from Hacker News

Harvard’s Reinhart and Rogoff Say This Time Is Different

by vanderburgt on 5/18/20, 10:05 PM with 6 comments

  • by blendo on 5/19/20, 12:12 AM

    Their conclusion:

    “We’re going to see a lot of risk aversion. We’ll be more inward-looking, self-sufficient in medical supplies, self-sufficient in food. If you look at some of the legacies of the big crises, those have all seen fixed investment ratchet down and often stay down.”

    So, more localization, less globalization?

  • by chmaynard on 5/18/20, 11:45 PM

    I don't like reading transcripts of interviews. I would much rather the author took the time to digest the material and present a summary. That said, this statement caught my eye:

    "It’s been a very intense period partly because I was teaching a lot. And there was the shift to Zoom, which created more work because you’re trying to prepare differently and do your lectures differently. It’s obviously a surreal experience overall."

    So why didn't Rogoff refuse to teach that way? Probably because cancelling his classes would have obligated Harvard to refund the tuition. So he went along with the school and provided a degraded learning experience to his students, all so Harvard didn't have to dip into its massive endowment and do the right thing.