News Irony: Kerry did no better than Bush at Yale

[Loren Booda]

I dropped out of Yale my sophomore year due to medical reasons. My average grade was a B. I took intensive freshman physics and lab. I did not cheat, although I smoked a lot of pot. I am curious whether Kerry or Bush sullied their honor, like many of questionable morals, to barely pass their courses mentioned.

 

[kcballer21]

For some reason this just popped in my mind, but I thought it was relevant. When I signed up to be an economics major, the department issued me its handbook. One of the first things the handbook covered was why it would be advantageous to study economics. The main advantage it cited was that you would know more about economics than George W. Bush (the 2001 GW) as well as a list of other important people. At the time I couldn't figure out if that was a dig, the truth or both.

 

[loseyourname]

For some reason this just popped in my mind, but I thought it was relevant. When I signed up to be an economics major, the department issued me its handbook. One of the first things the handbook covered was why it would be advantageous to study economics. The main advantage it cited was that you would know more about economics than George W. Bush (the 2001 GW) as well as a list of other important people. At the time I couldn't figure out if that was a dig, the truth or both.

For whatever reason, almost nobody seems to know anything about economics. I've only taken the lower-level courses myself and I already feel, whether I'm talking with acquaintances or watching television, that almost nobody grasps even the basic concepts taught in the first year. It seems like a subject that people just don't take much interest in. I don't even think it's that hard to learn, but people seem to find it terribly boring and no one learns it unless they have to.

 

[Informal Logic]

Best in the last 50 years maybe, but come on. Better than Lincoln?

"Ever" is a strong word. But yes I was posting in regard to the presidents mentioned, and unfortunately we don't have recordings of speeches made in earlier history--that would be interesting though.

 

[loseyourname]

"Ever" is a strong word. But yes I was posting in regard to the presidents mentioned, and unfortunately we don't have recordings of speeches made in earlier history--that would be interesting though.

True. We have no clue what Lincoln's delivery was like, and that makes a huge difference. I think you'd have to go back to Cicero to find a more skilled rhetorician, though. Plus Lincoln wrote his own speeches. It wasn't until America elected Harding (who made Bush sound like MLK Jr.) that presidents started hiring professional speechwriters. If I were president, I wouldn't, and I still don't like that they do.

 

[kcballer21]

I don't even think it's that hard to learn, but people seem to find it terribly boring and no one learns it unless they have to.

I know what you mean. The concepts are pretty intuitive. The only thing that might not be so intuitive is comparative advantage. Otherwise, when you get to the more statistical side of economics it becomes pretty complicated, more rigorous.

The thing with the president is that his advisor, Greg Mankiw, is a good economist, so you would think that by default as long as George read what was written for him, he would make some economic sense. It's funny how politics changes all that.