Economics: The Delightful Science
The opening of Drexel LeBow’s School of Economics brings back memories of my undergraduate years, where I struggled until “finding” economics. I claimed the discipline as my major on the very last day we could choose our field of study. Perhaps this is why I can relate to students who struggle to find their passion during their first few years of college.
In those days, the economics curriculum was quite different from what it is today. An understanding of calculus was not mandatory; we had only one required econometrics course. Far from an emphasis on quantitative skills, the economics curriculum then included classes in economic thought, the history of economics and comparative economics systems.
John Maynard Keynes was still king, but Milton Friedman was gaining influence. Dr. Friedman even visited our campus (which was a big event). When we heard that the faculty were upset because he treated them like graduate students, it made us like Dr. Friedman even more. Here we are more than 40 years later and the economists and politicians still can’t agree on the best way to smooth out a recession: increasing government spending (Keynes) or controlling interest rates (Friedman).
Perhaps reflective of the early 1970s, our upper-level courses were in labor economics, urban economics and Marxian economics. I spent several evenings sitting in an upstate New York laundromat reading Das Kapital, although probably more for affect than actually studying. I truly enjoyed all those graphs required in the advanced micro and macro classes and spent many hours recreating them in the library preparing for exams. Of course, I don’t know how any of us ever studied without drinking coffee in a café, using a laptop and listening to music through a smartphone, but somehow we succeeded.
Our class in comparative economic systems stood out not because of its quality, but because of the instructor. Over the entire 16-week semester, our professor would enter the class, sit at a small desk, open his notes and read to us. The only time he looked up was to stare vacantly at the far corners of the room. Although my thoughts about the instructor were different then, I realize now that he was likely a painfully shy scholar who preferred the solitude of his office, working on his research, rather than facing 20 barely attentive 19-year-olds three times a week.
Fortunately, none of the faculty members in our School of Economics match that description. Not only are our faculty distinguished for their research (among the best in the world in international trade), they are also excellent teachers dedicated to their students.
Elevating economics at the College from a department to a school makes sense on a number of levels. It raises the profile of economics at Drexel LeBow; it will help attract more students to the field due to our expanded menu of programs; it will help us highlight the important research being conducted by our faculty; and it will help further prepare our students for careers as economists.
Our economics majors are fortunate: Not only will they graduate from a School of Economics, but they have the benefit of being taught by internationally known scholars who are also adept at instilling their passion for the “dismal science” to their students. This obviously can’t be done by staring into the corners of a classroom.
