read off tiny font, handwritten notes. So rude & wont tell u how he grades the exams, why u got something wrong, & will not let u talk to a TA or get regrade. Gives v few A's. Grades randomly :( did not learn

I received overall 91.25% but it turn out to be a B+. Never understand how he grades.

What exactly was I paying for? Completely disconnected. All prerecorded lectures. Totally useless. He did not do anything this quarter. I could have received a better education from YouTube.

Probably the most disconnected professor Ive ever had; he wouldnt even go to office hours. I get he had difficulty with technology but still. Feel like I learned nothing in this class even though I did really well on tests.

Professor Stuart is my bai. He's super knowledgeable about the material and is very good at explaining it in a way that can be understood. He writes the notes as he goes which makes sure that it is easy for students to follow along and take all the notes they need.

Professor Stuart is very knowledgeable, and his lectures/material for this class are definitely a good learning experience if you have any interest in governmental finance. However, he is a tough grader and isn't always clear on how to actually get that good grade. The class is 50% midterm and 50% final, and both exams are written responses.

I genuinely liked professor Stuarts lectures. What he wrote on the board is what you needed to know and that was it. Many professors just lecture off 100s of powerpoint slides but not Stuart, just a few pages of notes each class. Reading the book helps a lot as well as doing practice problems.

This is my least favorite professor at UCSB. He pretty much arbitrarily gives 80-90% of the class a B and occasionally hands out an A or C. It's essentially impossible to fail, but just as impossible to get an A in. Lectures are tangential, tests + content have nothing to do with the textbook. You learn basically nothing. No work but no reward.

Instead of 9 FRQs, your grade is now based on three noncumulative 10 question MC exams (as of fall 2019). His teaching style is very old school but he gives you 90% of the information you need for exams during lecture. Textbook isn't necessary but fills in the gaps of the other 10%. Best prof I've had and overall easiest econ class I've taken.

The class is graded on 9 free response questions, each worth up to ten points. Grading is more or less subjective and answers are marked up or down based on how well the reader thinks you understand the material. Because it's conceptual, it's difficult to grasp at first, but if you go over the lecture notes religiously you'll be fine. Solid prof.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Class grade based on 9 questions. NO MATH. There's no consistent grading with no rubric or anything. Purely conceptually. JUST NO.

Professor Stuart gives solid lectures and is very detailed, therefore he expects the same amount of detail on exams. 2 midterms and a final that are 3 free response questions each, non cumulative, and weighted equally. If you attend lectures, section, and do the practice problems, you should be good.

Pretty terrible class. 100% of your grade is based on 9 questions so messing up on a single question is costly. Also the graders are extremely tough. Avoid this class if you can!

2 mid/1 final (noncum)- 3 questions free response. class is curved. You not only have to know the material (easy part) you have to be able to explain so in the tests clearly (hard- especially with subjective TA grading). i found stuart to be a good lecturer/fair tests. the hard part is the grading.

Hes a really tough grader and his lecture isnt really student friendly. However, you should go to every class and make sure that you really understand what he is talking about. Go to the OHs! Hand in a few written example answers of his final question hes providing online. If you do so, there wont be a problem to pass with an A.

Professor Stuart is a great professor but a bit old school. His lecturing skills has allowed me to further my knowledge in microeconomics. Somewhat easy B but extremely hard to earn B+ or higher. I received a 33% on the first midterm and still ended up with a B- with the curve.

excellent lecturer but tough grader! : ( I learned a lot and my GPA is ruined by this class.

As mentioned above, only a final of three short answer questions makes up your grade. He cares too much about logic and wording. If he thinks your answer is not clear enough even though you the ideas acrosed, you gonna get dinged. Simply going to lecture and writing down notes are not gonna be enough.

only sign up for this class if you want to take a final that is 100% of your grade and consists of 3 short answer questions that are each a paragraph long.

There was only one test, a final with 3 short answer questions, which entails there is no feedback improvement process. He is very particular on *how* a question is answered: wording, logical development and brevity. Overall, he's a clear lecturer and the class is interesting, but his testing strategy is the glaring drawback to keep in mind.

So a pretty unusual class. Grading is all based on a final. He asks 3 questions and wants short and succinct answers. Lectures are long, windy and confusing. He knows what he's talking about but isn't the best at teaching it. Taking notes of exactly what he writes down is your best bet. And then do OH's if needed (I didn't, but shoulda).