1. California State University, Sacramento
Ta-Chen Wang
Associate Professor
Department of Economics
6000 J Street • Sacramento, CA 95819-6082
T (916) 278-7112 • F (916) 278-5768 • tachen.wang@csus.edu
May 29, 2015
To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in support of Mr. Kenneth Stark for his application.
Mr. Stark was a student of mine at Sacramento State. He was enrolled in my ECON 113 (Fall 2013)
and ECON 145 (Spring 2015) classes, earning an A- and an A, respectively. In both classes, he
actively participated in classroom discussions and asked good questions. In addition, he also helped
out other students when they struggled. It was indeed a pleasure to have him in the classroom.
ECON 145 is our capstone course for economics majors. In this class, students are expected to
conduct independent research under the guidance of the instructor. Towards the end of the semester,
each student completes a research paper and presents her work in front of faculty members. Because
of the intensive nature of ECON 145, I had the chance to work with Mr. Stark on a personal level
and observe his progress closely. The class requires students to formulate a research question, read
the relevant literature, collect data, and apply appropriate statistical methods to analyze the data.
Kenneth’s project is on the general topic of economic fluctuation and growth. Specifically, he works
on the effect of inflation on output growth. By using data from multiple countries, he finds that
monetary policy is less effective in countries where inflation rate is more volatile. The project
incorporates both theoretical and empirical literature and requires him to collect and analyze data
from a large number of countries. In the end, he did a great job and earned a well-deserved A in this
class.
In the process of advising Kenneth on his project, I learned a few things about him. First, he is a
hard worker. He puts in a tremendous amount of time into the project. The class involves constant
interaction between the instructor and the student, and each time I talk to him, he presented me with
his latest result. Second, he takes his coursework very seriously. From the beginning to the end, he
constantly sought to improve his project. He strives to go above and beyond to prefect his output.
He is also very meticulous and detail-oriented. He pays close attention to the nuances in the
literature and carefully applies proper methods to analyze the data.

2. Mr. Stark is responsible, hard-working, and takes his job very seriously. He is also very personable
and a team player. I believe that you can also see these traits once you talk to him. I highly
recommend him to you.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Ta-Chen Wang
Associate Professor
Department of Economics
California State University, Sacramento