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Mike has his frustrations as a teacher and I appreciate it, but whenever I
hear babyboomers whining about the "young folks", it really pisses me off.
The irony is of course harsh, but given the free tuition available at most
state schools and the high-paying part-time and summer work available,
babyboomers just don't understand the financial pressure today's undergrads
are under. >>
I'm teaching at a small liberal arts state college in NJ, and I must say that the vast majority of students I'm teaching are serious and hard working. Probably over 1/3 are the first in their family to go to college. I have found that many lack confidence in themselves, and part of my job is to help them realize that they can tackle finance and what passes for "financial theory." For example, "agency costs' are discussed right in chapter 1. Now at least 75% of my day students (and 100% of my niters) work more than 20 hours/week at pretty menial wages - they intuitively know that their wages aren't the source of "agency costs."
I then go on to contrast "Jensenism" with Doug's argument about the distribution of financial assets - in fact, Doug should think about putting some sort of reader together, or even his own "anti Finance" text!
Jason