In the fall of 2007, when the U.S. economy first seemed in peril, I began answering reader queries here on the Business Desk. I still do so, but this page has expanded to include posts from eminent economists, "far-flung correspondents," and a variety of voices that have intriguing and/or useful things to say about economics, broadly defined. Please feel encouraged to respond to any and all of them.
Paul Solman: On the show tonight, Harvard economist Ben Friedman argues that schools like his are channeling graduates into finance -- at a cost of society as a whole. No, the Ivy League doesn't make crooks out of its students, But it continues to funnel them to Wall Street, he argues -- a Wall Street whose benefits to society these days Friedman seriously doubts.
One footnote: Friedman is one of capitalism's most ardent and eloquent champions. His book, "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth," is a sustained argument for the merits of a market system. All the more reason to take him seriously.
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2010 Graduates Still Headed for Wall Street
**Paul Solman:** On the show tonight, Harvard economist Ben Friedman argues that schools like his are channeling graduates into finance -- at a cost of society as a whole. No, the Ivy League doesn't make crooks out of its students, But it continues to funnel them to Wall Street, he argues -- a Wall Street whose benefits to society these days Friedman seriously doubts.
One footnote: Friedman is one of capitalism's most ardent and eloquent champions. His book, "The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth," is a sustained argument for the merits of a market system. All the more reason to take him seriously.
