Macroeconomic Theory Macroeconomic theory analyzes whether the market effectively coordinates individuals' decisions so that they lead to acceptable results. It considers the effectiveness of monetary, fiscal, and other policies in achieving desirable levels of unemployment, inflation, and growth. The theories held by various schools of economic thought such as Keynesians, monetarists, and new classicals are considered along with their proposed policies.

Senior Research Workshop II In this second semester of the senior research workshop sequence, the focus is on the execution of the research plan developed in ECON 0701.  Most instruction is now one-on-one but the workshop will still meet as a group to discuss and practice the presentation of results in various formats (seminars, poster sessions, et cetera) to the rest of the workshop and others in the college and broader communities. Feedback and critiques from such presentations will be incorporated into the project, which will culminate in a research paper in the style of an economics journal article.

Senior Research Workshop I In this first semester, students will design and begin their projects. Emphasis will be on designing a novel research question (while making the case for its importance) and an appropriate strategy for answering it. This requires immersion in the academic literature on the topic. General research principles and tools will be taught in class, as a group, while those specific to individual projects will be covered in one-on-one meetings. By the end of the term, students will outline their plan for completing the project, including demonstrating that it is a feasible research question for which the necessary information (e.g., data or source materials) is available or can be generated by the student (e.g., lab or other experiment).

Technology and Labor Markets In this course, we will explore the question: who gains from technological advances, and who loses? We will first learn theories of skill-biased technical change and automation through canonical and task-based Ricardian models. We will then apply these theories to a range of technological advances, including robots, computers, and complex software. For each technology, we will study the nuanced effects on employment, the wage distribution, and the nature of work. Additional topics will include historical technological advances (eg: electricity), and how technology contributes to growth in developing countries. We will then turn to emerging technologies like AI: can we extrapolate from what we have learned to predict how new technologies will impact workers? (ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210) and ECON 0250 or ECON 0255)

Zara Contractor

Reviews and ratings for Zara Contractor at Middlebury College.Zara Contractor teaches Macro Theory, Senior Research Workshop II, Senior Research Workshop I and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Zara Contractor good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

She is a very enthusiastic teacher who honestly teaches the material very well. Her office hours are very helpful for completing the problem sets, and her exams are exactly as advertised in her study sessions leading up to the midterm and final. 

This class is very lecture focused, it is hard to understand at times, but the concepts itself are not very difficult. Problem sets are average, and given weekly. On exams you can either reason through economics or math, and is very similar to practice/psets. 

This course was required for my major and a pretty straightforward class. Expectations are clear. You do them, you will get an A. The exams are fair. Contractors grading is fair. Overall very fair and doable class. 