<p>I was only responding to the phuriku’s post about only a certain segment of society which believes Stanford is a better school. Quite a disgusting piece of snobbery. You can post all the BS rankings that you want. Stanford is the school of the future in higher education. Stanford dominates in STEM and, frankily, in the humanities. The university has a sane balance of academic excellence and vibrant student life. Stanford was the main catalyst for the development of an entirely new economy. No US university has had so much impact on society and economic development in such a short time as Stanford. Stanford raises more money than any other university, because people have confidence the quality of its programs and faculty… Other than Harvard, there is not one US university with the breadth of academic offerings, research capabilities and public impact as Stanford. The university produces a balance of scholars, entrepreneurs, athletes, public servants, writers, etc. My comment on the economics profession still stands. Economists often base their theories and research findings on their political beliefs. They cannot predict the future or the effectiveness of any policies with any accuracy–they seem to be able to only track what has happened in the past, and still disagree on causes of recessions, inflation, etc. Sure, many top univerisities have an economics faculty, but I find economics a waste of resources compared to medicine, engineering, law, public health, and other STEM departments.</p>