15/03/2009

The GMU Econ Universe

Bryan Caplan writes:
I have a dream that one day, people who refuse to bet on their statements will be viewed with greater contempt than those who bet and lose. Who's with me?
Tyler Cowen isn't, while Robin Hanson is. Caplan responds to Cowen here.

Now, I have no problem with bloggers responding to each other on their respective pages, but I do wonder why they don't simply settle this matter over lunch. All of them are professors of economics at George Mason University and they do have lunch together quite frequently. I know this because they blog about it. They also party toghether. And what are those parties like? According to one observer:
Blah, blah, blog. My blog, blah, blah, blah. Blog, blah, blog.
Based on the information available to me, here's what an econ prof at GMU's day seems to look like:

1. Go to "work". Blog.

2. Lunch. Conversation with fellow bloggers.

3. Back to "work". Blog about lunch topics.

4. Party. Talk about blogs.

One wonders about the amount of time that goes into teaching at GMU. Should my nonexistent child ever want to study economics with a libertarian slant in the USA, Chicago it is.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's because they are usually not able to say "My paper blah blah".

Anonymous said...

Actually they are teaching pretty well. I am a student at GMU. :)

Anonymous said...

As an alternative description of life at GMU economics please consider this post:

http://austrianeconomists.typepad.com/weblog/2009/03/masonomics-not-really.html

The irony that it is a blog post pointing out the weaknesses of blogs is not lost on the author!

Pete

Angela C Erickson said...

If a libertarian slant is what your non-existent child is going for Chicago will probably not be the place by that time. However, if your child were to love linear algebra and econometrics, here s/he should come.

Anonymous said...

Actually blogs are sometimes used in teaching courses at GMU as well. Found it quite useful, especially for intro classes. It immerses students into current debates of otherwise dry theoretical topics.

On comparing GMU to Chicago... I don't really think there are many people who have a hard "choice" to make: if you love math and econometrics & can get admitted you will always choose Chicago; if you do not/cannot and/or have an interest in law and economics or Austrian economics GMU is a solid choice, and you are at any rate not able to attend/interested in Chicago.

Your hypothetical child will choose what suits them best :-)