Harvard’s Reinhart and Rogoff Say This Time Is Different | Hacker News Reader

Harvard’s Reinhart and Rogoff Say This Time Is Different

bloomberg.com

10 pointsvanderburgt6 comments

Their conclusion:

“We’re going to see a lot of risk aversion. We’ll be more inward-looking, self-sufficient in medical supplies, self-sufficient in food. If you look at some of the legacies of the big crises, those have all seen fixed investment ratchet down and often stay down.”

So, more localization, less globalization?

That sounds an awful lot like the attitude of someone who lived through the Great Depression. So much for this time being different.

I don't like reading transcripts of interviews. I would much rather the author took the time to digest the material and present a summary. That said, this statement caught my eye:

"It’s been a very intense period partly because I was teaching a lot. And there was the shift to Zoom, which created more work because you’re trying to prepare differently and do your lectures differently. It’s obviously a surreal experience overall."

So why didn't Rogoff refuse to teach that way? Probably because cancelling his classes would have obligated Harvard to refund the tuition. So he went along with the school and provided a degraded learning experience to his students, all so Harvard didn't have to dip into its massive endowment and do the right thing.

As a student at Harvard, cancelling classes means you lose progress that you would have to repeat. Maybe Zoom is not ideal for certain classes, but it’s better than no class. Not sure what the endowment has to do with anything other than to give you something to whine about?

You’re probably answering in bad faith but here goes: parent’s point about the endowment is that Harvard is filthy rich and could easily afford refunding tuition for that semester without putting its business in jeopardy. Parent suggests that Harvard chose not to do it out of greed rather than necessity to avoid financial collapse.

Good summary, thanks. It's tragic that this pandemic has forced schools to close in the middle of the academic year. My point is that university students are paying a premium for an on-campus experience and that's not possible right now. I think it would be best for schools to simply cancel classes, partially refund tuition, and make provisions for students to finish their work later when campuses re-open.

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