Our own in the NY TIMES

[phdseeker]

Our own John List has been featured in the Times!

For those interested in public financial economics/charitable causes or in need of light reading, read here

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/ma...l?ref=magazine

With his background, it must be interesting to watch him interact with the Chicago types.

zlas or anyone at Chicago how does that work?

[TruDog]

Way to go John! It's good to see an inspiring professor doing something good that gets attention in the national media.

And I'm impressed with his background. It's good to see a fellow Wisconsin native making the big time, even with a little bit of water skiing along the way.

[buckykatt]

Wow. I didn't even know there was such a thing as a golf scholarship! I guess if I ever have kids I'll have to buy them some golf lessons, because I know they'll be too short for basketball...

Nice link, phdseeker! It's not often that I find the Times worth reading.

[phdseeker]

Thanks when I saw it I figured people would be interested. I see now that both marginal revolution and harvard's gregory manque picked up on the story. Maybe they were watching this site.

[Golden Rule]

Thanks when I saw it I figured people would be interested. I see now that both marginal revolution and harvard's gregory manque picked up on the story. Maybe they were watching this site.

They all have linked David Leonhardt articles in the NYT before, so I doubt it. But it is rather odd it took so long for them to find at. Here is the first I saw that article here, so thanks for the link.

[phdseeker]

Your welcome. I raised this question to my adviser and he thought that more faculty roam these boards than what we think--many many many more. Though he did agree with you that they knew of the article before I posted it here.

[YoungEconomist]

This was the first time I learned about John List's story. Man, what an inspiration! I can't believe his story and how he rose up from an unlikely situation to become a Chicago Econ Prof.

[phdseeker]

Yes, he has come a long way no doubt.

In that light I find this next story ironic. I just spoke with a graduate student who told me that John just talked to him and stressed that his road is not recommended and told the person to go to the best school or match possible because it will be difficult to claw his way up the ladder later.

Even the person who does it gives us little hope of doing it if we cannot start from a top place!

[YoungEconomist]

Yes, he has come a long way no doubt.

In that light I find this next story ironic. I just spoke with a graduate student who told me that John just talked to him and stressed that his road is not recommended and told the person to go to the best school or match possible because it will be difficult to claw his way up the ladder later.

Even the person who does it gives us little hope of doing it if we cannot start from a top place!

Yeah, I think most of us thought this anyway. What he did is inspiring, however it's very difficult and highly unlikely. It doesn't suprise me at all that he is telling people to go to the best school they get into.

I would say that his story still gives me some hope though if I wind up at a lower ranked school. For example, what if one winds up at a PhD program ranked about 40 - 50, which I believe is significantly stronger than List's PhD program. If you work really hard while you're there maybe you can get a good placement. I'm not talking about Chicago, or even the top 50, but maybe you could wind up at a school with a low ranked PhD program (such as 100th). In my opinion that's still a pretty good placement.

I would never plan on following in John List's footsteps. However, if I wind up at a low ranked PhD program, or if my first academic placement isn't that great, his story does give me a small amount of hope for improving my lot.

[phdseeker]

So where did you end up Youngeconomist? Do you have to claw?