Warsh on Shleifer
On his blog, David Warsh has written a typically excellent—and devastating—column on the Shleifer scandal.
I know that the matter is essentially over, but somehow its resolution is unsatisfying. You can't help but feel that Shleifer got away with something. He'll pay off his fine, and eventually he'll get another job at a university which is happy to award him a title, and sooner or later he'll probably peddle his wares at a hedge fund, like Larry Summers and, such a disappointment,
Chelsea Clinton.
Warsh is exactly right about one thing: the refusal to publicly denounce Shleifer's behavior casts an unfortunate pall not just over Harvard, but over the profession of economics as well.
I have heard Harvard economists defend Shleifer, mainly on the grounds that he's smart—a peculiar defense. Has anyone in the entire profession made the simple point that breaking the law is wrong?
