Expectations and Reality
'Vijay' and I developed the irrational resignation theory sometime during lent term vacation, probably after several hours of studying something such as first-order autoregressive autocorrelation or something else wonderfully simple to us now. The theory, which was founded upon no economic or reasonable principles, was developed as a rebellion to expectation theory. Any of our rational expectations of the course had long been discredited and we had decided rather than adapt our expectations of what the course required of us and study more, we would simply resign ourselves to failure and save ourselves the stress of examinations. Fortunately, no one took our theory to heart and we all managed to do well enough to have the opportunity for further study in the UK. However, our little deviation into irrational resignation did allow me the opportunity to question how my time spent in the UK had differed from what I had anticipated.
I was expecting an extension of the undergraduate economics courses I had completed with a focus upon intuition, reasoning, and written and verbal expression of ideas. What I found were courses based upon theoretical models and the underlying mathematics and statistics, much of which I had not been subjected to since high school. I was expecting a rigorous academic environment endemic with competition between students. What I found was a group of close friends with whom I shared similar ideologies and whom brought their unique experiences to challenge me daily. I was expecting wandering lost in a dark, dreary and overcrowded London where I constantly looked behind me afraid of the next mugging. What I found was a campus centrally located to the wonderful theatrical shows of London, steps away from some of the best shopping in Britain, and enough unique restaurants and bars to satisfy even the most discriminating palates. I was expecting debating the merits of Keynesian versus Austrian economic theories, growth under conservative versus liberal political environments, and critiquing the stronger assumptions regarding the economic models we studied over pints of ale in the local pub. What I found were "'Peter' theories", the cultural transcendence that similar musical tastes can achieve, and the mindless humor that hours of rigorous studying unleashes in its unsuspecting victims.
In one of the first lectures in Microeconomic Principles last year, the professor showed a slide in which she derived the MRTS by taking partial derivatives. She included a caveat that if we were unfamiliar with the partial derivative concept we should take a moment for a quick review with the student next to us. The questioning look on the face of my friend from Canada regarding partial derivatives was reflected in my own. I experienced similar consternations in other courses and after two weeks I had become convinced that failure was inevitable. The structure of the lectures and classes, the material taught in the courses, and the individual responsibility of comprehending the subject matter were unlike anything I had previously encountered in my academic career. After a brief period, I had adapted to the structure of the program and began to discern what was expected of me as a student. The rigorous coursework and time dedicated to studying became the norm and I soon lost any illusion that my two years of studying for the MSc in Economics in London would be consumed by philosophical debates concerning economic policy and politics. Instead, I realized that my time would be valuably devoted to grasping the true fundamentals of economics down to the underlying mathematics driving the various models, a concept I appreciate more as my time of studying in the UK draws to an end.
When my plane arrived at Heathrow in September of 2004, the tedious and sleepless overnight flight left me in a haze as the immigration officer stamped my student VISA and I collected my luggage. "Roseberry Hall at LSE" I told the driver and loaded my bags into the back of the cab. He knew where LSE was situated and asked me to confirm its location without realizing that my familiarity with the layout of London was limited to knowing Heathrow is located to the west of Central London and that the Thames runs through the center of the city. I handed the driver the hall address and was taught two lessons about life in London. First, I would find no residential university campus like those in the USA at LSE and second, getting anywhere in London whether it is by cab, bus, tube or even on foot usually takes longer than one could ever imagine. I spent the next few weeks in a blur of activity as I registered for my courses, found accommodation, and acquainted myself the area surrounding LSE. When I returned to London this past year I was grateful I was already well acclimated to life around LSE. I knew the pub off of Fleet Street that sells the best cheeseburgers in London. I knew the nearby Dutch café whose extensive beer menu included all of the hard to find continental varieties. I was familiar with the shops and restaurants in and around Covent Garden and had already toured the wonderful British Museum several times. The prime location of LSE was the single expectation that exceeded my wildest imagination and a description my experience in the UK would be lacking if I failed to mention how my time outside of the classroom has left me with such a favorable impression.
The final area concerning life while studying economics in the UK that exceeded my expectations was the quality of friendships that I would develop in my short time here. Among my fondest recollections is discussing music with a new acquaintance from India over uncounted pints of Guinness. Soon after, I was introduced to what we would later endearingly label "'Peter' theories". Among the most striking of these consisted of how to ascertain the most efficient route from Point A to Point B. 'Peter' proposed in a very reasonable conjecture that it was always better to walk in the direction that had a greater downhill gradient from A to B and provided a quite reasonable explanation of his theory. We soon realized that not only would 'Peter's' course take us significantly longer in distance to reach our destination, but also if we left the same place and arrived at the same destination, that regardless of the selected route, any downhill slope that was greater in one direction would be met with a greater comparative incline. These are just a few of the innumerable instances where the dynamic and entertaining individuals with whom I formed friendships vastly exceeded the expectations I had regarding my fellow students.
Benjamin is studying Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.