<p>Duke's graduate econ department is ~20, while Harvard's and Princeton's are top 5. However, for undergrad it doesn't really matter because undergraduate classes are paced similarly at all schools so you will be learning the same material. I would say that there's a lot of access to professors at Duke and its fairly easy to take graduate level econ classes starting with junior year. The only problem with the econ department at Duke is that a lot of the kids have no interest in econ and only take classes because in it because it looks good for employers.</p>