Monday DeLong Smackdown Watch: Cosma Shalizi Has Serious Doubts About How Well We in Berkeley Economics Are Doing at Our Broad Educational Mission…

Cosma Shalizi Has Serious Doubts About How Well We in Berkeley Economics Are Doing at Our Broad Educational Mission…: The eminent Cosma Shalizi writes:

Cosma Shalizi: “Respectfully, I just looked over the requirements for the Berkeley econ. major https://www.econ.berkeley.edu/undergrad/current/major-requirements, and it seems like it’s entirely possible to get through it with nothing but the core econ courses, finance and econometrics. Of course the mere course titles don’t give a lot of insight into their content–maybe UGBA 180 “Real Estate and Urban Land Economics” incorporates all the history and moral philosophy one could hope for (no sarcasm intended!)–there’d certainly be scope for it. But how well do you know what your students are actually being taught? How well do you know what they are learning?…

Touché…