Spring 2027

Macroeconomic Policy

Addresses current issues in modern macroeconomic policymaking, covering fiscal and monetary policy, financial and sovereign debt crises, and financial regulation.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Menzie Chinn3.0/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Menzie Chinn

Exams and homework were described as predictable and similar to problem sets, yet one student reported tests were extremely difficult with class averages around 45%.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Analyze the impact of policy and other factors on macroeconomic outcomes.

  • Apply models to investigate origins of – and solutions to -- current macroeconomic problems.

  • Evaluate empirical evidence in order to differentiate between competing theories of macroeconomic behavior.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(ECON 301 or 311), (ECON 302 or 312), and ECON 310; or graduate/professional standing

ECON 442

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Menzie Chinn

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.64/5 from 36 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 2.3/5 raw quality · 4.0/5 difficulty · 6 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Menzie Chinn

Menzie Chinn taught ECON 442 with exams often mirroring problem sets, though students disagreed on difficulty; some found tests predictable while others described them as extremely difficult. He incorporated real-world macroeconomic context, but opinions split on whether this helped grades or caused confusion. Many reviews cited disorganized lectures and vague assignment guidance, while others noted his strong expertise in the field.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.50 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.29 GPA, 51.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.30 GPA, 51.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MENZIE CHINN is recorded teaching in Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Spring 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 240
DIS 303Classroom Instruction0 / 240
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 720

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Menzie Chinn

Students found Chinn’s lectures disorganized and confusing, though some noted he integrates real-world macroeconomic context. Opinions on the course quality were sharply divided.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.50 GPA, 62.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Spring 2024: 3.29 GPA, 51.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.30 GPA, 51.6% A/AB (n=64 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Menzie Chinn

Exams and homework were described as predictable and similar to problem sets, yet one student reported tests were extremely difficult with class averages around 45%.

Past student reviews · Menzie Chinn

Students felt time spent on real-world examples did not help with grades, and assignments lacked clear guidance on grading criteria.

Topics

  • Fiscal and monetary policy
  • Financial and sovereign debt crisis
  • Financial regulation

Skills

  • Apply models to investigate current macroeconomic problems
  • Evaluate empirical evidence to differentiate between competing theories

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1286 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records
ECON 442 · Spring 2027

Macroeconomic Policy

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
    "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1274:296:024197",
    "course_id": "ECON 442",
    "course_uid": "course_e28aa122996f42d8d10a671d",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "024197",
    "source_subject_id": "296",
    "title": "Macroeconomic Policy",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "bae9f3b1adca85b232624e9b3e9dfbe28336998c14fdd422604eccb788d21a74",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}