Pros: Non

Cons: Difficult Problem Sets.

Reads directly out of the book that he wrote.

No powerpoints or helpful overviews of chapters.

Required attendance.

Tests cover huge amounts of materials with only 25 questions.

Terrible TAs

This is the first time I've ever given a review for a professor at MSU. I've been here for three years and have never felt compelled to write an evaluation on a class/professor to give future students an idea of what the class entails. Until now.



Kreinin's EC 340 is the worst class I've ever had. He is way past his prime in terms of being a good professor. The class consists of him sitting on a stool, reading his own book almost word for word, and occasionally writing illegible terms or graphs on an overhead. It is ridiculously boring and a waste of students' time. There is no point in going to class if you have the book, but attendance is mandatory and counts toward your overall grade. Furthermore he has spent a good part of this semester discussing the same things about Greece and the Euro crisis over and over again. Non of his insight on the matter is interesting, nor informative.



His tests are also strange and frustrating. He gives one about four weeks into class, that covers around 3 and a half chapters, which is about 100 pages in his book. However the test was only 25 questions, with about 1/3 of the questions coming from current events (i.e. Euro Crisis). Therefore it is very difficult to study material over 100 pages and try to focus on what the 16-17 questions will ask. The second test was given almost 7 weeks after the first test, which is even more ridiculous. That test covers almost 200 pages of material; but again, only 16-17 questions covering the book's material.



Additionally, he assigns these extremely weird problem sets. They consist of the most random material from the book. Most of the answers to these problems can be taken word for word out of the book. However, it is still very difficult to receive full points. Most of the questions are not helpful in preparing for the exam either, because they focus more on the mathematically aspects of the book, which the tests do not cover.



Please people, do not take this class with him. You will regret it immensely, and this is coming from someone who is going to get a 4.0. I've had to teach myself everything from the book. So if you are the type of student who struggles learning material on your own, I guarantee you will not do well. It is just a fact.



Kreinin is an example of the problems with tenure. He needs to retire and let other professors teach this class.

You have to teach yourself. Not impossible, but the grading scale was competitive.



Top 10% got a 4.0

Next 10% got a 3.5

Next 20% got a 3.0



so if you couldn't tell if you aren't in the top 20% you're going to get a 3.0 or lower.

I would highly suggest taking this class if you don't mind working your ass off for hours at a time, only to get a 2.5 in it. This is honestly the hardest class I've ever taken. You can't understand a word he says, and his notes are illegible. He will have an exam over 8 chapters and it will only be 25 questions. You'd think that would be easy but it's not. He contradicts what it says in the book HE wrote. We had a problem set and he told us that the formula for GDP that was in the book was wrong, then worked the whole problem set out, twice with a new formula. Then he later informed us, two days before it was due, that he was wrong and the formula in the book was right. HE'S CRAZY! The exams are ridiculous and hard to study for because sometimes you'll come across something in the book and it will be completely opposite than what he said in class. I read all the chapters extensively and took pages of notes weeks before the test and then memorized those and the stuff he said in class and still barely got 3.0 on the exam. (only because of the curve). If you don't care all that much about getting good grades, then take this class. It ruined my 4.0.

ok, here are some words of advice...

1.) take micro first

2.) have a dictionary on hand when you read his book b/c I honestly think when he sits to write his book (the one we used for class) he seriously must have a thesaurus next to him, trying to find the most uncommon words to use in place of the common ones...

3.) If you suck at comprehending accents, don't bother listening in class...u'll just get more confused. If u do go to class...he goes really fast and his graphs and handwriting are seriously foreign looking...Just try to take notes on EVERYTHING he says..."try"<---key word there

4.) "Cuddle up with a good book" ALOT!! (thats what he calls "studying"

5.) He rollls his r's like its his religion

6.) If you've never ever taken an econ. class, I would suggest another prof...not that hes a bad guy, but he's just VERY hard to follow if this is the first time ever seeing this material...(Obviously, it was mine. I never even had it in High School)

Pros: he's old as shit so he probably wont be at MSU much longer

Cons: worst professor i've had at MSU

cant understand his accent

class is made way too hard

TA's are foreign and dont speak english

Book is hard to read

I'm not one to bash professors. But with Kreinin I'm going to. I'm a 3.75 student. I 4.0'd both ec201 and ec202. I got a 2.5 in this class. Its obvious Kreinin is smart, he's been teaching econ at MSU since 1957. But he's so damn old, he cant communicate thoughts clearly. He will jump around topics like crazy, start one topic then switch to another and never come back to the first. His accent is hard to understand as well. The class is made far too difficult. After 3 exams and 3 homework assignments (which is all that makes up your grade), there is a 4 point difference between each grade (4, 3.5, 3.0...) 4 points! Plus, Kreinin cant use a computer and isnt helpful in his helproom at all. And his TA's dont speak english. I HIGHLY recommend NOT taking this class with Kreinin. Take it with somebody else.

Pros: Class is curved

Cons: Difficult to understand professor

Difficult to read lecture presentation

No Practice Exams

Strict, unexplained HW deductions

Difficult to prepare for exams

Avoid at all costs, Guy may be an economical genius...but it doesn't mean shit if you can't understand him. The TA's are also the worst I've ever had in my 3 years here, I have never worked so hard in a course for such little reward. I can honestly say I hate his face.

get out while you still can, This guy wouldn't be so bad if he was more willing to help. The TA's never know anything and if you go to his office hours he just says "it's in the book" Duh it's in the book I read every chapter twice because I do work hard & I know I'm in college. but This guy, it's never really clear what he wants you to understand. Notice I'm not complaining about a grade, that's cause I did ok.

His class is a mess, basically, you don't learn much from what he said in class. Everything he said is in "his" book, and it feels like he is reading the book when he lecture....His exam is tough and the course is not very organize.

Cons: strong accent

hard exams

no quizs

attendance required

10% 4.0

10%3.5

10% 3.0

just one comment never take his class, if it is not necessary for u. choose other professor.

he is the worst one I have ever had.

Old, boring, and totally focused on the lecture. He will put you to sleep right away. ****IMPORTANT: If "All the above" is an option, it's the right answer on all his exams!!!!!!

Avoid this class...lecture is pointless, its all in the book....tests are hard...I suggest trying to find another econ class and take the alternative business requirement

Pros: dont have to go to class

Cons: everything else, you have to read and do it all yourself, going to class is a joke, exams are really hard, recommend picking other professors

tests were way too hard, the lectures were ok, he was funny, and everything depended upon the TAs who could be good one class and like crap the next. Avoid this one.

Pros: class is curved

"easy" attendance points

Cons: -Curve doesn't help very much

-Lecture is just a textbook on tape

-Exams cover too much material for 25 questions

-Practically an independent study class

-TAs don't help much

I've had some bad professors but this guy takes the prize. I ended the class with a 4, so this is not a grade complaint. Rather, this is caution to anyone who decides to take EC340 with him. I'm not sure how his teaching style was 10 years ago, but now it's just a display of laziness on his part. Granted he's very old, which would make it all the more sensible if he retired. There's no question that he's incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to economics, but he can't teach it.



As a couple of the reviews below me have stated, "lectures" are just him reading from assorted material the book verbatim, going over none of the detail that you need to know for the exams. If he writes something, it's usually an identical graph taken from the book, or something that you probably won't be able to read. 1st graders have better handwriting than him. He'll also go off tangentially, and talk about financial news, but it doesn't really help, since your required to read newspaper articles every day anyway. Your best bet is to independently teach your self/memorize the material from the book.



The exams can be quite challenging. Half of the questions are from financial topics in the news, and the other half from the textbook. However the latter half consists of questions from the most mundane details from the material, and their concepts. You will need to know the book inside and out. He also assigns 3 problem sets that are due on sporadic time frames (first was due 2 weeks into class, second was due around 4-5 weeks). The questions on the sets aren't inherently difficult since their just graphs or definitions from the book, but its the arbitrary grading that annoys the hell out of you. Points are taken off on questions with no explanation, even when you use something that was explicitly defined and explained in the text.



While attendance is mandatory, nearly half the class just swipes ID and leaves, to get points. The problem is if your 5 min late for ANY class, you don't get the attendance point for the whole day even if you stay the entire period. I enrolled late, so I had no idea about it. It's an incredibly stupid rule, and there's no way around it either (from what I observed from others). All together, the course gets incredibly competitive, with the top 10 percentile getting a 4, and the next top 10 getting a 3.5



Doing well is dependent on how well you can teach yourself his textbook. Even if you believe you can do so, I would not recommend anyone take this class with him. For any that may have had Obst for econ, Kreinin makes Obst look like a piece of cake

Pros: -very funny and entertaining

-sweet old man

-sings in class and you think about it later on the day…pretty hilarious

Cons: -uses the “bell curve”: which basically means top 10% of class = 4.0, next 10% =3.5 and so forth BUT there are 600 people in your class so it’s hard to four point this class. For example, I got 20 out of 25 on the first exam and I got a 2.5! Soo basically you want the people in your class to be really dumb and not pay attention to get a decent grade

-TAs suck! The first help room for the first problem set was good because not many people go and you can get one-on-one person tutoring. Then the second one comes around and they are rude to you and impatient. I got ½ a point off (which doesn’t seem like anything but in this class it’s a HUGE deal) because I listened to the TAs and didn’t show the APC, APS, MPC, etc. crap

-sometimes it’s hard to understand what he’s saying…using a tape recorder doesn’t help too much (don’t bother wasting that money like I did) either because either he’s too loud or too quiet, pain in the butt either way.

Overall only take the class with him if you KNOW lots of people in the class and you guys study together on a regular basis. Cramming in the articles does NOT HELP WHATSOEVER, oh and don’t bother subscribing you can just search them on the websites and copy/paste them into Word and read them for free like I did. Or you can find them on campus…a little tricky to get Wall Street sometimes though. Don’t be discouraged he is a really nice man it’s just that his way of grading sucks; if you can drop him do it and take Econ 202 in the Spring or Summer when he doesn’t teach and you have a better chance of getting Amsler! Hope you find this helpful.



Oh and I probably will end up keeping my notes and I have the exams from this semester so if you want to buy a copy of them (and the book…looking for around $45-55 for it) email me: parke308@msu.edu or TEXT ME 313 347 3413

Pros: I will admit the class was interesting when he would sing and make jokes. He knew what he was talking about as well, so he could answer people's questions thoroughly.

Cons: However, his lectures were boring. The information we learned in his class was all in the book considering he wrote the book. He did a poor job of staying on topic. In other words, he discussed what he was supposed to discuss in the chapter, but he would add on unnecessary information that we never heard about again. Another bit of advice is to not talk to him at the end of class or before. He is very rude. He seems unwilling to help you, which is why it is a good thing he has teaching assistants.

I felt that the overall class was an important class to have. You do learn a lot and it is very informative on how the economic system works. At least I feel that I understand things better than I used to. The only thing is if you have never taken an economics class before you need to be ready to teach yourself because Mordechai only makes the class more confusing and difficult. Also, if you are sitting in the middle part of the room or further up in the big auditorium don't raise your hand because he can't see you. I'm sorry but in spite of him being an economics teacher he needs to learn how to distribute his information more effectively.

This class was impossibly easy for me. I'm not sure why the class averages are so low, I guess it's because they didn't read the book or something. I don't go to class because everything he says is in the book. Before the tests I read the required chapters and thats about it. There's no math involved, all of the concepts are fairly easy, and everything in the tests are in the book. It has been one of the easiest classes I have ever taken. His lectures are pretty boring but that's why I don't go to class. The book is well written. The problem sets are difficult to get full points for, but basically to get close to full credit copy the graphs in the book and write down all the explanations from the book, and you'll do twice as good as the class average.

Yeah the class is on a curve, a BELL curve. You have no way of knowing how you're doing compared to everyone else until you get the final grade back. As far as the class, he doesn't bring lecture notes he just brings the text and reads it (probably because he wrote it). I go to class to be taught, not read to. His exams are challenging, but if you put in a fair effort you will be fine. He really tries hard to keep you interested and throw in a random joke, but the class on a whole is tough. Read the book, go to class (attendance) and get old exams (some of the questions on this year's final were the exact same on last year's) and you'll be fine, but you wouldn't be missing much if you were in a different EC202.

Poor Dr. Kreinin. He is a very old man who trys to express his passion for econ. Unfortately, he is unable to do so and is ineffective at teaching the material. The head TA did not get back to students in a timely fashion and students were not prepared for what was on exam. This is because Dr. Kreinin prefers to draw useless graphs 100 times and tries to apply every concept to them, leaving students lost and confused since questions are not plausible in a 500+ classroom. There are 3 problem sets, which surprisingly are possible to complete. In addition, help rooms are offered but consist of mass chaos due to the large number of students needing help on each of them. If you decide to take this class, good luck!