What’s wrong with Ec 10? The dozens of Harvard University undergrads who walked out of the school’s famous introductory economics course this month think they know.
The students’ general criticism is that Ec 10, in which some 700 students are enrolled, “espouses a specific -- and limited -- view of economics.” Their specific criticisms are that economics as taught in this class, formally called Economics 10, failed to prevent the financial crisis and does nothing to narrow the gap between rich and poor.
They’d like a more diverse intro course that includes exposure to more progressive economic frameworks....
As for their eminent professor, N. Gregory Mankiw, the implication is that he’s too politically conservative to have such authority over the minds of future leaders. After all, Mankiw is helping out Mitt Romney’s campaign and served as an economic adviser to President George W. Bush.
The students are correct that Harvard’s economics instruction could use some diversifying. But not the kind they think.
Right and Wrong
Let’s start with where the protesters are correct. First, Ec 10 is a defined and therefore limited course. As taught by Mankiw, a great talent, it conveys modern macro- and microeconomics mostly through the prism of capitalism, rather than through socialism or communism. It’s also true that there is a gap in the U.S. between rich and poor; although whether that’s a problem per se has to be debated. Third, and most important, macroeconomic theory did fail to predict the most recent recession. At Harvard in 2007, many professors and students took for granted that we were in an era of “great moderation,” and that life should henceforth progress smoothly down the decades.
What the students get wrong is their proposed solution. There are two theories that could have predicted the financial crisis of 2008, and that have much to say about inequality. Neither of them would be considered “progressive.”
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