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Q. What do I have to study for the Midterm and what will it look like?
A. The midterm will have the following format and will cover all material discussed in class upto the midterm, except for the Fiscal Decentralization material. It should take between 1.5 hours and 2 hours.
- One section with questions from each week’s material – all taken from the Terms and Questions list on
- Financial Markets and Institutions
- Introduction to Banking
- The Chinese Banking System
- The Rural-Urban Divide
- One section with questions testing you on “definitional” material; this will be taken from two places: one, the list of background questions on Wasserstrom and two, definitional material from the slides.
- One section with questions from Country Driving; this will be more open-ended and essay-type.
- One “recent” article from the press and questions on it, relevant to the topics we have been discussing
Q. What will the final exam cover?
A. The final exam will be cumulative, since we need to have a good appreciation of the entire Chinese financial/economic system and the first topics of the term were foundational. The exam will have the following structure (I reserve the right to modify this, if necessary, but I don’t expect to).
- One section with multiple choice questions
- One section with questions from Terms and Questions for Self-Study (http://webpage.pace.edu/pviswanath/class/eco375/notes/terms_questions.html)
- And, of course, 20% of the final exam, you will already have had on May 1 in the form of the media article assignment, described below.
Select one media article on the Chinese financial system (you may want to search the Economist, the NY Times or the WSJ for this, but you’re not restricted to these sources). Annotate each article with comments; then write a one-page narrative based on the article and your comments. The narrative is _not_ a summary of the article, it’s a write-up that brings out elements of the Chinese financial system that we have discussed in class over the term. Be ready for a 5 minute presentation on your article and also bring copies to hand out to the other eight people in class. This will count from 20% of your final exam.
Q. Are the exams open book or closed
book?
Ans. The midterm and the final exams are closed book; however, you can
bring in one 8.5x11 sheet, which can contain only formulas. I am very strict about this. You may write
on both sides of the paper. However, you may not staple several
sheets of paper together. Going through your notes probably
cannot make up for the lack of a proper understanding of the material. If you have anything proscribed on your sheet, I will take away the sheet altogether and I may penalize you, as well.
The short quizzes, if any, will be closed book; you may not bring in any sheets
either.
Q. Can I use a calculator during the exams?
Ans: You won't need a calculator! Q. Can I do extra work to improve my
grade?
Ans. Sorry. I believe that in order to be fair, I have to give every student
the same opportunity to do extra work. Obviously, this is not feasible.
However, on occasion I will allow you to resubmit an assignment for grade
improvement.
Q. What can I do to check my
understanding of the material and to prepare for the exams?
Ans.
- You can read current newspaper and magazine articles on relevant topics
and make up your own questions and articles.
- You can make an appointment to come and talk to me.
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