uwloo

ECON 424Machine Learning in Economics

Units
0.50
Faculty
Arts
Subject
Economics

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course is an introduction to prediction in economics using machine learning. Topics may include supervised and unsupervised learning, text analysis, regression trees, penalized regression, classification, random forest, neural network, and boosting methods.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it100% easy92% useful

From 6 ratings and 2 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • An all-round good course maybe could have been structured better for non-cs students. a part of your mark is based on how good your prediction model is in the class, nice aspect.

    Dec 2022 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Very simple course with prior knowledge of Machine Learning; however, prof Mikko Packalen was pretty relaxed with the course so tools such as ChatGPT were encouraged!
    Be ready to invest at least 8 hours per assignment, but they are usually marked pretty leniently.
    I would really recommend this course

    Jan 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

23 posts and comments in 16 threads mention ECON 424, November 2019 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

Thoughts on Course Load 3 points, 11 comments

u/goose-ctrl: “CS 341 CS 348 CS 349 CS 350 ECON 424 Thoughts on the course load for these 5 courses ?”

u/_spooky_77: “… painful (341 was kinda tough for me cus I’m garbage with proofs and don’t grind leetcode), econ424 is easy according to uwflow, I’d say overall it’s manageable but be prepared to sink some time into 341 and 350”

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Will CS 480, 486, 484, ECON 424 be too much for a term? I have decent experience with ML, but not much with CV 2 points, 9 comments

u/Optical-Illusion-10: “Seems doable but also depends on how your previous terms are like. Are you trying to take ECON 424 as a non-math, make sure they would let you do that”

u/__choose__a_name__: “depends on your math skills and luck. my lecturer for 480 was a young chinese dude, he's too smart to be a good lecturer econ isn't that ez personally i couldn't handle this when i was in school”

u/__choose__a_name__: “… also i dont think econ424 was a thing back then but i had another fourth year econ and it was not as easy as i was expecting.”

u/TwoAcceptable9056: “I'm an ECON major and I just took ECON 424 with Mikko this term and have to say, one of the best ECON electives you can take. 6 assignments (70%), and a final assignment (30%). I used Python and have had minimal experience with it prior. …”

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How is ECON 424 "Machine Learning in Economics" for CS student? 4 points, 7 comments

u/LaApplePear: “Wanted to take a ECON3xx/4xx course for the depth. Haven't taken Intro to Machine Learning/AI. How is this course? Do we need a lot of ECON or machine learning experience to do it?”

u/Psychological_Fig399: “apparently it doesn’t count for the depth requirement bc it is too related to CS”

u/Striking-Setting-560: “Idk i just asked if i can take ECON 424 given that I’ve already done ECON 101, 102 for depth. And they replied with “for depth, you can take ECON 3xx”. I think the advisor didnt see what ECON 424 is but if they complain in future, I will just forward this email lmao. …”

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Spring 2024

thoughts on workload 4 points, 1 comment

u/goose-ctrl: “would this workload be manageable on top of coop search as 3rd year cs? planning to take them in fall CS 341 Algorithms CS 350 Operating Systems CS 370 Numerical Computation CS 492 The Social Implications of Computing ECON 424 Machine Learning in Economics PHYS 121L Mechanics Lab”

u/tendstwofiftytwo: “Econ 424 counts as a math course not a non math course so take it if you need a math credit but dont want to take cs 480. I would argue that the stated workload is manageable if you overloaded in first and second year or took the advanced math courses. …”

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Fall 2023

ECON102 1 point, 17 comments

“I took ECON101 this sem as a 1A math major, found it intuitive enough to fuck around into a 80 overall. I understood the concepts and even tutored my ARBUS friends for the final. …”

u/MajesticSet5873: “… If you are just taking it to fill your econ requirement - there’s way better courses you can take in upper years like econ 424 or econ 423”

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AFM or Econ? 1 point, 2 comments

“I need to pick a subject to depth for my major requirement. I like to think of myself as a math kid and struggle with any humanities course. …”

u/Limp_Payment_4101: “ECON 322, ECON 323, ECON 424 if you are a math kid”

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Most Useful Econ Courses 1 point, 3 comments

“I’m planning on doing an ECON minor, so 8 courses in total, 4 of which are 200+ level. Which courses are the most useful in terms of jobs (business field)/general knowledge/personal life. …”

u/M00bak: “Econ 371, Econ 372 are the Econ finance courses. Econ 424 is cool. Econ 423 I heard can be hard but interesting since it’s about finance stock data. https://www.reddit.com/r/uwaterloo/comments/9bcv0u/doseanyoneknowhowdifficultisecon423/.”

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CS 485? 1 point, 2 comments

“I'm considering taking CS 485 - Statistical and Computation Foundations of Machine Learning. I'm interested in applied ML more so than theoretical ML, so I'm wary of how hard it will be. …”

u/atifmi: “… topic specific machine learning application can be found in PHYS 449, ECON 424 and GEOG 484. …”

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Winter 2023

Spring 2022

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar