Economic Statistics (formerly ECON 0210) An introduction to the discipline of statistics as a science of understanding and analyzing data with an emphasis on applications to economics.   Key topics include descriptive statistics, probability distributions, sampling, random variables, the Central Limit Theorem, estimation, hypothesis testing, p-values, and linear regression.  Students will be introduced to a statistical programming language.  A weekly one-hour lab is part of this course in addition to three hours of class meetings per week. (Formerly ECON 0210)

Introductory Microeconomics An introduction to the analysis of such microeconomic problems as price formation (the forces behind demand and supply), market structures from competitive to oligopolistic, distribution of income, and public policy options bearing on these problems.

The Economics of Sports This is a survey course of topics illustrating how microeconomic principles apply to the sports industry. Topics covered will include the industrial organization of the sports industry (notably, issues of competitive balance and the implications of monopoly power), the public finance of sports (notably, the impact teams have on host municipalities), and labor issues related to sports (including player worth and discrimination). The prerequisites for this course are meant to ensure that students can both understand fundamental economic concepts and present the results of econometric research as they apply to the sports industry.

Economic Statistics Basic methods and concepts of statistical inference with an emphasis on economic applications. Topics include probability distributions, random variables, simple linear regression, estimation, hypothesis testing, and contingency table analysis. A weekly one-hour lab is part of this course in addition to three hours of class meetings per week. Credit is not given for ECON 0210 if the student has taken MATH 0116, or MATH 0310, or PSYC 0201 previously or concurrently.

Paul Sommers

Reviews and ratings for Paul Sommers at Middlebury College.Paul Sommers teaches Economic Statistics, Intro Microeconomics, The Economics of Sports and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Paul Sommers good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

Professor Sommers is a very dedicated teacher and the nicest guy ever. He truly wants to know how each of his students is doing. His explanations aren’t always the most straightforward, and I sometimes needed videos or extra reading to understand what we talked about in class. The student TA and homework help hours were super helpful, so I’d definitely use them. There’s also a short term paper, which was the most interesting part for me because I could apply the course to something I care about.

For someone who has zero Economics knowledge, Sommers is the perfect professor for an introduction to this area of study. He teaches at a slow pace, which is refreshing compared to other Econ professors. His exams are very straight-forward, and he allowed for a note sheet, which is honestly unneeded given how thorough he is with his lectures and homework.

Sommers made this really easy, some other teachers teach it very different but sommers explains it very well. He is also the nicest teacher ever and I totally recomend taking a class with him and going to meet him