Fall 2026

Economics of Growth

ECON 475 provides a theoretical analysis of economic growth and development, modeling factors like saving, investment, institutions, and trade.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Simeon Alder3.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

The course involves significant mathematical content, including differential equations. Homework assignments are time-intensive, requiring 6 to 10 hours per assignment, and exams are described as hard.

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(ECON 301 or ECON 311), (ECON 302 or ECON 312) and (MATH 217 or 221); or graduate/professional standing

ECON 475

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026

Simeon Alder

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.87/5 from 63 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: 3.1/5 raw quality · 4.4/5 difficulty · 7 reviews

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

Simeon Alder organizes courses well and explains concepts clearly, with exams considered easy if prepared for. The content involves heavy math, which some students find challenging.

Alder is criticized for providing little grading transparency, no practice exams, and unhelpful office hours where struggling students receive minimal guidance. Reviewers describe the class as impossible or the worst ECON course due to these support gaps.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.87 GPA, 94.3% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.36 GPA, 57.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.24 GPA, 54.1% A/AB (n=37 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews for Maria Muniagurria describe her as helpful and caring, with exams mirroring lecture notes. Conversely, reviewers criticize her quiet voice and accent as making lectures difficult to follow, and note the notation-heavy content requires significant initial study to understand.

MARIA MUNIAGURRIA is recorded teaching in Spring 2007, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SIMEON ALDER is recorded teaching in Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction39 / 450

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

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Simeon Alder’s ECON 475 receives polarized reviews, with students describing it as either well-organized and clear or impossible and lacking logical flow. Experiences range from finding the course enjoyable with a helpful curve to feeling unsupported by dense derivations and unhelpful office hours.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.87 GPA, 94.3% A/AB (n=35 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.36 GPA, 57.5% A/AB (n=40 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.24 GPA, 54.1% A/AB (n=37 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course involves significant mathematical content, including differential equations. Homework assignments are time-intensive, requiring 6 to 10 hours per assignment, and exams are described as hard.

Students report frustration with a lack of transparency regarding grades, missing practice materials, and office hours that often prioritize individual students over the group.

Topics

  • Saving, investment, and per capita income differentials
  • Government institutions, regulation, technology, and trade

Skills

  • Theoretical analysis of growth and development issues
  • Modeling based on country experiences
  • Analysis of saving, investment, and income differentials
  • Analysis of institutional and market factors in growth

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 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

1320 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.

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Selected offering source records
ECON 475 · Fall 2026

Economics of Growth

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:296:021413",
    "course_id": "ECON 475",
    "course_uid": "course_d2ac1c2916afd3b570be6b72",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "021413",
    "source_subject_id": "296",
    "title": "Economics of Growth",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring, Summer"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "79d6df273e532a6365902e298cefb4deca7b6f80f42d5dad6b8efaffccfb2f51",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}