About mY TEACHING Philosophy

In short, if you are looking for an easy class with few assignments, many multiple choice questions and class sessions that end early, you'll want to find another professor. I am a big pain. You can count on one homework or test every week. You will never see a multiple choice question on one of my exams until that is the basis by which companies make hiring or firing decisions.

As far as my exams go, they are long. If we covered something in class or on a homework assignment, it will probably show up in some way shape or form on the test. I expect my students to master the material and demonstrate that mastery on the exams. That means being detailed, thorough and ready for whatever warped questions come out of my devious, unwell mind.

In return, my promise to you is that you will get my best effort. I will do whatever it takes to teach you economics. To achieve this goal, I respond to emails quickly, thoroughly answer any and all questions asked in class (even the insipid questions), make my cell phone number available and will even humiliate myself and make a complete fool of myself. My drop rate tends to be high, but the students who survive the course give me exceptionally high ratings. Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome, but they do tend to stay in touch, and I continue to help students long after they finish my class.

I have been an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Southern Methodist since 1997 where I have taught Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Price Theory, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Money & Banking, and Financial Markets classes. In spite of what many students say, I have received numerous awards for teaching excellence and geniunely have a passion for teaching economics.

In addition to my hobby/habit at SMU, I have a real job at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. At the Fed, my primary responsibilities concern studying and analyzing Latin American financial systems. In addition, I am very active in our Economic Education program and even serve as a tour guide on occasion.

In darker, more craptacular days, I also served as a very cheap source of labor for a university, worked as a short order chef, toiled on the graveyard shift at an assembly line, tested and updated computer hardware, was a volunteer runway model and turned down other jobs too sketchy to detail in a public website.