Undergraduate Research and Communication Class Materials

Syllabus

PhD Public Finance Recitations

1. Math Tools

2. Estimating the Value of Unemployment Insurance

3. Marginal Treatment Effects and Characterizing Compliers

4. Selection Market Unraveling

5. Structural Methods for Recovering Risk Types and Risk Preferences

6. Welfare Analysis with Behavioral Agents

7. Experimental Design and Power Calculations

8. Place-based Policies

9. Consumption Smoothing

10. Optimal Taxation

11. Final Review

12. Practice Questions

Non-random sample of course evaluations

PhD

• • "I am not sure I have ever met a TA like Jon. He exhibited a truly incredible knowledge of the literature and clearly was very devoted to making recitations as helpful as possible."

  • "Jon is probably the best TA I have ever had! He understands the material really well and goes out of his way to follow up on the interests of the class or suggest new papers related to the material."

  • "Jon was one of the best TAs I had in this program."

  • "Very enthusiastic and willing to answer students' questions! Clearly cared a lot about teaching and put in time and effort above and beyond."

  • "Jon is an exceptional TA, goes above and beyond what other TAs do to support students, very willing to answer simple questions (we need TAs that are willing to do that for the first year classes!)"

  • "Jonathon was great and it was clear that he's on his way to do a great job in academia! There were many recitations where he was really effective in anticipating what we didn't understand from lecture and that was great."

Undergraduate

• • "Jon was SO helpful! Very patient in helping me understand the recommended methods for my paper and was always very receptive in helping outside of the scheduled meeting times."

  • "Jon gave thoughtful and detailed feedback on each of my drafts. During our office hours sessions, he always explained concepts in a clear and encouraging way. I never felt embarrassed to ask him any questions. He was a great resource for me throughout the semester, and he greatly helped me improve my writing skills."

  • "Was always super enthusiastic in his efforts to try and get us interested in the material! Recitation notes were very helpful."

  • "Jon was really helpful and kind when I was struggling with my project."

  • "I actually cannot believe I was able to write a full econ paper and that is largely due to how well you guys ran this class! Thank you for teaching so well, and allowing me to finish a class at MIT feeling like I truly learned something meaningful and being proud of myself. I don't think I feel that a lot."

Non-random sample of course complaints

• "General complaint about MIT ECON: The econ department clearly has a left wing bias. This was most clear to me in 14.02, but the bias is clear in all the courses I've taken. Please hire professors that believe in free markets, austrian economics, and are critical of the benefits of federal reserve."

• "Very enthusiastic about the subject. But you're just so burnt out my man just take it easy a bit."

Census of course evaluations

PhD

• Public Finance II (Fall 2021)

  • Overall rating: 7.0/7

• Public Finance II (Fall 2020)

  • Overall rating: 6.3/7

• Public Finance II (Fall 2019)

  • Overall rating: 6.1/7

Undergraduate

• Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy (Fall 2022)

  • Overall rating: 6.3/7

• Research and Communication (Spring 2022)

  • Overall rating: 6.3/7

• Research and Communication (Fall 2020)

  • Overall rating: 6.7/7

• Microeconomic Theory and Public Policy (Fall 2019)

  • Overall rating: 5.8/7