Economics, Oberlin, and the honors exam

[SlitheyTove]

<p>It’s really too late at night to attack these, but I figured some of you would get a charge out of this. I like to think that a college graduate would be able to at least take a stab at answering these, even if they can’t come up with an actual answer.</p>

<p>

Each year, the economics department at Oberlin College invites an outside examiner to determine who among its top graduating seniors should receive an honors degree. Last spring, I was that outside examiner. The seven candidates had several hours to complete a written exam (which I wrote), and then a few weeks later, I interviewed each of them face to face.</p>

<p>I thought my readers here might be interested in seeing the written exam.

</p>

<p>[The</a> Honors Class, Part I at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics](<a href=“http://www.thebigquestions.com/2009/11/20/the-honors-class-part-i/]The”>The Honors Class, Part I at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics)</p>