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john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

You know they say economists who work in the financial institution almost have to be bullish because it is in their companies best interest for them to be that way.

The flip side is that if they are removed from the real world companies they will be the academic out of touch types (which Bernake is often accused of).

I guess I'm pretty down on the whole Kennedy School of Government because they seem to be too academic and they don't seem to produce leaders that are battle tested or have any connectivity to real people or real problems. They ought to send those kids down to a public hearing in Brighton and watch the local politicians work the room. Mitt Romney would be doing better if he could work the room like Mike Huckabee, who was a preacher. Those preachers usually stay after mass and small talk everyone and they are always doing public addresses. Their leaders are almost emblematic of what they are doing over there, complete steamroller gentrification and attack with air superiority though spending. They don't take the time to build bonds one at a time or have to follow through; they go to Harvard for a pedigree so they don't have to get their hands dirty. You get these kids from these schools that feel entitled to be our leaders without taking the time to sit down and solve any problems or get callouses on both sides of their hands you know. The people in the real world who have to operate with modest means are often are the most creative and resourceful and the ones we ought to be listening to. Deval Patrick, from Harvard hasn't done one thing that is creative or resourceful. He promised the moon. The fact that he didn't disclose his disposition on casinos before the election was completely wrong; and I love the study from the guy from Harvard that said that casinos don't have a negative impact on communities. Hey, I've got an idea, how about putting it as one of the centerpieces in Harvard's new Allston Campus? Better yet, knock down Harvard Yard like they want to knock down Alston and put the casino there. Deval is like a little kid that uses the "casino revenues" in ten different ways: fix all our roads and bridges, fix the MBTA, add more local aid, put more cops on the street, etc. etc. etc. If he has no other ideas to fix problems other than casinos he should have said that before the election. I really want to root for Harvard because they are the local Ivy, but I just see too many lightweights that tend to help the predators and not stick up for regular folks.

I think we're in a generation where people are going to have to stay involved and feed good ideas into our government.

My point basically is that Alan Greenspan was an academic and said he had no idea that there would be mass amounts of fraud with subprime lending when he significantly dropped rates to unprecedented levels. He was an academic that was revered and nobody ever asked basic questions; they looked up to him like everyone looks up to Harvard. Well he and Harvard have not produced anything great in a long time and I think our society needs to do a bit more vetting of these highly polished lightweights. I think if people had more confidence in what they know to be fundamentally true (trusted their common sense) and weren't embarassed to ask questions when things don't make sense to them, we wouldn't be run by these pedigree lightweights.

Jeez, when my rants start to sound like William F. Buckley, I know it's time to have some Jack Daniels and listen to Skynard. I'm talking to you like the academics will eat your brain out like aliens.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

Hunter S. Thompson describes what I'm talking about much better. I'm saying live as far away from the "screwheads" as possible. Live with the "doomed".

Boston ITer · Guest

Well essentially, what ivy schools do is produce bankers and management consultants. There's no authentic product there besides elitism which is why I don't place Yale/New Haven on my college town "retirement retreat" list because you have basically, cloistered elitists living next to a de-gentrified slum. In effect, once retailers leave Harvard Sq, the same thing may happen around here.

On the other shoe, the elitists of Madison WI will attend the Kennedy school or Gtown FS in the future so why worry about 'em when they're simply doing a low cost college in a place, not too far from mom and dad. The majority of the attendants at UW are middle classers who need a college education to find work in an office or are interested in getting a basic postHS education.

Realize, the caste system is in effect nowadays where the Goldmans recruit from the Ivies (ala Wharton Business) but not places like Madison for fear of leveling the playing field. So in effect, you see the type of inbred thinking and banana republic type of politicking among leaders because that's essentially their original breeding ground.

Guest · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 3:44 pm GMT Post subject:

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

I never, ever got this whole financial or academic branding thing. I mean you research and pick winners in the market. What do you need a brand name on your back to do that?

I think you get certain kids who need to be stroked and they need to fall into a track or program. They are more concerned with getting a promotion or validation than to get money. If they were true hunters they would be independent and focused on the money and not be the weenie types that brag about how many billions of dollars their company has under management.

If you look at any equities chart and look at the overlapping Dow, Nasdaq, or whatever index, they follow the same course for the most part. There are much fewer geniuses than people think.

Hey Boston IT'er check out Vergennes, Vermont; very cool...

admin · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 4:59 pm GMT Post subject:

Boston ITer · Guest

Boston ITer · Guest

admin · Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 5:45 pm GMT Post subject:

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

Boston ITer · Guest

True, the current phenomena, from a critical mass effect, is a result of the ongoing bull market since '82.

My concern about the Street is that they're the gatekeepers of both, up and coming companies as well as how traditional companies, breakup and divest their holdings onto other companies in addition to traditional and non-traditional (i.e. derivatives) investment vehicles. And since there's so much cronyism within investment banking, private equity, and management consulting, we have wildly overvalued and undervalued companies/divisions and investment pools out there. It's a charade of round robin pump 'n dumps as well as keeping players out of the bidding. And what do many of these fellows have in common? Many are ivy leaguers with parental resources and have met through various clubs and associations and what they do is control the financial resources of the nation. Originally, I used to think that they were smart people who made it on their own merit et al (ok, perhaps their parents got them their first car/apartment) but over the years and various projects, meetings with execs, etc, I've found that it's basically a charade and that there's little real merit at the core.

JCK · Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 559

Boston ITer · Guest

Boston ITer · Guest

JCK, you might want to stop hanging out with engineers and start hanging out with bankers and executives if you're still idealistic about a meritocratic society. It's change your perspective on things.

john p · Joined: 10 Mar 2006 Posts: 1820

I get that some of these top universities are cranking out great research, I just see that there are lots of bad practice that cruises with the Veritas Flag.

I am most critical of the engineering and political sides of the Ivies. I have total respect for their math and medical and even law to some degree. In engineering you need to get your hands dirty. In politics you need to really get out there and meet people and sincerely listen to them, not have a listending tour and then do whatever you want regardless. A doctor doesn't brag about how many patients he or she can see in a day, because at a certain point one begins to wonder if they are spread too thin. Because most Ivies want it all, and don't want to be anchored in the grind and rather hover in the clouds, they actually shortchange themselves. Because they want to live among other elites and not with the "doomed" they never learn the basic common sense that makes things happen in the world or at least how to create and work the toolkit that the majority of people can access.

Henry Ford, Einstein, Edison, Marconi, Franklin all got their hands dirty. If people worked with their hands, they could think with their hands and that would add another dimension to their study.

I look at the Ivies like a natural resource which needs to be cultivated properly and I don't like to hear stories that kids aren't getting proper guidance or have teacher's assistants and professors that aren't dialed into teaching etc. When I talk to Harvard students I often hear that they are asked to work on a thesis topic that has really never been addressed. I don't understand why that is a requirement. It is like they need to dive into an obscure subject or perspective that puts a completely talented resource on a bizzare tanget.

I just think that if I were managing that kind of brainpower, I'd focus some of it on curing the common cold, cancer, creating a better democracy etc. You wouldn't see politicians saying that the only viable economic solution for one of the most advanced State's in the Union is casinos.