FYI

From June Zaccone via Michael Perelman:

Subject: The Harvard Crimson: Committee Rejects Alternative Ec 10
From: <[log in to unmask]> Thu, 10 Apr 2003 To: <[log in to unmask]>

Committee Rejects Alternative Ec 10
By LAUREN A.E. SCHUKER Thursday, April 10, 2003

In a swift blow to an initiative aimed at shaking up one of the
stalwarts of the Harvard College curriculum, the Committee on
Undergraduate Education in Economics voted down a proposal Tuesday for
an alternative to the department's introductory economics course.

Brought forth by Barker Professor of Economics Stephen A. Marglin '59,
the proposal suggested that the department offer students an alternative

to the first semester of the popular Core, Social Analysis 10:
"Introduction to Economics," colloquially known as "Ec 10" and taught by

Baker Professor of Economics Martin S. Feldstein.

The idea for the alternative course first appeared in a petition signed
by over 700 students and alumni last month. The petition, circulated by
the Students for Humane and Responsible Economics (SHARE), expressed
frustration with what signers called the "conservative" slant of the
class.

But the proposal has met with resistance, both from professors, who
defend Feldstein's course as sufficiently balanced, and from some
students who signed a counter-petition arguing that the competing
classes would segregate students along ideological lines.

The new course proposed to cover the same material as Ec 10 and to use
the same basic textbook but would move at a slightly faster pace to
allow time at the end of the course for critical analysis of the basic
assumptions of economics, Marglin said.

But the committee, led by Maier Professor of Political Economy Benjamin
M. Friedman, voted down the proposal Tuesday, saying that while the
course was viable in itself, it was not an appropriate replacement for a

semester of Ec 10.

"Members of the Committee unanimously thought that Professor Marglin
should be encouraged to offer a version of this proposed course,"
according to a statement issued by the department yesterday. "However, a

clear majority of the Committee opposed having the course serve as a
substitute for the first semester of Social Analysis 10."

Committee member and Senior Lecturer on Economics Jeffrey Wolcowitz
declined comment yesterday. No other committee members, including
Friedman, could be reached for comment.

The proposal was first discussed in a preliminary meeting with committee

members before spring break, which both Marglin and Feldstein attended.
Responses were positive, according to Marglin.

"I was very surprised at the turnaround [at Tuesday's meeting] because
things looked so helpful at the first meeting," Marglin said yesterday.
"But the members clearly changed their minds."

The proposal has one more shot to succeed, pending a vote by the full
economics department scheduled for April 22.

But professors say that, in some ways, the decision is already made.

"The clear majority of the committee voted against this, and that will
hold serious weight when the department votes [in two weeks],"
Department of Economics Chair Oliver D. Hart said. "It's unlikely that
the proposed course will be able to serve as a substitute for Social
Analysis 10."

Students in SHARE, who met with Friedman about a month ago to discuss
the proposal, said they were shocked at the outcome of Tuesday's
meeting.

"It's completely outrageous that they rejected this after hundreds of
students signed a petition," said Daniel DiMaggio '04, an active member
of SHARE who took Ec 10 last year.

"It is ridiculous...they voted it down without student voices being
heard," said Marglin's daughter, Jessica M. Marglin '06, a leader of
SHARE.

DiMaggio added that the rejection came as a shock.

"I'm surprised because I thought we had made progress," DiMaggio said.
"This course desperately needs an alternative. Currently, we are getting

one particular type of economics, economics at expense of the poor for
the rich...It channels people to think in a certain way, and since a lot

of people only take Ec 10, that is their only exposure to economic
classes."

But while many students support the proposal and said that Feldstein is
too biased in his presentation of the course, University President
Lawrence H. Summers has said he feels that Feldstein actually takes a
more objective stance in his work than Marglin.

"I think it's probably the case that Professor Feldstein's views are
closer to the center than certainly Professor Marglin's," Summers told a

group of students at a Quincy House Study Break in February.

"That is probably true," said Marglin-a tenured professor in the
department since 1968-in response to Summers' comment. "But you're
looking at a very conservative spectrum and a department that has become

increasingly more conservative and less diverse over the years."

Although it looks like the alternative course will not be approved as a
replacement for the fall semester of Ec 10, it could still be approved
as an additional course for Core credit.

But Marglin and students said they are not satisfied-because Ec 10
remains a curriculum staple.

"The version that the Committee is suggesting I teach is not what the
proposal called for at all," Marglin said.  "Most people taking Ec 10 do

not pursue economics to a higher level, and offering such a course at
any other level will not make sense."

Marglin said it would be difficult to structure the course as a
single-semester class, but that he plans to work with the Core office no

matter what the outcome with economics department.

"There's just too much to get in there, with the micro and macro and
critiques-now it's all back to the drawing board," he said.

<i>-Staff writer Lauren A.E. Schuker can be reached at
[log in to unmask]</i>

a note on Martin Feldstein:

"Contrary to the norms of the economics profession, Feldstein does not
make his data available to other researchers. This is one reason why it
took many years for economists to find the computational error in his
famous article on the link between Social Security and private saving
("Social Security, Induced Retirement and Aggregate Capital Consumption
[Journal of Political Economy, V 82, #5 (1974)]). This article purported

to show that Social Security reduced private saving. When other
researchers eventually had the opportunity to examine Professor
Feldstein's data, they discovered that this result was attributable to a

programming error. When the data was entered correctly, the relationship

between Social Security benefits and private saving was found to be
statistically insignificant." Economic Reporting Review, Dean Baker
December 9, 2002

Feldstein repeated the study for the NBER using more data in 1995 and
reported again that Social Security reduced private saving. But again he

refused to provide other researchers with his data.
--
June Zaccone
Economics (Emerita), Hofstra University
National Jobs for All Coalition
475 Riverside Dr Ste 853
NY, NY 10115-0050
212-870-3449
http://www.njfac.org


--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [log in to unmask]