Good and entertaining professor at lectures, but pretty hard subjects. Was not very clear about the structure of the exams and doesn't give out previous final (just midterms).

More than half of the total points of the exam are made with true/false and multiple choice questions. Some of them are VERY tricky.

He's not really available.

selling econ 160 textbook

714-351-6322

Overall, Baim was a good professor. His class consists only on one 3hour lecture per week, and is graded only on one midterm (optional) and the final. The tests are not easy, but taking a look to past exams is very helpful. The book was, at least for me, very useful. I got an A as I studied quite a lot, as the curve is not very generous. He si very funny and also knowledgeable, I strongly recommend to take this class as is easy and very interesting.

Pros:
Class is podcasted, textbook is not required to do well in the class (it will help a little but not worth buying), Midterm is optional (but you CANT drop the score if you take the test), free response questions are pretty straight forward
Cons:
The class is just a midterm & final (or just the final if you skip the midterm). I usually like this but his tests are weighted ~50% on just multiple choice, so if you miss 5 questions you can go down almost 2 letter grades
Overall:
Go to class if you can, he tries to be funny and tells a lot of random stories & it is pretty hard to watch him on the podcast since the material can be dry at times. No one ever goes to office hours unless it's before a test so if you need the help it will basically be a private lesson with him.
for the midterm just study the old exams he posts, you will get a very good feel for how he tests that way.
Overall it literally comes down to how you do on the T/F questions and the multiple choice, as you will get almost all the points in the free response. Take that for what you will but I thought the class was pretty easy overall
final grade: A

Baim is probably the best econ professor at UCLA. He is witty, engaging, and easy to understand. He throws muffins out to people who ask good questions and uses real life scenarios to explain complex concepts. His practice tests are available and the exams are fair. He is a great teacher, and funny and entertaining enough its not a pain to come to class. Highly recommend.

Take this class before you leave UCLA. What you learn in this class will be really useful and this class is really engaging.

First of all, if you're an econ major, you shouldn't graduate until you take money and banking. You learn more in this class than probably in any other classes combined. The class isn't easy, but it's worth the work you put into it. You finish the class knowing you learned something valuable. The textbook is very useful, and it's also one of the best econ textbooks I ever had to use. The professor knows how to teach and he knows his stuff. Go to his office hours as much as you can. I'm graduating in a few months, and this was the best econ class I took. If I had a chance I would take it 3 times. Highly recommended, and this is coming from someone who didn't even get an A in the class.

Baim is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. If you want to learn something, take him. His tests aren't that hard- provided that you read the textbook, go to class, and do the practice tests he provides.

If you are an Economics major you should take Economics 160. You will learn a lot in this class. Baim's tests are difficult, especially the multiple choice, but there are old tests to give you an idea of what to expect. I studied a lot for the final because I only did slightly above average on the midterm and ended up with an A in the class. Baim's jokes are quarky and he tells funny stories that make the material a little less dry.

Okay, honestly I really do not like the way his tests are formatted. He makes the multiple choice questions worth 4 points each. Each part of the essay question is worth 5 points! You can see the problem here. Make a couple of MC errors and you are basically screwed. My friends and I took this class and we all ended up with B's and C's and we memorized all the lectures too! He doesn't teach thoroughly enough for us to do well on his tests. He never gives you practice problems are tells you how to apply his "concepts" to problems, which of course, is a problem. If you want to take a chance, then take it with him, but don't expect an A because all of us (my friends and I) are A students, but we kind of got kicked in the butt. Oh, and the curve is WEIRD.