ECON 101
Microeconomic Theory
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisite: course 11. Theory of factor pricing and income distribution, general equilibrium, implications of pricing process for optimum allocation of resources, game theory, and interest and capital. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - After taking Professor Mazzocco’s nightmare of an Econ 11 class last quarter, I found this class similar but better. In my opinion, Silveira was a much better professor than Mazzocco and very easily the best economics professor I’ve had at UCLA. That’s not saying much, though. The content of the class was—for a lack of better words—all over the place. I don’t attribute this to the professor but the nature of the class itself. We found ourselves switching gears constantly: we started off with monopoly and oligopoly; abruptly shifted to a diverse spread of game theory topics; and ended by spending the last week on uncertainty and risk topics that had nothing to do with the prior topics we had learned. Although the professor constantly attempted to demonstrate common trends between the topics, we only ever saw them in practice problems or exam problems. The problem sets were much more challenging than Mazzocco’s and served as adequate preparation for the exams. The few practice exams he put out a week or less before each exam, however, were more helpful. Although there was a lack of practice exams given the fact that Bernardo has only taught this class for two quarters, I found myself prepared for most of the content on the exams. Becoming intimately familiar with the way in which he formats each question on the problem sets and practice exams is essential, especially those that slightly deviate from the examples in lecture. The exams were some of the hardest I’ve had in UCLA economics, although—as I said before—that isn’t saying much. There were some problem types that we simply never encountered in the lectures or any of the practice materials that made it on the exams; at the end of the day, they just require some creative intuition because there is no good way to prepare for them. Just follow the strategy I give above, and you will do fine.
Winter 2021 - After taking Professor Mazzocco’s nightmare of an Econ 11 class last quarter, I found this class similar but better. In my opinion, Silveira was a much better professor than Mazzocco and very easily the best economics professor I’ve had at UCLA. That’s not saying much, though. The content of the class was—for a lack of better words—all over the place. I don’t attribute this to the professor but the nature of the class itself. We found ourselves switching gears constantly: we started off with monopoly and oligopoly; abruptly shifted to a diverse spread of game theory topics; and ended by spending the last week on uncertainty and risk topics that had nothing to do with the prior topics we had learned. Although the professor constantly attempted to demonstrate common trends between the topics, we only ever saw them in practice problems or exam problems. The problem sets were much more challenging than Mazzocco’s and served as adequate preparation for the exams. The few practice exams he put out a week or less before each exam, however, were more helpful. Although there was a lack of practice exams given the fact that Bernardo has only taught this class for two quarters, I found myself prepared for most of the content on the exams. Becoming intimately familiar with the way in which he formats each question on the problem sets and practice exams is essential, especially those that slightly deviate from the examples in lecture. The exams were some of the hardest I’ve had in UCLA economics, although—as I said before—that isn’t saying much. There were some problem types that we simply never encountered in the lectures or any of the practice materials that made it on the exams; at the end of the day, they just require some creative intuition because there is no good way to prepare for them. Just follow the strategy I give above, and you will do fine.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2017 - I got a pretty good grade in this class, but I would've struggled if I didn't have a good sense of econ to begin with. This professors lectures are boring and hard to focus on. He writes pretty small on the board so its often hard to see. You can get his slides online, but you should go to lecture to take notes on the problems he does on the board. Don't buy the textbook. His tests are pretty closely related to the problem set he gives out, but there is often a little twist on one or two of the problems on the exams, and his multiple choice require a pretty full coverage knowledge of the material. (Tests are about 50/50 multiple choice and written problems). All in all, not bad at all if you are good at econ, but beware that the grade distribution for midterm 2 was a 56% and up was an A.
Spring 2017 - I got a pretty good grade in this class, but I would've struggled if I didn't have a good sense of econ to begin with. This professors lectures are boring and hard to focus on. He writes pretty small on the board so its often hard to see. You can get his slides online, but you should go to lecture to take notes on the problems he does on the board. Don't buy the textbook. His tests are pretty closely related to the problem set he gives out, but there is often a little twist on one or two of the problems on the exams, and his multiple choice require a pretty full coverage knowledge of the material. (Tests are about 50/50 multiple choice and written problems). All in all, not bad at all if you are good at econ, but beware that the grade distribution for midterm 2 was a 56% and up was an A.
Most Helpful Review
he is really not that hard, sure he cant always express everything the right way but most of the time the students are just stupid. This course is hard if you are one of those econ majors who cant do math (which seems to be a surprising number) but you can take a derivative and do algebra you will be fine. the average on the second midterm was a 49 so he added 20 points to every test. I ended up getting 100 with the 20 points but then again im a math major so this class was super easy.
he is really not that hard, sure he cant always express everything the right way but most of the time the students are just stupid. This course is hard if you are one of those econ majors who cant do math (which seems to be a surprising number) but you can take a derivative and do algebra you will be fine. the average on the second midterm was a 49 so he added 20 points to every test. I ended up getting 100 with the 20 points but then again im a math major so this class was super easy.
Most Helpful Review
Overall a good, straightforward lecturer, I guess. However, I did expect a better grade in the class. And like the complaints listed below, his lecture notes, online textbooks, and online projects are only worth a couple of points (though it took me 6-7 hours to complete). He is always available at office hours to answer your questions, but when you do ask him a question, he mumbles the answers to you and never bothers to elaborate on it. His quizzes and tests are pretty tricky, so be sure to study your lecture notes well. If I had the chance to take him again...oh nevermind...why bother
Overall a good, straightforward lecturer, I guess. However, I did expect a better grade in the class. And like the complaints listed below, his lecture notes, online textbooks, and online projects are only worth a couple of points (though it took me 6-7 hours to complete). He is always available at office hours to answer your questions, but when you do ask him a question, he mumbles the answers to you and never bothers to elaborate on it. His quizzes and tests are pretty tricky, so be sure to study your lecture notes well. If I had the chance to take him again...oh nevermind...why bother
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - I first want to thank my amazing TA Raja Chandni for getting me through this course, she is a literal godsend and I would take her again in a heartbeat for any future courses. Now moving onto the review of the course/professor, I'd say firstly DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE LIGHT WORKLOAD. Yes, there are no problem sets, but the exams Vogel gives are hard as shit and only have 6-8 questions. During COVID, this class was completely asynchronous which made it so much harder to stay motivated and on track (made no better by the fact that Vogel has the most monotone voice in the world). I'd say his lecturing style and slides are not the best, but not the worst either, and I came out of each lecture knowing like most of the material (like I said though, idk if I'd have learned anything fully if not for my TA). Capitalize on the relatively easier first midterm to cushion you for the second one/final and review his practice exams/extra questions like they're the bible. I'd go above and beyond to really understand the material, as Vogel throws curveballs and new types of problems on exams, which are pretty easy if you understand the underlying concepts. Good luck
Fall 2020 - I first want to thank my amazing TA Raja Chandni for getting me through this course, she is a literal godsend and I would take her again in a heartbeat for any future courses. Now moving onto the review of the course/professor, I'd say firstly DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE LIGHT WORKLOAD. Yes, there are no problem sets, but the exams Vogel gives are hard as shit and only have 6-8 questions. During COVID, this class was completely asynchronous which made it so much harder to stay motivated and on track (made no better by the fact that Vogel has the most monotone voice in the world). I'd say his lecturing style and slides are not the best, but not the worst either, and I came out of each lecture knowing like most of the material (like I said though, idk if I'd have learned anything fully if not for my TA). Capitalize on the relatively easier first midterm to cushion you for the second one/final and review his practice exams/extra questions like they're the bible. I'd go above and beyond to really understand the material, as Vogel throws curveballs and new types of problems on exams, which are pretty easy if you understand the underlying concepts. Good luck
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Most Helpful Review
Very smart and a bit quirky. He's not as horrible as previous reviews claim. I think most people that post bad reviews are really really stupid and can't handle learning from intelligent professors. I think the awesome TA's made a huge difference as well. A lot of students avoided Econ 101 Winter 2011 because of his negative reviews. Bad move, he taught econ 101 well. I think most of the class got an A or A-. His test were straight forward and resembled what he taught. Some homework assignments were difficult and long but if you did them you'd do well on the tests.
Very smart and a bit quirky. He's not as horrible as previous reviews claim. I think most people that post bad reviews are really really stupid and can't handle learning from intelligent professors. I think the awesome TA's made a huge difference as well. A lot of students avoided Econ 101 Winter 2011 because of his negative reviews. Bad move, he taught econ 101 well. I think most of the class got an A or A-. His test were straight forward and resembled what he taught. Some homework assignments were difficult and long but if you did them you'd do well on the tests.
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