Political Scientists are Smarter than Economists?
Travis Fast
Now I do not know what the scores are for Canada but according to the GRE statistics reported here, it appears that in two out of the three categories political scientists have superior GRE scores relative to their cousins in economics. But then this should hardly be surprising given that political scientists receive better training in their undergrad in verbal and analytical writing skills than their counterparts in economics. And, as it turns out, economists receive superior training in math in their undergrad education than their political science counterparts.
Thus, each scores better in what they were most heavily trained. Wow who would have thought education works?
This just in: those receiving training in plumbing are better at plumbing than your average DIY weekend warrior. I guess plumbers are smarter than the rest of us.
Note this post is a response Mankiw’s faux humility.
I read through the whole damn string at Mankiw’s blog. It is a litany attesting to the sad state of the world and of our universities. One econ grad student even argued that Stiglitz’s recent embrace of the state and Becker’s warning against it was evidence of a value free science. What a schmuck. Of course, this kind of pitch is so easily knocked from the park that I couldn’t even bring myself to engage. I’d rather speak to the choir than to a set of deaf ears. There’s a little poem by Brecht, a piece of it goes like this:
After the uprising of the 17th of June
The secretary of the Writers’ Union
Had leaflets distributed in the
Stalinalle
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the
government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be
easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?
It would seem that a new people have been elected. It used to be that fascists burned the books they didn’t want you to read.
archie
August 9, 2007 at 6:07 pm