Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
Smart guy awful class. Everything about it is confusing and disorganized. Tests were extremely difficult with class averages ~45%. I would not recommend this class even to my enemyRate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Menzie Chinn
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
This guy should not be teaching undergraduate students. Lectures are super confusing and not worth your time, and the assignments are super vague with no guidance on how they are graded. This class could be interesting but the disorganization makes it difficult to stay engaged. Super smart and accomplished guy but terrible class.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
I found the class to be pretty easy if you already have a basic understanding of policy issues. I agree with the other reviews that Prof. Chinn assigns work very close to the deadlines with unclear instructions, so be prepared. Otherwise the guest lectures are fun and Prof. Chinn tries to include topics that are of interest.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 1/5Difficulty 3/5
P. Chinn's lectures are very average. What makes his class a pain is his assignments. He waits until the last minute to post instructions. When he does post them they are unclear and contain contradictions. On top of that a clear grading criteria is nonexistent. Only take his class if have given up on caring about your grade or learning anything.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
The grading in this class was completely unclear. I ended the course which would have been an A on a normal grading scale but received a B because the curve hurt me so much. The lectures were very all over the place and the criteria was never clear. Prof. Chinn was very kind but not a professor I would take for this class again.Rate My Professors ↗
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Professor Chinn is so sweet. He kind of looks like a little old man that you just want to give a hug. I really enjoyed his class and thought that everything he said was very insightful. Only a few assignments but the were graded very easily.Not sure why everyone is being so dramatic on here, I thought this class was super easy and very interesting!Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Menzie Chinn
ECON 442
Macroeconomic Policy
3–4 creditsAddresses current issues in modern macroeconomic policymaking, covering fiscal and monetary policy, financial and sovereign debt crises, and financial regulation.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
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.
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2024–Spring 2025ECON 581
Honors Thesis
3 creditsHONORS THESIS: Students will work on their honor thesis.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
ECON 682
Senior Honors Thesis
3 creditsSenior Honors Thesis is a course in which students conduct faculty-guided, honors-level original research.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
No recorded grade history
ECON 699
Directed Study
1–4 creditsDirected Study allows advanced undergraduate students to study specific topics or conduct research as arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
historical GPA · grades
Fall 2022–Fall 2024 · limited sampleA policy-oriented course in international micro-economics and trade theory covering U.S. trade policy, the world trading system, and issues like regional trading, labor standards, and the environment.
Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources
Recent recorded grades — Spring 2019: 3.44 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.86 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=14 letter grades); Spring 2022: 3.72 GPA, 87.5% A/AB (n=16 letter grades).
No recorded grade history
Recorded teaching history
Distinct courses recorded per term
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|---|---|
| Spring 2027 | ECON 442 | Macroeconomic Policy |
| Spring 2027 | ECON 581 | Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | ECON 682 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Spring 2027 | ECON 699 | Directed Study |
| Spring 2027 | PUBAFFR 856 | Trade, Competition, and Governance in a Global Economy |
| Fall 2026 | ECON 435 | The Financial System |
| Fall 2026 | ECON 681 | Senior Honors Thesis |
| Fall 2026 | ECON 691 | Senior Thesis |
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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