<p>Hello applicants, and current GS students,</p>
<p>As current applicant and prospective Financial Economics student (In case I get in), I am curious in what school of economics Columbia affiliates themselves with, i.e. the Austrian School of Economics, which leans more towards free market, or the Keynesian School of Economics, with leans more towards regulation and Government intervention.</p>
<p>Any insights are appreciated.</p>
<p>Hey Patrick, </p>
<p>I don’t know for sure, but my guess its leanings towards Keynesian school. Stiglitz is the big man on campus over there in terms of economics, and he’s a big Keynes fan. I’m at NYU and Keynes here, in terms of economics, is god</p>
<p>A lot of undergraduate students lean towards the Austrian schools. There’s a couple of societies on campus devoted to different branches thereof. </p>
<p>Stiglitz is the man but that’s just one dimension of economics on the ground, so to speak. There are resource-based econ nerds, the Austrians, etc. There’s a splinter group of the Economics Society that meets in a lounge once a week, has tea, and has really fun, often heated discussions. There you can see the whole spectrum of academic sentiment on display and, believe it or not, it’s pretty wild.</p>
<p>I am glad that many students lean towards the Austrian school. But is there also the possibility to study with professors who lean towards free market, or are student’s ‘stuck’ with Keynesian teachers?</p>
<p>Yes, I’m an Austrian guy ;). Clearly, what our dear Bernanke is doing, isn’t working. But that’s another discussion.</p>
<p>As a dedicated Austrian myself, and a current undergraduate majoring in economics, I can speak from experience when I say that unfortunately all of the “top” schools will lean towards Keynesian theories, if not Keynesian all together. In fact, some professors will outright dismiss you if you even mention Austrian economics, and in some cases embarrass you given how knowledgeable you are of the theories and the contradictions between the two schools (happened to a close friend of mine).</p>
<p>Modern economics = Keynesian economics. Nothing taught in the economics division of undergraduate schools will directly pertain to Austrian economics. That will change with time, however ;)</p>
<p>AustrianHayekian, thanks for the insights. You’re studying econ at USC?</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, University of Chicago who has one of the top economics programs in the country, leans towards free market. However, that’s the only school that leans towards a free market approach.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with UChicago’s econ department, though I know it is well respected and highly regarded. </p>
<p>There is a distinction that needs to be made though, between “free market,” or “leaning towards a free market approach,” and Austrian economics. Almost all Keynesians can be categorized as “leaning towards a free market approach.” The Austrian School advocates laissez-faire, which is completely absent of any and all types of government intervention. The modern view of what constitutes a free market doesn’t necessarily equate laissez-faire, in that most Keynesian economists would classify the U.S. economy as a “free market,” even though it is not. </p>
<p>Suffice it to say, there is an extensive difference between “leaning towards free market” and Austrian economics.</p>
<p>I agree, but realistically we will never have a ‘free market’ economy. I think even some of the celeb Austrian guys like Peter Schiff, Marc Faber and Gerlald Celente acknowledge that we will never have such a state. However, leaning towards less regulation would be a step in the right direction. Therefore “leaning towards free market”.</p>
<p>A school teaching ‘free market’ would not make any sense, as there would be no application for it; there is no economy with laissez-faire or the invisible hand, ultimately all economies are a mix between free market and regulation.</p>
<p>Do know know of some people who study Econ at Columbia?</p>
<p>It seems like everyone here is an Econ major.</p>
<p>You are too? Do you know of graduates from Columbia Econ, what do they usually do after, and what options to they have?</p>
<p>Oh, me? No. I’m not. It just seems like quite a few people are econ, econ-poli sci, etc. I’m more of an economics hobbyist.</p>
<p>Let’s see, I know three or four guys who are interning now. A couple at boutique firms and another with a bigger internship lined up for the summer. Pretty much all the econ majors I know are planning on heading downtown when they graduate.</p>
<p>As for after graduation? I have to admit that my core group of friends is on track to graduate in May 2012. So, I don’t have all that much experience. But, it seems like a pretty good amount of economics students go on to grad school and the rest pretty reliably head to banks.</p>
<p>All people from GS that you were mentioning are heading to banks? If so, that would be reassuring after the huge debate in the other thread on GS vs. CC ;-)</p>
<p>I’d say GS and CC are neck and neck with banking jobs. That’s just in my own, admittedly, limited experience. </p>
<p>And, to complicate that, I can say with much more confidence that the engineering school places more students on Wall Street than either CC or GS. Of my four graduating fraternity brothers who are headed for banks, all four are SEAS.</p>
<p>Success in the finance world is so easily quantifiable that it helps make hiring and promotion a meritocracy, I think. There’s a guy who graduated last spring who was in his mid-30s and had been working on Wall Street with his high school diploma since he was 20. He was being promoted again and upper management wanted him to get a diploma. So, he ended up here and, why not, at a fraternity, too.</p>
<p>Hellojan in order from best to ok how would you list the fraternities at Columbia? And are they biased to a specific school?</p>
<p>Hellojan, thank you for sharing! :)</p>
<p>Yikes! I wouldn’t dare rank them!</p>
<p>Some Greek chapters are in fact designed to serve specific segments of the population (Asian men or women, Latino, and so on). But, rest assured that most are pretty good being diverse.</p>
<p>That said, recruiting is mostly focused on reeling in the first-years. So, as GSer, you’re going to have to be proactive if you want to get involved. And, trust me, Rush Chairs love seeing a guy be proactive.</p>
<p>Good to know that the fraternities are not extremely biased specially if one is from GS.</p>
<p>Three out of four of the secret societies are a different story.</p>
<p>I would ask you which are the secret societies but then I guess they wouldn’t be so secret then </p>
<p>No, they’re kind of a joke. You’ll hear more about it once on campus and I can guarantee you’ll be unimpressed.</p>
<p>If you’re looking for camaraderie and structure, go Greek.</p>