A comprehensive 2-year program built from top university courses available on YouTube and OpenCourseWare platforms.
Duration: 24 months (2 years)
Time Commitment: 15-20 hours per week
Level: Master's degree equivalent
Focus Areas: Economic Theory, Econometrics, Public Economics, Finance, Behavioral Economics
By completing this program, you will:
- Master core economic theory (micro, macro, game theory)
- Develop advanced econometric and statistical analysis skills
- Understand modern financial markets and quantitative finance
- Apply behavioral economics to real-world problems
- Conduct independent economic research
- Build proficiency in R, Python, STATA, and financial modeling tools
- Program Structure
- Semester Breakdown
- Supplementary Resources
- Software & Tools
- Study Schedule
- Certification Options
- Prerequisites
Core Theory
- MIT 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics (Fall 2018) or Fall 2023 version
- MIT 14.02 Principles of Macroeconomics (Spring 2023)
- Game Theory with Ben Polak - Yale
Supplementary
Skills Focus: Economic reasoning, mathematical foundations, strategic thinking
Critical - Econometrics
- Ben Lambert's Undergraduate Econometrics (18+ hours)
- Econometrics Academy (Master's level)
Behavioral Economics
Supporting
- MRU Mastering Econometrics (Josh Angrist)
Skills Focus: Statistical analysis, causal inference, R programming, research design
Public & Welfare Economics
Money & Banking
- ECO 305: Money and Banking - Missouri State University
- Economia Monetária – Moeda e Bancos (USP) (optional - Portuguese)
International Economics
Skills Focus: Policy analysis, welfare economics, institutional economics
Financial Markets
Corporate Finance
Skills Focus: Asset pricing, portfolio theory, corporate valuation, risk management
Quantitative & Mathematical Finance
Emerging Topics
Skills Focus: Derivatives pricing, computational finance, Python for finance
Development & Growth
- MRU Development Economics (Tyler Cowen & Alex Tabarrok)
- BerkeleyX Fundamentals of Economics (Data Science applications)
Capstone Project Choose one:
- Independent research paper applying econometric methods
- Policy analysis white paper with original data analysis
- Financial modeling project with real market data
- Replication of published economics paper
Skills Focus: Research synthesis, original analysis, professional presentation
Labor Economics
- Search MIT OpenCourseWare for labor economics courses
- Ashley Hodgson's YouTube channel
Environmental Economics
- MRU environmental economics materials
Economic History
- American Economic History (UC Berkeley - Martha Olney)
- MRU History of Economic Thought
Advanced Topics
- Behavioral Finance videos
- International Finance topics
- Stanford Principles of Economics (John Taylor)
- Econometrics Academy - Master's & PhD econometrics
- Ben Lambert - 500+ videos on econometrics and Bayesian statistics
- Mark Burkey - Statistics & Econometrics with R
- Marginal Revolution University (MRU) - Complete economics course library
- Ashley Hodgson - Behavioral economics & game theory
Econometrics
- Jeffrey Wooldridge - Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach
- A.H. Studenmund - Using Econometrics: A Practical Guide
Microeconomics
- Hal Varian - Intermediate Microeconomics
- Mas-Colell, Whinston, Green - Microeconomic Theory (advanced)
Macroeconomics
- N. Gregory Mankiw - Macroeconomics
- David Romer - Advanced Macroeconomics
Finance
- Jonathan Berk & Peter DeMarzo - Corporate Finance
- John Hull - Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives
- R (primary) - Free, industry standard for econometrics
- STATA - Economic analysis standard (university license may be available)
- GRETL - Free open-source alternative (used in Ben Lambert's course)
- Python (pandas, statsmodels, scikit-learn) - Data science applications
- Excel - Basic modeling and valuation
- Python (numpy, scipy, matplotlib) - Quantitative finance
- MATLAB (optional) - Some MIT courses use this
- FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data)
- World Bank Open Data
- OECD Statistics
- Yahoo Finance / Alpha Vantage (financial data)
- Quandl
Monday-Wednesday: Video Lectures
- 3-4 lectures (1-2 hours each)
- Take detailed notes
- Review slides and supplementary materials
Thursday-Friday: Problem Sets
- Complete assigned problem sets (4-6 hours)
- Work through textbook exercises
- Practice coding assignments
Saturday: Reading & Software
- Textbook reading (3-4 hours)
- Software tutorials and practice (2-3 hours)
Sunday: Review & Discussion
- Review week's materials
- Participate in online forums (Reddit r/economics, Stack Exchange)
- Prepare for next week
Weeks 1-12: Core content delivery
Week 13: Midterm review and exam
Weeks 14-15: Buffer for catching up
Week 16: Final exam and project
- MRU - Free certificates for all courses
- MIT OpenCourseWare - Self-certification (unofficial)
- Coursera - Specialization certificates ($39-79/month)
- edX - Verified certificates ($50-300)
- DataCamp - Programming proficiency ($25/month)
- CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst)
- FRM (Financial Risk Manager)
- Certified Economics Educator
For Each Course:
- Complete all video lectures
- Finish all problem sets (aim for 80%+ correct)
- Pass midterm exam (create your own or use provided)
- Pass final exam
- Complete course project (if applicable)
Semester Checkpoints:
- Write a 2-page synthesis paper at end of each semester
- Create a portfolio of your best problem sets and projects
- Maintain a learning journal
Capstone Requirements:
- 20-30 page research paper
- Oral presentation (record yourself)
- Peer feedback (share in economics communities)
- Calculus I & II (derivatives, integrals, optimization)
- Basic statistics & probability
- Linear algebra (matrices, vectors)
- Comfortable with mathematical notation
- Bachelor's degree in economics, mathematics, or related field
- Some programming experience (any language)
- Basic understanding of economic concepts
This program prepares you for roles in:
- Economic research and policy analysis
- Financial analysis and portfolio management
- Data science and analytics
- Government and international organizations
- Consulting (economic and management)
- PhD programs in Economics (with strong performance)
- Reddit: r/economics, r/econometrics, r/finance
- Stack Exchange: Economics, Quantitative Finance
- Discord: Economics & Finance study groups
- Twitter/X: Follow #EconTwitter
- Form virtual study groups on Discord/Slack
- Join existing economics reading groups
- Participate in Zoom study sessions
- Install R and RStudio
- Set up Python environment (Anaconda)
- Create YouTube playlists for all courses
- Download course syllabi and problem sets
- Join online communities
- Set up note-taking system (Notion, Obsidian, or similar)
- Create study calendar
- Find accountability partner or study group
Start with MIT 14.01 Microeconomics - this is your foundation for everything else.
This curriculum is compiled from publicly available educational resources. All course materials remain the property of their respective institutions and creators. This README is shared under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0.
Special thanks to:
- MIT OpenCourseWare
- Yale Open Courses
- Marginal Revolution University
- All professors and creators who made their content freely available
Version: 1.0
Last Updated: November 2025
Maintained by: [Your Name]
- Consistency over intensity - Regular daily study beats cramming
- Active learning - Do the problem sets, don't just watch videos
- Connect concepts - See how micro, macro, and econometrics relate
- Apply immediately - Use real data from day one
- Teach others - Start a blog or YouTube channel explaining concepts
- Build portfolio - Document all projects on GitHub
- Network - Engage with the economics community online
- Stay current - Read The Economist, FT, or Bloomberg weekly
Ready to begin? Start with Semester 1, Week 1: MIT 14.01 Microeconomics Lecture 1!