math-econ-template

A LaTeX template repo for mathematics & theoretical economics — lecture notes, research papers, beamer slides, problem sets, and exams — preconfigured for VSCode on macOS.

Every document shares one set of math/econ macros and theorem environments, and a single option flips the bibliography between biblatex (modern, the default) and natbib (for older journal requirements).

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1. Repository layout

math-econ-template/
├── styles/                 ← shared packages (edit these to change macros everywhere)
│   ├── mathmacros.sty      ← general math notation
│   ├── econ.sty            ← economics notation
│   ├── theorems.sty        ← theorem/definition/assumption environments
│   ├── mathprelude.sty     ← one-line preamble for articles (loads the above + hyperref/cleveref)
│   ├── meconbib.sty        ← bibliography toggle: biblatex (default) or natbib
│   └── homework.sty        ← problem/solution scaffolding
├── notes/                  ← lecture / study notes        (article + biblatex)
├── paper/                  ← research paper skeleton       (article + bib toggle)
├── slides/                 ← presentation                  (beamer + Metropolis)
├── homework/               ← problem set + separate answer key
├── exam/                   ← exam + separate answer key    (exam class)
├── .vscode/settings.json   ← build recipe (MacTeX 2026, styles path)
└── latexmkrc               ← same settings for terminal builds

The styles/ folder is made visible to every subfolder automatically (via TEXINPUTS), so any document can \usepackage{mathmacros} etc. with no path fuss.

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2. Quick start in VSCode

1. Open the folder (not just a file): File → Open Folder… → pick math-econ-template. (The build settings are per-folder, so this matters.)
2. Open a template, e.g. notes/notes-template.tex.
3. Build: press ⌘⌥B, or click the TeX badge in the left sidebar → Build LaTeX project (the ▶ icon). It also rebuilds every time you save (⌘S).
4. View the PDF: ⌘⌥V (opens beside your source).
5. Jump around (SyncTeX): ⌘-click in the PDF → jumps to that line in the source; ⌘-click in the source → scrolls the PDF there.
6. Errors/warnings appear in the Problems panel and the LaTeX Workshop output.

That's it — the green arrow does pdfLaTeX + biber and opens the PDF.

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3. Building from the terminal

Run from the repo root, with -cd so output lands next to the source:

latexmk -cd notes/notes-template.tex          # build
latexmk -cd exam/final-solutions.tex          # build the answer key
latexmk -c -cd notes/notes-template.tex       # clean aux files (keep the PDF)
latexmk -C -cd notes/notes-template.tex       # clean everything (incl. PDF)

latexmkrc prepends MacTeX to PATH and points TEXINPUTS at styles/, so this matches the VSCode build exactly.

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4. The document types

📓 Notes — notes/notes-template.tex

Article with the full macro/theorem set and citations. Start a new set by copying the file (e.g. notes/game-theory.tex) and editing.

📄 Research paper — paper/paper-template.tex

Economics paper skeleton: title/\thanks, abstract, JEL codes, sections, an \appendix for proofs, and the bibliography toggle. Uncomment \doublespacing for a submission draft.

🖥️ Slides — slides/slides-template.tex

Beamer with the Metropolis theme (compiles with pdfLaTeX here). Use \section{} for section slides and beamer's built-in theorem/block environments. The math/econ macros work on slides too.

📝 Homework — homework/ (problems + separate answer key)

Three files, one source of truth:

• hw01-content.tex — the problems, each with a \begin{solution}…\end{solution} block.
• hw01.tex — the assignment (solutions hidden). → hw01.pdf
• hw01-solutions.tex — the answer key (\showsolutions). → hw01-solutions.pdf

Write each problem once; compile two PDFs. New set: copy the three files to hw02* and change the \input{hw02-content} line.

🧪 Exam — exam/ (uses the exam document class)

Same content + two wrappers pattern, but with the exam class (automatic points, grading table, "page x of N"):

• final-content.tex — \questions with \begin{solution}.
• final.tex — the blank exam.
• final-solutions.tex — adds \printanswers for the key.

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5. Macro cheat-sheet

Defined in styles/mathmacros.sty and styles/econ.sty. Edit those files to add your own.

Sets & delimiters

Macro	Output		Macro	Output
\R \Z \Q \N \C \F	ℝ ℤ ℚ ℕ ℂ 𝔽		\Rplus \Rpp	ℝ₊ ℝ₊₊
\abs{x} \norm{x}	|x| ‖x‖		\floor{x} \ceil{x}	⌊x⌋ ⌈x⌉
\set{...}	{…}		\setb{x \given x>0}	{x | x>0} (bar scales)
\inner{x}{y}	⟨x,y⟩		\parens* \bracks*	auto-sized ( ) [ ]

(Add * to any delimiter to auto-size: \abs*{\frac{a}{b}}.)

Operators \argmax \argmin \esssup \supp \dom \rank \tr \diag \sgn \spann \conv \dist \proj \diam \intr \relint

Probability \E[X] \Prob(A) \Var \Cov \Corr \plim \Ind\{·\} (indicator) \Normal \indep \iid \dto \pto \asto (converges in dist./prob./a.s.)

Calculus / linear algebra \dd (upright d) \dv{f}{x} \pdv{f}{x} \grad · \vect{x} \mat{A} A\T (transpose) A\inv

Shorthand \eps \ph (var-epsilon/phi) \ol \ul \wt \wh (over/under-line, wide tilde/hat) \defeq (≔) \st (s.t.)

Economics \pref \prefstr \dpref (⪰ ≻ ⪯) · \Lag (Lagrangian) \maximize \minimize · \BR (best response) x\eqm (equilibrium ⋆) \simplex{A} s_{\negi} (−i) · \MRS \MRT \MU \MC \MB \MR

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6. Theorem environments

From styles/theorems.sty. theorem, lemma, proposition, corollary, claim, conjecture, fact, definition, example, exercise, remark, note, notation, and proof. assumption has its own counter (Assumption 1, 2, …), the usual econ convention.

Reference them with cleveref — it prints the type for you:

\begin{theorem}\label{thm:main} ... \end{theorem}
By \Cref{thm:main} and \Cref{as:reg}, ...   % → "By Theorem 1 and Assumption 2, ..."

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7. Bibliography — and the natbib toggle

Default is biblatex + biber (modern author–year). To satisfy an older journal that requires bibtex/natbib, change one line in your document's preamble:

\usepackage{meconbib}            % DEFAULT: biblatex + biber
\usepackage[natbib]{meconbib}    % TOGGLE:  natbib + bibtex

Nothing else changes — the citation commands are identical either way:

\bibresource{references}         % your .bib file (without the .bib extension)
...
\citet{akerlof1970}      % → Akerlof (1970)
\citep{akerlof1970}      % → (Akerlof 1970)
\textcite{...} \parencite{...}   % biblatex-style aliases also work in both modes
...
\printrefs                       % prints the bibliography

Under [natbib] you can pick a journal style (put its .bst on your path first):

\usepackage[natbib]{meconbib}
\setbibstyle{aer}                % e.g. aer, ecta, econometrica, chicago; default plainnat

Just rebuild after switching — latexmk automatically runs biber (biblatex) or bibtex (natbib) as appropriate. Defined in styles/meconbib.sty.

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8. Customizing

• Add/edit macros: edit styles/mathmacros.sty or styles/econ.sty. Every document picks up the change on the next build.
• Change margins/fonts globally: edit styles/mathprelude.sty (e.g. the geometry margin, or link colors LinkNavy/CiteGreen).
• New document: copy the closest template file/folder and rename. Give notes/papers their own references.bib in the same folder (each folder already has one).

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Built for macOS + VSCode (LaTeX Workshop) + MacTeX 2026.