I don’t mean to be rude, but either you are very out of date or extremely up to date on this. What do you oppose in the advances of micro-econometrics for example? I talked to a econometrics Professor who innovated the use of stated preference data to drill down to revealed preferences. His advice on infrastructure was very profitable – but costly when ignored – was his modelling out of touch with reality or not?

in general, US universities are not nearly as dependent on OS money than Aus ones, so it’s unlikely to be that (the private one’s can charge US citizens whatever they want — OS Student moeny would be just petty change to many). In addition, the labs I go to are full of people that have completed PhDs and are getting paid to be there (post docs, higher level staff), and they’re there because no US citizens can do or wants to do the job.

The reason they come from China or India (and sometimes Russia now also) is obvious — it’s because anything is a step up for most of them, so the opportunity cost for them is nothing compared to most US citizens that are well educated, who can get other well paying and potentially easier jobs. The reason they come from Europe is that (a) many places in Europe have a hopelessly corrupt research/university system; (b) many places in Europe do not do much scientific research yet still have universities producing qualified students; and (c) the jobs are just generally better and better paying in the US.

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the supply of foreigners dried up. I’m not sure who would staff the labs then.

It is not that specific but I wonder if economics has something to do with it. Just last night I was speaking to someone who who was marking post grad papers and stated she was appalled at the quality of the writing in the papers. One Ph. D. thesis, written by an Asian was littered with so many simple spelling and grammatical errors that she concluded the supervisor never even read the paper. Despite all these errors the Ph. D. was successful! This department was composed of mainly overseas students. All that money …

Have no idea how US universities structure their fees but I wouldn’t be surprised that they make more from overseas students than citizens.

Conrad’s point is backed up by a recent study which showed that the US is losing the lead in science and maths. If I recall correctly similiar concerns have been raised in Australia. Perhaps the movie “Idiocracy” was onto something.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/04/AR2007120400730.html
…
The scores from the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment showed that U.S. 15-year-olds trailed their peers from many industrialized countries. The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world’s richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.

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And…

Asian students top latest global math, science study, report Boston College researchers
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1. Philosophy isn’t necessarily about opinion rather than fact (eg formal logic).

2. Subjects like formal logic are not scientific. To the extent economics is a purely formal exercise, economics isn’t scientific (and yes, I’m aware of Mises nutty apriorism).

3. Claims that the formal models of economics describe the way the world actually works involve opinion (but feel free to make an anti-realist argument involving the f-twist if you wish. There’s always room for philosophical debate).

What an odd comment. Formal logic isn’t about ‘opinions’ but it’s not science, it’s philosophy.

It seems to me that economists don’t avoid the opinion problem with all the formalism and math — they just displace it.

Of course the formal stuff isn’t a matter of opinion. The opinion enters with the claim that the models have anything to do with reality.