IMPRUDENCE OR IMPROVEMENT

With the announcement that a Council of Economics Concentrators has been organized, the question arises, "What is the function of such a Council?" Naturally, it is the more eager concentrators who form such a body, and it somehow works out that the more eager are the more radical. There is thus danger that the Council may gather together a fervid little knot of propagandists, eager for the Call, and bent on missionary work among the economic heathens. Any insistence on generally unaccepted doctrines would be bound to alienate great numbers of potentially valuable followers, and would end in futility. The harder but wiser course is for the Council to set out on a broad program of stimulating interest and carrying on impartial discussion among all economic sects and creeds. There is an opportunity for real service among the economic-minded, but it can't be performed by revival meetings. Holy-rolling has gone out of fashion.

Economics has long needed to have its discussion brought down to the level of daily life. A Council of Economics Concentrators might fulfill this need by bringing to Harvard men who are in touch with actual banking, relief, insurance, and so forth. Round table discussions on these topics would prove fruitful not only by presenting a great deal of information, but by stimulating interest as well. The Council could advise students on courses in the Department of Economics. The Lowell House Committee of students concentrating in the field, with monthly or biweekly dinners and meetings, is a precedent for the Council to keep in mind.

If the group follows some such lines as these, and keeps itself in close connection with the faculty, there is ample opportunity for unbiased and at the same time interesting activity. It remains to be seen whether the Council of Economics Concentrators will run amuck with foaming mouth, or see its genuine opportunities and make the most of them.