Harvard Students stage walk-out on Greg Mankiw

[Gustaf]

Wow. There is definitely a shift away from supply-side economics in my generation (at least that's my impression).

I have a favourable impression of Mankiw though, so I kind of feel for him here.

[Gustaf]

I think, if anything, there is an oversupply of smart students doing economics as undergraduates. So, if a few of them choose to do Comparative Literature instead, I will only be thrilled.

And I don't really want to call them ignoramuses. They are just kids, acting like kids do. Not that much different, really, from my 8-year-old.

You think that we (or they, to be less presumptous) are driving down your wage?

[Gustaf]

I think, if anything, there is an oversupply of smart students doing economics as undergraduates. So, if a few of them choose to do Comparative Literature instead, I will only be thrilled.

And I don't really want to call them ignoramuses. They are just kids, acting like kids do. Not that much different, really, from my 8-year-old.

You think that we (or they, to be less presumptous) are driving down your wage?

Nah. Few econ majors go on to do Ph.D in econ.

You don't think more econ majors would lead to more Ph.D students? Or at least a higher quality of Ph.D students?

(I'd think the more appropriate counter would be that it would take a long time for them to affect you... )

[Gustaf]

I think, if anything, there is an oversupply of smart students doing economics as undergraduates. So, if a few of them choose to do Comparative Literature instead, I will only be thrilled.

Wrong sort of minds for that, surely?

Oy! As a member of my university's Literary Society I beg to differ. We're pretty well-read. On the other hand, our membership is percentage-wise really small. On the third hand, that's because most of the students at my school are business students. The actual Econ students aren't as uncultivated as you seem to think.

[Gustaf]

Oy! As a member of my university's Literary Society I beg to differ. We're pretty well-read. On the other hand, our membership is percentage-wise really small. On the third hand, that's because most of the students at my school are business students. The actual Econ students aren't as uncultivated as you seem to think.

Target... hit!

I just came home after a night of drinking absinthe and discussing surreal literature. So, there. Beyond that, this is just a game for me, since I usually take your position at my university.

(tonight, we had an unusually large attendance due to the offer of absinthe. I think we scared them away through random provocative statements though)

[Gustaf]

Oh, well in that case, we are in agreement.

Well, yeah. That seems to be the straightforward professional consensus. I am not a macro guy, but my macro colleauges seem, actually, to have an alibi, specially constructed to make fun of them less than 2 years ago:

http://econjwatch.org/articles/it-can-t-happen-it-s-a-bad-idea-it-won-t-last-us-economists-on-the-emu-and-the-euro-1989-2002

The author of that article is a personal friend of my parents. He was, hilariously, opposed to the euro before he was hired to go work in Brussels. He asked my parents, before he went, "do you think I will be able to retain my independence if I take this job?" They told him no and turned out to be right.