The second semester is off to an interesting start. I’ve found that each of the classes I’m taking this semester is forcing me to think about things in a way that I wouldn’t have conceptualized them before.
The title quote is from John Yinger, the professor teaching the class on State & Local Government Finance. Professor Yinger likes to call attention to the distinction between positive and normative statements, which is a distinction that warms my philosopher’s heart. (For the unfamiliar: positive statements talk about the way things are [think “posit” rather than charge], and normative statements talk about the way things should be.) I challenged him on one element of this distinction in class: my feeling was (is?) that, particularly at the federal level, there’s a great deal of agreement on our policy goals (e.g. everyone thinks low unemployment is a good thing), in which case the positive question of how to realize those objectives should be fairly straightforward to resolve (stimulus? anyone?).
To summarize Professor Yinger’s response: “If it was that easy, you wouldn’t need to be here.”
It reinforces a lesson that some other professors have tried to teach us through some of the writing exercises they’ve had us complete: even when a right answer exists, having the capacity to explain it is what differentiates us. It’s a thought that I’ll be reflecting on throughout the semester, and something worth considering as you’re deciding whether coming to graduate school is right for you.
P.S. There’s been a slight change in the schedule linked to above: Forecasting with Professor Bretschneider is not being offered this semester, so I elected to take a class in the business school that covers some of the same material: Time Series Modeling and Analysis. Some of my classmates and I have taken to calling it “time travel.” The professor is interesting, and the content challenging, but what I’m enjoying most about the class is observing some of the other contexts in which generally applicable material is used. I think it will help me be more mentally flexible.
P.P.S. A big thank you to Nat for the tip on inter-library loans, which has helped me to largely bypass the textbook racket this semester.