ECON 3020

I don’t personally agree with a lot of the review on here about Popov. I thought that he was an overall good lecturer. Although he was at times a little disorganized in lecture and could work on his time management, I thought his lectures were pretty clear. I didn’t really have to read the book in this class; I just took notes in lecture and completed his problem sets which were enough to prepare for his exams. He allows cheat sheets for the exams which you can easily prepare for using the problem set questions and previous midterms. My TA was very helpful and I’d recommend Popov for this course. As far as content goes, you will cover 7 or 8 (depending on how you count) models that you will need to know the mechanics of quite well. This class is not terribly math intensive but it helps to be good at algebraic manipulation to derive formulas for yourself. As far as Econ Classes go it will be just like 3010 and by no means the hardest one.

Popov is a sub-par professor. He often is disorganized with lectures, can be a little hard to follow, and ultimately provides insufficient study material. With that said though his class is do-able in that the subjects are interesting and not overly complex. I general enjoyed the macroeconomic models we learned and felt that I learned a good deal from this class. To those who say the course materiel is poor I would strongly disagree, and I felt it properly gave an introduction into higher level economic analysis. I hope that Popov continues to improve his lecturing style and methods of teaching, but for the time being I would recommend a different Professor for this class if possible.

It is hard to recommend this class for anyone who is not required to take it for the Econ major. While the class had more depth than 202, it unnecessarily sacrificed breadth by committing about 3 weeks to reviewing 202 and 301, both of which students should have been expected to know. The macroeconomic models learned are somewhat interesting and somewhat insightful, though from what I have heard, they have very little application to other Econ classes. By the very high teaching standard I have come to expect from the Econ Department, Popov is sub-par. This being said, I do not think there is a better professor that is specifically recommended for this class. Grading consists of a two midterms, a final, problem sets, and quizzes. Cheat sheets are allowed for the midterms and final, which are very helpful, but the exams are still difficult. Problem sets are not bad, especially if you have a group to work with. The exams and assignments are almost entirely focused on applications, and the theory covered in the textbook is largely review of 202. Ultimately, much of the content tested on exams is taught in discussion, and Jorge was an excellent TA (a rarity for an Econ class). All said, this course is fairly challenging, mildly interesting, hardly applicable, and not worth taking if not required.

I took this class just for the sake of keeping up with my Economics major, disregarding the reviews that say "Don't take this class". Professor Popov may know enough, but he's not really able to show that in his lectures. The class is disorganized as a whole; the professor and TAs teach as everyone reads the textbook ahead but nobody does. Despite my attempts to listen to lectures, I always got overwhelmed with all the new abbreviations and formulas because without teaching the concepts, he jumps into solving of the models with tons of abbreviations. You can bring cheat sheets to the exams. You can spend weeks to read the dull textbook to understand the concepts and get a comparatively high grade, while people just write last year's exam solutions onto cheat sheets and get really high grades without knowing anything. Take this class if you'd just like to pass it, but if you want to learn the material, wait for another professor if possible.

A lot of the negative reviews for Popov are more the result of students who don't understand what macroeconomics is, or have unreasonable expectations for the course. Principles of macro is supposed to cover a lot of definitions, and broad concepts. Intermediate macroeconomics works on developing the skills to do real economic analysis. In response to the comments similar to: "we didn't even cover foreign exchange", we could not cover every macroeconomic concept in detail in one semester. Professor Popov teaches common models in macroeconomics, and uses them to explain some core functions of how the economy works. Topics covered include a basic closed-economy model, a labor model, a few growth models, one model of cyclicality, and one of banks. This alone is a lot to cover in once course. Popov is very clear, generally relates each model to the real world, and is frequently funny (in an economist sort of way). This is a course that teaches some modern models that are fundamental to macroeconomics. If that is your expectation for the course, I fail to see how anyone could be disappointed.

At beginning of semester, Popov told us he'd like to go for depth, not breadth. We've covered very little so far, which gives one the deception that this class is easy, but the tests are pretty hard. He wants to make sure you understand the models very thoroughly. I would take this class with another professor if you can.

Take this class with a different professor, even if it means holding it off for a semester. Popov focused a lot on micro stuff in the beginning which made no sense at all for an intermediate macro course. In more advanced macro classes I'm expected to have learned concepts that Popov never even touched on.

You should not take this class. Popov barely covers any material, and what he does cover, he does not teach well. I am at a loss for how a Macroeconomics course could be taught without going over topics like Monetary Policy, International Trade, and Foreign Exchange, to name a few. My friends in the Introductory Macro class covered far more material than we did. I am an Econ major and I feel completely unprepared for the next level. I'm sure you're thinking, "wow, this class must be an easy A," but it isn't. Tests are composed of large short answer questions that are poorly worded and are weird examples of what few topics were covered in class. Take it with another professor, a TA, or teach it to yourself (like I will be doing this summer) because you will waste a semester in this class.

Popov is not a good professor and his lectures are boring. I suggest taking this class with another professor. Also, I would say that this is the worst class I've taken so far in UVA. Nevertheless, when it comes to grading he is really generous.

Professor Popov can be dry with his lectures, but he's genuinely a good guy. He's a bit quirky and he often says things that are not intentionally funny but ends up cracking me up at least. The subject builds on the themes of 202 with more rigorous models and applications. The math is algebra, the concepts are straight forward, and his lectures are coherent. There is almost no homework (5 easy problem sets). Just make sure to supplement his lectures with his book, but it is not a very intensive class. He can be a little slow when he builds the framework for the models, but if you are interest in economics at all then this should be an easy going and enjoyable class.