DD209 Running The Economy : Week 7, second tutorial and for the TMA go 'Graph-tastic' !

Week 7

16 Nov

• Week 7: Policy choices
  
  

  We had our second tutorial today, and it was better attended than all previous second tutorials I have been to, which could be an indication of the level of difficulty of this course.

  
  

  It also highlighted the real range of  people on the course, some have read well past where we should be and appear to be trying to finish the course in super-quick time, while others are even further behind that I am. 

  
  

  In these situations I think it is bad form to take up tutorial time with questions from the next section when there are obviously people with relevant questions about the section we are supposed to be studying, I managed to bite my tongue but if it happens next time 'words' could be  exchanged.

  
  

  It also became apparent that there are some people who seem to eat and sleep algebra and others who are simply terrified by the thought of doing any. I seem to be somewhere in the middle, where I can get through it with a lot of thought, so I have to say when I am wondering where on earth the book and tutorials have magic-up'd the answers from, those less happy with algebra must really be struggling.

  
  

  I think it would have been far more sensible to have given students pre-course algebra study material so that they had the opportunity over the summer to get the mechanics of the algebra and graphs squared away, and then they could simply concentrate on applying these ideas to economic theory at this stage.

  
  

  So, to the content of the tutorial. Well a lot of it was nothing that was not already in the books. Some interesting stuff on IS curves, but because I haven't read this chapter I didn't feel able to contribute much, although on the plus side it doesn't sound that complicated and it will be needed for the next TMA.  We were also told to go 'graph-tastic' in the TMA, if it can be explained with a graph, use a graph.

  
  

  Time is now flying by, so Monetary Policy here I come...... well after my curry which is bubbling away, a couple of bottles of IPA and my better half wants to watch 'Strickly', so looks like first thing tomorrow........ or maybe the afternoon.