RE: Ph.D. proliferation
> orientation. Thus, as we become wealthier as a society, we are more able > to support children who pursue such uselss topics at the graduate > level.< > > Why, this could mean that the wealthy feel some sort of urge to preserve > civilization! > > Michael You are a very deluded person if you think the average English Ph.D. is in a rush to preserve civilization. I'm persuaded that half of them are dedicated opponents of standard written English. Fabio
RE: Ph.D. proliferation
This is very ominous news indeed: fabio guillermo rojas: >A consistent findng in the college major selection literature is that family background has a positive effect on choosing usless majors like philosophy or history, controlling for ability and vocational orientation. Thus, as we become wealthier as a society, we are more able to support children who pursue such uselss topics at the graduate level.< Why, this could mean that the wealthy feel some sort of urge to preserve civilization! Michael Michael E. Etchison Texas Wholesale Power Report MLE Consulting www.mleconsulting.com 1423 Jackson Road Kerrville, TX 78028 830) 895-4005
Re: Ph.D. proliferation
> A major puzzle: After a lot of taught about the watering-down of the > degree, the article observes that average time to completion has risen > from 4 years to 10 or so. At least on the surface, this sounds like > standards are a lot tougher! This is just what you'd expect to happen > in a signaling model as it gets easier and easier to get grad school > funding - people have to jump through more hoops to prove the same > thing. > Prof. Bryan Caplan I wouldn't take the article too seriously... it incorrectly states that social science Ph.D.'s at Chicago don't have a language requirement, which from personal experience I can say is incorrect!! The lengthening of he Ph.D. - although Bryan's explanation is consistent with the data, I'd add some empirical facts. First, graduation rates by discipline negatively correlate with # of tenure track jobs, a finding of a previoius NORC survey some years ago. This suggests that people graduate when there are jobs, so the the long term contraction of the academic labor market post-1970 would result in non-graduation. Second, the biggest producers of Ph.D.'s who compete for university positions are those disciplines favored by the wealthy. A consistent findng in the college major selection literature is that family background has a positive effect on choosing usless majors like philosophy or history, controlling for ability and vocational orientation. Thus, as we become wealthier as a society, we are more able to support children who pursue such uselss topics at the graduate level. Some recent research suggests that family wealth has a positive effects on the choice to pursue non-vocational graduate degree. The result is that there's an excess of grad students, which tightens labor markets, an suppresses graduation rates. So I'd say additional hoop jumping may be part of it, but there's also a lot of other processes that shape the academic labor market. Fabio
RE: re : securities analysis
Anecdotally (speaking as a fund manager) it 'feels' like the January effect is happening in Q4 as investors try and front run the January performance. David -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Bryan Caplan Sent: 05 April 2002 20:34 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: re : securities analysis William Dickens wrote: > However, as I recall, the increase in expected returns that one gets by following such a strategy are measured in basis points, not percentage points as some advocates of this approach would suggest. So Bill, are you willing to stick your neck out regarding the January effect? Thaler says average ROR in January is 3.5%, versus an average of .5% for all other months. Is this another case of basis points being exagerated into percentage points? -- Prof. Bryan Caplan Department of Economics George Mason University http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Smerdyakov suddenly raised his eyes and smiled. 'Why I smile you must understand, if you are a clever man,' he seemed to say." Fyodor Dostoyevsky, *The Brothers Karamozov*
Ph.D. proliferation
There is an interesting piece on the evolution of the Ph.D. at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A42186-2002Mar17 A major puzzle: After a lot of taught about the watering-down of the degree, the article observes that average time to completion has risen from 4 years to 10 or so. At least on the surface, this sounds like standards are a lot tougher! This is just what you'd expect to happen in a signaling model as it gets easier and easier to get grad school funding - people have to jump through more hoops to prove the same thing. -- Prof. Bryan Caplan Department of Economics George Mason University http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down 'Stupid things!' on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell 'stupid,' and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him." Lewis Carroll, *Alice's Adventures in Wonderland*
