Article in 'Business Week' Describes Economics Department as U.S.' Best

Harvard has the top economics department of any U.S. university, according to a recent poll of economists by the American Council on Education. The survey is reported in the current issue of Business Week.

M.I.T.'s department is second, although it ranks first for "effectiveness" of its over-all graduate program, the survey says. Chicago and Yale are next. Many mathematically-inclined students tend to choose M.I.T. or Yale over Harvard because of the University's bias towards practically, Business Week explains.

As a result of this practically, however, Harvard has had a tremendous impact on U.S. policy the magazine notes.

John T. Dunlop, Chairman of the Economics Department, commented last night that "we would be happy to have additional work in the theoretical area, though the department is pretty strong in that area now."

In the article, "Why Harvard Still Ranks First," the author, a Radcliffe graduate, discounts the charge that the professors neglect students. "Any undergraduate with moderate pluck and a reasonable motive can see a professor in private just by knocking at his door at Littauer Center."

The article says that businessmen have traditionally criticized Harvard's economics department as "infiltrated by anti-business radicals ... [but] actually, faculty members are far from radical." The magazine also notes, that "Even Galbraith seems mild today," citing his claim that he is having trouble just trying to maintain his reputation as a liberal.

The department itself is "terribly conservative," Galbraith added. Dunlop said he was pleased that the article provided a more balanced view of the department to business than was usual. But Harvard still isn't pro-business, Business Week claims, quoting Carl Kaysen, Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Political Economy, as saying "At times we think businessmen are wrong and we are right and we know better."