2.4
Quality2.9
Difficulty45%
Would Retake110
Reviews45%
Would Retake
110
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
17
4
14
3
17
2
25
1
37
What Students Say
“Right Wing beauty 100 % recommend”
ECON205 - 5.0 rating“Amazing professor, the most brilliant mind at McGill”
ECON205 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
31%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.03 avg changeRatings by Course
EN529D
5.0
(1)ECONOMICS
5.0
(1)ECON203
5.0
(2)INTROPOLIECON
5.0
(1)ECON200
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
219
5.0
CEI
5.0
ECON199
5.0
101
4.0
ECON
4.0
Reviews (110)
No Comments
This guy is talking about everything, things not really related to the course.
No Comments
Too U.S.-focused ... tends to forget he's in Canada. Can be confusing in expl.'s
Better on the radio than in the classroom
Very inconsistent in grading.
He's a good prof. who tries to get students to think on their own...
abstract in his thinking at times, but he provokes discussion well
This prof indoctrinates students into his right-wing, semi-facist world view
doesnt teach anything related to class..going to his class is pure time wastage
Very good prof.. Classes are very focused on practical themes. No B.S involved
Utter crap. Talks about the U.S and trashes Canada. Go back to the U.S Velk!
AVIOD AT ALL COSTS!!! if you dont believe just attend a 2/3 of his classes and u'll understand. (I wasted my entire year ..didnt learn a single word from his class...waste of time and money!)
Arguably the worst prof in the Econ dept. *does not prepare his classes, does not master the subject and is totally biased.
This Prof is a good guy who has a natural character that is fun to listen to and is obviously knowledgeable about the subject. You have to draw the info or the topic out of him or he can talk about whatever his subjet du jour is. Good fun!
Keep in mind that the final is worth 100%. You decide.
Tom Velk's seminar is a gem of the Arts department. Incredibly worthwhile: intellectually stimulating, enlightened discourse handed skillfully by the Professor.
Very politcally incorrect prof...not that that's a bad thing. At least he's honest. And if you believe he's wrong about something, it's a debating class so you can speak up.
didnt do anything
No Comments
Excellent teacher. Very clear and great commentator on free markets. Provides extremely helpful job advice
a guy whos just stealing money from the university....100% final, nothing on web ct, by the end of the year his TA was teaching the course. Curriculum is really right wing......interesting stuff but not a good class or prof
Interesting prof but so LAZY!! Doesn't come to 25% of classes, the TA does. Leaves theory for the TA who is horrible (doesn't know what is talking about) and the exam is 100% of stuff to learn by heart, you don't need to understand anything. I liked the course BEFORE taking the final. don't take it.
Prof is incredibly lazy. A 100% final worth 2 semesters is just madness. Basically, this class is a waste of time.
class: Current Economic Problems You get what you put into it - really. Velk provides a forum for students to be engaged, voice and challenge their views and spar: a great opportunity in undergrad. Velk is supportive of students with initiative and indifferent to those who cut corners.
Teacher who cares for students. Evaluates students oraly. Not your normal Econ prof. Fools score poorly. Grades you on charisma. Actually good students will develop and excel in his course. Middling types stay away.
Hysterically funny guy until you realize that he's actually being serious. Then it dawns on you that he's a numbnut.
The worst ever and no one comes even close to him
Funny ****, but ridiculous. Glad for the new class that the format got changed. A 100% year-end final? Insanity! Plus it's only liked 6 months later and I've forgotten almost everything. Memorize much? His TA blows nizzuts too. She needs ESL so bad, I would sell her each letter on an installment plan. DAMN! Easy A if you try though.
No course outline, no course structure, no guidance. He obviously did not care about the course and it showed. Course seemed promising until he steered it towards his rightist point of view and babbled in cicles for most of the semester. Does not challenge students to do anything except agree or disagree with his personal opinions.
Lectures only if you like the course, other than that, study hard for final, work hard on paper, you will get an A. He is a nice guy, but he doesn't teach you anything, he trys to get you interested so you wanna learn the material
Go to class, do the readings (the little book only if you can expand on the material by yourself), work hard on the paper. the final exam questions couldn't be given more explicitly (I worked on the little book for 2 days before the exam and got an A). I can't understand why some were complaining that the material was 'unclear' though.
No Comments
I couldn't follow a word he was saying. Didn't properly introduce difficult concepts, his syllabus was disorganized and the extra materials (which comprised an other 50% of the work presented in the outline) was incomprehensible. I do not recommend him at all
No Comments
No Comments
To pass the course all you have to do is read and understand a little tiny 'textbook' and know a little background. However, to truly appreciate the class, you need to go to class and get involved in the class discussions (which is him arguing something really extreme, and others refuting him). Got me interested in political economy.
Velk is the best professor I have had at McGill because he genuinely holds an interest in his students and their opinions. If you want to skip every single class and show up only for the exam, he's not going to make it difficult and you can likely still do well in the class. But to do this is to miss out on one of the best classes you can take at M
If you are strongly anti-Canadian and believe democracy is for "six year olds", then Velk is the teacher for you. Otherwise, avoid his classes. All of them.
You don't need to go to class in order to get your A but you really should. This class offers an opportunity for dialogue and debate, something I feel we get far too little of at mcgill. Take him for Money & Banking as well.
Some of these leftwing wimps on here make me laugh. Most econ/polisci profs will sit there and ramble about how great Obama is and nobody bats an eye. Velk makes a comment about being Republican and people start dropping the class first week. Too bad, the Keynesian theory continues to fail America. Velk is great prof and Austrian economist.
This is the worst professor I have ever had. Ever. On a professional level, he is completely unorganized and useless, and doesn't even know his own curriculum. He takes advantage of the 1.5 hours he gets with a class to lecture about his ridiculous right-wing theories and his love for Glen Beck. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
Such an easy class. The comment below me are all true. Class attendence is definitely not neccesary, but if you're not a moron you should be interested.
You can get a lot out of his classes if you put in the effort, but you don't need to put in any effort to do well, since Velk doesn't really care about evaluation.
The most unorganized teacher ever. Outrageously and controversially right-wing. his course is EXTREMELY biased. this could be to your advantage as long as you don't fall under his arrogant spell and listen to what he says with a VERY critical mind. tests are easy as long as you read the articles he tells you to read very carefully.
As you can easilly see from all other comments, either u love or u hate Velk. From my poin of view it's one of the best prof I have ever had. He wants to make you think and for that purpose is deliberately esplicit on his own opinion. Classes are the best part of the course. The greatest lesson is "always think with you own mind". Top.
Yes, he goes off-topic quite often but when he does talk about articles during class TAKE NOTES..they`re a pretty good indication of what you`ll be tested on, and he may mention what he would look for. He usually tells you exactly which articles to read for exams, and if you know them well and go over relevant past final questions you`ll be fine.
Basically just write down everything he says, but watch out because he loves to go off on tangents for an hour an a half. I'm a science student and did really well in this class, but it was NOT because I found the teacher was clear/helpful. I recommend skipping as few classes as possible because what he says IS important, not so much the book.
He gives you perspective on Real World issues, be it economic, political, historical, and cultural.
Class was easy. His personal politics were fun to hear just because its different from the usual. But his lectures were really dull and rambling and he went off on tangents a lot. I attended out of habit but didn't really pay attention and still did just fine.
Velk is clearly stuck teaching a course he doesn't want to teach and stuck in a university and country he seems to loathe. He does not teach any testable final material, instead choosing to bash the left and rant Austrian economic doctrine, which wouldn't be so bad, BUT WE WEREN'T BEING TESTED ON IT. His lectures are completely unhelpful.
Yes,he goes off tangents. It's interesting to listen since you are not being tested on his personal comments.BUT, that's exactly the problem. I've learned very little in this class. Exam preparation is frustrating, there's no clear guideline,or practice exams, and I'm left learning everything by myself.The readings are dense, but do read them.
He's a nice person and does try to help. It doesn't make him a good prof though. With some effort, you'd have a ok mark. TA does all the marking, and is the more helpful one. He teaches from 1972 textbooks on banking "innovations". Let's just say given the chance, I wouldn't take it again.
Econ 205 with Velk is a must take for any lover of freedom and libvbrty. Velk isn't concerned with evaluation, and the class is one of the easiest As at McGill. What Velk is concerned about is having his students learn something useful instead of memorizing and regurgitating the left wing fantasies characteristic of the average McGill course.
Are you a student who is tired of hearing 2+2= 5 from the multitude of radical left wing profs at McGill? If so, Velk is a must take. Incredibly enlightening course and one of the easiest As at McGill!
One word: UNORGANIZED. Do the optional portfolio or letters. Easy marks for the course if you do them. Don't risk it all on the midterm and final. Again, DO THE OPTIONAL PORTFOLIO. Its easy marks.
This man is an absolute Boss. You're going to go to class at first and wonder why his syllabus doesn't makes sense.The reason for so many readings that don't make sense and you might not like the fact that he's conservative. But then you take his final and realize it's essentially the same thing every year. find old finals and study them.
Interesting lectures although he goes off on many tangents. Exam material is predictable and very easy and only a small portion of what's covered in class. His notes are messy and the course website is disorganized but his explanations in class are clear.
Difficult for those without Econ background
The easiest class that you will ever take, hands down.
Velk is an interesting professor, you'll either love him or hate him. He loves to go off topic and share stories, and will never post a thing online. However, his exams are easy and are pretty much revealed before. The course is structured interestingly, 50% midterm 50% final (with the option of a bonus assignment). I liked him, but he's confusing.
Recommended for those with some economic background. The class is a fairly easy A (provided he continues to reuse previous exam questions). Velk isn't the clearest lecturer but if you stick with it you should do fine. Also, his politics can be a welcome change for those Conservative/Libertarian students at McGill.
Class material was interesting once I studied for my exams at home. Other than entertainingly angry rants directed towards Keynesians and liberals, he's pretty useless as a teacher. His lecture notes are illegible and the lectures are extremely hard to follow.
So bad. Never ever ever take this class if you want to learn something. Velk's class has no syllabus, his notes are handwritten/make no sense, and his mycourse page is intelligible. You're expected to study for exams by using previous exams that your friends have kept from last year, or attend review sessions where hundreds of people show up. 0/100
Great professor, really cares about students. Please please go to lectures, listen to what he says, and the rest will be easy (some reading, etc). Some people hate him with a passion, but he is a good man and if you go to lectures and study, A is easy to get.
The first week of attending his class I was a little skeptical, his notes were unclear and mycourses was poorly organized. However this proff is amazing, he doesn't teach straight from some textbook and actually shares his personal opinion. Exams are straight forward and he has many optional assignments that only count if they better your mark
Ok, I know he has a bad name around because of how irrelevant his lecture is to the course materials, but trust me, he is a great professor. He really knows a lot and I would advice people to learn from him instead of learning from the course. get what I mean?
Velk is the MAN. Really, there is no other way to look at it. If you go to class, prepare to learn nothing but be thoroughly entertained. I, for one, realised early on that I could do more by studying on my own and I attended less than five lectures. Having said that, do the sample midterm and final and you are guaranteed an A. Exactly the same!
Hilarious lectures. He is an incredibly right winged republican, so he makes a lot of comments about that. Some people we offended by it. Lectures aren't really necessary. You will pass without them. TAs are super helpful, and will help you narrow down your studying for midtermfinal. Extra credit assignment is really fun and easy to do well in!
This is a complicated review. As a teacher he is terrible. He is disorganized, has hand written notes and understanding what material is on the exams is a nightmare. However, the material he asks you to know i extremely easy, repetitive (easy grader) and he has very interesting personal points of views which make you want to go to class anyways.
Worst prof ever in terms of teaching the material- but will give you marks for no reason at all, and is great entertainment! It took me awhile to warm up to him but so worth it. Major lolz at his Obama bashing. Hate econ and barely get it but I'm a good student and pushed through, he definitely bumped my mark a bit
Professor Velk Is a beacon of light at McGill. One of the few lecturers I will remember with such admiration as I look back on my undergrad days. Do not think twice about taking his classes.
Literally the worst class I have ever taken. We never got a syllabus, the mycourses page is a mess and the lectures make no sense. The stress is not worth the possibility of an A.
I'll start with the most common complaint - yes, he is disorganized and his lectures often are off topic. But Velk is one of the kindest professors at McGill and if you get the chance to know him you won't regret it. He will help you however you need, is a very fair grader, and cares about his students. have taken all his classes, highly recommend.
Lectures are 100% optional, however as a person Velk is great and you will enjoy many laughs atwith him if you attend. That being said, prior to the midterm the TAs host a review session based solely on the exact questions you will be required to answer. Basically a guaranteed A. Be warned that literally everything is completely disorganized
Any Velk course is a GPA booster. Yes he is unorganized but he genuinely wants everyone to do well. His TA's thoroughly go over practice exam questions. Material is very easy. Overall easy . Will take any Velk class
Velk will teach you nothing about the course material, however (if you can manage to stay awake) he can at times be very entertaining. You can learn everything you need to from reading the assigned material. Word of advice: FIND PAST PAPERS, even from different classes taught by Velk. They are literally 90% identical to the tests you will have.
Amazing professor, the most brilliant mind at McGill. He buries leftists into the ground wit his knowledge, his powerful rhetoric, and his common-sense affinities. Every class with him is a riot, and you learn a lot. I will be taking 3 (yes, 3) classes with him next semester to purge myself of the hyper-PC BS culture that dominates uni.
DO NOT TAKE A VELK CLASS. I'm in his class for Winter 2016. He wants to shed his "A- average" image and is making this class essentially impossible. The grading scheme makes no sense. His teaching style is still the same - incredibly poor. The TAs seem as stressed about the course as we do. I am considering withdrawing from the course...
Velk is scatterbrained to say the least, and the course went without a concrete syllabus or any clarity in terms of course expectations. His "notes" from lectures were hand written, and incredibly difficult to navigate (similarly to his lectures). You can however, find a lot of material online, and if you are an independent learner you can manage.
For a course that used to be reasonable, it sure seems like a nightmare now. The grading scheme is ridiculous and Velk being Velk still can't teach well. If you want a a decent econ elective, stay far far away from this class. The midterm average was below a C.
He changed the course curriculum. Class average for midterm is C.
Horrible. For whatever reason, Velk elected to change the structure and difficulty of his course this semester (midterm average was a 42). However, the class is still extraordinarily disorganized, the MyCourses is a mess (you can't even read half the uploads ) and he showed YOUTUBE videos for at least 6 lectures. Also he rambles. AVOID AVOID!
Used to be an easy A. Velk gave his opinion, no one did work or came to class, the test was outlined at the review, and the average was A-. Velk changed this w/o warning. The class is now reading intensive, yet the class was taught via Youtube videos. It's OK Velk wants to make this class serious, but he shouldve warned us and started with himself.
Not engaging, interesting, enlightening, or captivating. I fell asleep in his class many times. He picked the most unkind TAs, who asked never to be contacted first. He never explained concepts in class, always told us to read the book. Very insulting of other peoples' views.
I'm definitely not going to attack him as a person and his character BUT: I am going to condemn his management of this course for this year. I didn't take this class for its easy A reputation, but to learn and be educated. Simply put, the class and the professor disappointed me in both fronts. Wont take Velk again.
Velk is an OK guy. My main concern with this class was the utter lack of structure and the absence of any kind of theme. This used to be an easy A class, so it was understandable why it was absent. Velk unexpectedly made this class intense, but not the course material. The sudden change made me lose focus of material. I feel like I learned nothing.
Horribly disorganized. I felt like he wasnt clear what he was teaching himself. The class was more like a sampler of a lot of inchoate economic theorems. All delivered via Youtube videos made by other people. Avoid at all costs - take a Ragan class instead.
Velk is the worst Prof I have ever encountered at McGill. You have no idea what to read for the class during the semester since his mycourses is not organized in any way shape or form. For the midterm and final, you need to watch YouTube and teach yourself. Avoid at all cost!
Run. At least be prepared to deal with absolute chaos. Would not recommend to my worst enemy.
A mistake not worth repeating.
Not clear at all.
VERY VERY VERY bad
The good times are over, folks. It's now high disappointment and low grades (as opposed to both being high). Velk's a hard teacher now, with all strings attached. Don't do it.
Good class if you simply want to chill but learn nothing. Attendence means nothing. Do the portfolio (term paper) and prepare yourself through youtube vidio he posted on mycourses and do some basic scratches of ECON208/209 material, you will be fine. But he is a brilliant economist... just not good enough to be a lectueur...
If you want to learn nothing, be driven insane and eventually fail, take this course! Total nightmare.
This class most definitely made me fiddle around with suicidal ideation. Don't. Just, please, do not make the mistake of this class. Velk is not fit to teach anymore.
An extremely boring class that jumps from topic to topic without warning. There is not a friendly atmosphere in the class, as Velk mostly makes you work for everything without a hint of motivation or class-to-work link. Better off just looking up the material on the MIT open course Youtube channel. Better, more captivating, and more instructive.
The guy really loves to ramble and so do his readings. That's what makes his class so hard now, none of the resources are clear. I did not enjoy this experience at all, I would say it repelled me from economics.
For a guy who attempts to dress well (blazer + bowtie), he somehow manages to wear pants too long for his height, looking like a grimy and homeless leprechaun.
Worst class I have ever taken (no exaggeration). Professor is patronizing and cannot explain any topic. Classes and readings are boring and useless. Just go to the midterm and final review. Midterm is hard and final is super easy. This class made me contemplate changing my major/direction in life.
Right Wing beauty 100 % recommend
he is going to make you read like there is no tomorrow. He skips from topic to topic and its not very clear. He's also in love with American history and politics. No midterms or final, just weekly Questions that take up a lot of time.
The man is a legend, ya his disorganization may scare the freshmen but he is by far the most entertaining lecturer in McGill -unless you hate American politics. Class is elementary economics, not too difficult if you have a basic knowledge of macro and micro.
No exams, just weekly assignment questions. Lectures are just Velk spewing irrationally right-wing politics at the class, and have nothing to do with assignment questions. He definitely encourages students to voice their opinions, which is great. Take this class if you like politics, and if you aren't too offended by conservative politics.
Velk was hilarious but not a great prof. Clearly a brilliant guy but his lectures and the course in general were all over the place. Very average amount of work and not too hard to do well in.
The guy is ALL Over the place. I mean come on, as I write this i still havent received my grades from him for the Fall semester... Ridiculous. Brilliant Professor but is one of the most disorganized humans I have encountered in my life. Doesnt seem to follow a plan and really just rambles on for the entire lecture.
One of the worst experience in McGill. Just don't take him, you will lower you GPA. Strange grading, not interesting material, lazy teacher are all the ingredients of dissatisfaction with his course!
If you're looking for a GPA boost, probably not the best choice. If you're looking for a solid Pass/Fail course. strongly recommend Prof Velk. His lectures are amazing, he is willing to debate diferent POVs, and he's a really cool guy. If you're easily offended and don't like hearing different opinions then here's your "trigger warning."
Tom Velk is awesome. I learned more than I knew I could
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
31%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.03 avg changeRatings by Course
EN529D
5.0
(1)ECONOMICS
5.0
(1)ECON203
5.0
(2)INTROPOLIECON
5.0
(1)ECON200
5.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
219
5.0
CEI
5.0
ECON199
5.0
101
4.0
ECON
4.0