PLIR 2050

If you're interested in economics and politics, this is the class for you. Don't let the fact that it's in the politics department fool you, this class is econ intensive. No pre reqs are required but expect more work if you haven't taken an econ class. Love Schwartz, he's a sassy one.

This was really a fascinating class. I learned something new and applicable in every single lecture, and Schwartz is hilarious. I did not have any background in Economics before I took this course, but I still understood everything and wound up doing well in the class. I definitely recommend the course. Liao was a great TA.

Keep up with the reading. Focus especially on Cohn.

I would not recommend this course to others. If you want to learn this material just read the Cohn book. Save yourself (and your GPA) the time, and stress, and avoid the many boring lectures. Some of the material is interesting, but a few hours on wikipedia could probably give you a good amount of info in a much more understandable and succinct form. Furthermore, putting up with Schwartz for two hours a week was borderline unbearable - hard to get past his annoying lecture style and serious Napoleonic complex.

I really don't know why I took this class-- o requirements that I needed-- other than that I was intrigued by the name and I enjoy reading "The Economist." I ended up very much enjoying it, and it's great if you're interested in the economy and financial crises, etc. However, if you're looking for a light and easy class, this is not for you. The lectures are very fast paced-- this is the only class where I take notes on my computer-- and the material is A LOT. Lots of reading, charts, ideas, etc. I loved my TA, Yu Jin, though-- she is so nice and adorable and not a hard grader. Overall, I think it was a good class.

This was an interesting class, but don't be fooled by the lack of an Economics pre-requisite, I highly recommend ECON2020 before taking Intro to Political Economy. Be ready to be consistently frustrated by the speed at which Schwartz lectures, as you are forced to choose between listening closely and writing down what is on his slides. Take this class if you are interested in the interactions between market and state.

Liked my TA...wasn't crazy about the class. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but lectures and readings are so boring!!

I was second year when I took this class and it was hardest of all. I love professor Schwartz but he's notorious for assigning 200+ pgs of reading each week. I loved his jokes but some people hate it. The midterm was crazy: in 35 min, we had to define 6-7 terms and 5-6 short answers. Don't remember quite well now but I remember I had to choose total 13. I didn't do 97% of the reading. Study group helps.

meh.