first of all, this negative review is not a result of post-fail bitterness. I managed to get an A in the class, but only because of an excellent TA who worked with me a lot. if you value your time, do not take this professor. he spends less than half of the class period discussing anything even related to the material that you will be tested on. the rest of the class is filled with offensively bad jokes, personal stories, and other strange things from the mind of this annoying little man. a lot of times he's the only prof. for the class, in which case go in prepared to die of boredom and irritation.

he is really hard, his tests are very long and difficult, and expects a lot out of his students.

I enjoyed his lectures. Yes, he tells jokes and goes off topic, but I appreciated that since the class was 75 minutes long on not the most exciting topic. The exams were fair. I found the final difficult, but there's a curve so it all works out. Quite an effective professor I thought.

Hou was a GREAT professor. People got the wrong impression of him and I think a lot of students were offended by his attitude.

He's incredibly funny, cracks jokes and tells stories during lectures. Everyone thought he digressed too much from the material.. but within a TWO HOUR LECTURE, it's necessary to break the tension with a joke or a story every now and then. He definitely kept a focus on the econ material but people only look at the little time he spent away from it and whine and complain about it.

His tests ARE hard but if you study and know the material, you can do well. I had a D all the way through the 2 midterms but aced the final because I learned my lesson. I ended up with a B in the class. He'll definitely challenge you but it's worth it. You'll know econ better than you thought you could.

I would recommend him highly to anyone considering the econ major. If you're only taking his course for a GE, then steer away.. it's probably not worth the time or trouble.

Worst professor ever! He scared me from the major, and now I will never take another Economics class again. Hou is truly a pompous lecturer, with little consideration for his students! Beware, his free response sections on the final are killer!

Professor Hou spends half of class talking about himself and his wife, and not about economics. While his stories are sometimes interesting, they don't help you to understand the material. Just make sure to read the book, because he throws in a lot of definitions and such on his exams.

First of all to let you know what kind of background I am coming from, I like econ and I enjoy learning about it. I plan to major or minor in it. Professor Hou is really a good teacher and he is very well rehearsed in the subject matter. He is a funny teacher because he is arrogant and realistic. I love it when he goes off on tangents because it gives you time to rest and because of the long class I think its needed to keep the class from getting aggravated. His midterms aren't as hard as everyone says. They are just very long... Things you need to do to succeed on his exams: go to lecture, read the book material because thats where all of his multiple choice come from, and study past exams because he repeatedly uses the same questions but with different numbers. Yea, so thats what I think.

I went into this class hating him because of the reviews on this site. But they weren't totally accurate. He does go off on wild tangents but i agree that these tangents DO make the class more entertaining. His lectures do cover the material rather quickly and he doesn't cover the so called definitions in the book. If you take this class, MAKE SURE YOU STUDY FROM PAST EXAMS ON THE WEBSITE! The exam questions are practically word for word from these old exams. The curves are wonderful so even if you do poorly, don't worry because everyone else did pretty bad too. I got a C+ and D+ on the midterms but still pulled off a B- in the class! Just don't slack off, ask lots of questions and study off the old exams and you should do fine.

to be honest, i think that the people who have negatively reviewed Hou are just bitter about their grades. i don't understand how any one can despise a guy who knows the material so well and does a good, thorough job of passing it on to his students. granted, the material is tough and he takes it to the next level, especially for a basic course (this would NOT be an easy GE), but he was always willing to answer questions after class. sometimes he walks and talks, but that's b/c he has other classes to teach, not b/c he is being arrogant or ditching his students. he does tend to go off on tangents, relevant at times and mad digressions at other times, but trust me, those frivolous moments should be much appreciated for the break in note-taking they give your hand and for the laughs that sometimes accompany. i find him to be more realistic than arrogant; he claims that csu long beach students aren't as good as ucla students in general, but hey ... that's the way college rankings go every year and those are trusted statistics. moreover, he acknowledges that there are students at csulb that would compete at top levels here but there are valid reasons for picking csulb (specific degree desired, lower tuition costs, etc.) he talks about the challenges he overcame in his life, but he also mentions not-so-flattering things like a dependence on his wife. the course material is tough, but he gives out enough old exams that if you practice, you should be fine. heck, your tests will basically ask the same questions with different numbers. his exams were really challenging (and kept you working for the whole time), but with the grading curve, competent students can do well. above all, if you have questions, ya gotta ask. a lot of ideas relate to others, so if you don't get one, you'll have a harder time with the later concepts. if you're serious about econ and want to take it with a professor that will challenge you and really teach you, take it with hou.

Professor Hou, unlike what most people say, is a pretty good teacher. He strives to teach you the concepts of Econ 1 and tries to convince his students that economics isn't as hard as it seems. His jokes during lecture keep the class awake and aren't as corny as people make it out to be. It does keep you awake in class and most of them have to do with Economics anyway. His test questions are challenging, yet some are the same as on his practice tests online. In other words, you HAVE to study for his class. If you can't take any other professor, Hou is an ok choice. He genuinely cares for his students and you will learn SOMETHING by the time you get out of his class.