Today Greg Mankiw writes about undergraduates' course satisfaction highly correlated with class size in the Harvard economics department, while the Times reports on students' and professors' differing perspectives and expectations regarding grades.
The latter article focuses on students' beliefs regarding hard work and whether it is enough to earn a high grade. I'm fond of telling undergraduate advisees about my own experience as an undergraduate, when I earned a solid "C" in introductory computer science. Notice my verb choice. I worked extremely hard, but I also knew I wasn't a particularly good computer scientist. One of our challenges as college educators, it seems to me, is to motivate students to continue striving to learn even when it is clearly difficult and thus will not result in particularly high grades.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The Census as a political football
Today's Times has an article about some early uneasiness among Republicans about Democratic intentions regarding the 2010 U.S. Census. At issue in 2000 and today is exactly what methods other than mailed paper forms, visits, phone calls, etc. to employ. Specifically, there is a spectrum of opinion about whether to use statistical methods to alter the final count based on priors about undercounting some subpopulations. Another issue is how to count individuals living abroad, like Mormon missionaries.
A big part of the problem is that to my knowledge, nobody has studied how to use statistical tools to adjust Census counts, and in so doing, figured out how to do it right.
A big part of the problem is that to my knowledge, nobody has studied how to use statistical tools to adjust Census counts, and in so doing, figured out how to do it right.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Welfare for investment bankers
Exactly why laid-off investment bankers need a city-funded retraining program to weather the financial crisis is a little beyond me.
It should come as no surprise that New York City would be interested in retaining, not to mention expanding, its base of high-income, high-tax workers. But it is far from clear what kind of training would result in a laid-off investment banker's taking a high-paying job in the city when he or she otherwise would not. These workers are likely to be relatively young and certainly college educated. College and the experience in investment banking are probably general enough training for any extant jobs. In any event, unemployment insurance provides a safety net for all workers, high and low education alike.
As the article hints toward the end, energies directed toward stimulating entrepreneurial activity clearly ought to be more productive.
It should come as no surprise that New York City would be interested in retaining, not to mention expanding, its base of high-income, high-tax workers. But it is far from clear what kind of training would result in a laid-off investment banker's taking a high-paying job in the city when he or she otherwise would not. These workers are likely to be relatively young and certainly college educated. College and the experience in investment banking are probably general enough training for any extant jobs. In any event, unemployment insurance provides a safety net for all workers, high and low education alike.
As the article hints toward the end, energies directed toward stimulating entrepreneurial activity clearly ought to be more productive.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Stimulus bill details
The Times posted a nice overview of the stimulus plan's components, with details on a component funding comparisons of medical outcomes and how Arlen Specter got a $10 billion increase for NIH.
I love the parenthetical in the last one about martinis (and cancer).
I love the parenthetical in the last one about martinis (and cancer).
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Recession axing more men than women
The Times reports that the recession is narrowing the employment gap between men and women by resulting in more layoffs for men.
Still, BLS data (the Current Population Survey) indicate that employed men currently outnumber employed women by 7-8 million. Shares in employment have certainly narrowed over time, however, leading to a current split of about 53-47 in favor of men.
Probably more interesting are the remarks in the article about the likely strains on the household during the downturn given that unemployed men do not typically report performing household chores. Another facet of all this is the different nature of jobs held by men and women --- jobs may differ in terms of quality (wages, benefits, part-time vs. full-time), in terms of flexibility, and also in terms of stability. Is this pattern indicative of the higher tolerance for risk typically found among men?
Still, BLS data (the Current Population Survey) indicate that employed men currently outnumber employed women by 7-8 million. Shares in employment have certainly narrowed over time, however, leading to a current split of about 53-47 in favor of men.
Probably more interesting are the remarks in the article about the likely strains on the household during the downturn given that unemployed men do not typically report performing household chores. Another facet of all this is the different nature of jobs held by men and women --- jobs may differ in terms of quality (wages, benefits, part-time vs. full-time), in terms of flexibility, and also in terms of stability. Is this pattern indicative of the higher tolerance for risk typically found among men?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Social consequences of recession
Tyler Cowen writes about the social impacts of the current recession in the Times. He paints a nice overview. I think it is absolutely right to keep an open mind about how this recession might differ markedly from previous downturns. Cowen writes about how "in cultural influence, it may well be the rich who lose the most in the current crisis."
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