Harbus

Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: News

Four EC students have embarked on a unique field study, launching a student blog under the name of the "Economic Policy Review." The blog (www.econblog.org) focuses on American economic policy issues and seeks to provide non-partisan, balanced commentary on pressing economic issues facing the U.S. economy. Since going live in September, the blog has tackled topics like domestic energy policy, trade policy, campaign finance laws and
global competitiveness.

Kyle Sable (OA) led efforts to create the blog and serves as its editorial chair. He says the inspiration for the blog stemmed from a desire to extend conversations that started in his BGIE section last year. "When you see the disjunction between sound economic principles and the policies that are often enacted, you want to do something to help close that gap. This is a chance for us to use our HBS educations to impact the world immediately." With that as his goal, he convinced Prof. Richard Vietor to serve as faculty sponsor for the blog and proceeded to recruit section mates Eric Hart (OA) and Drew Thomas (OA) as well as fellow University of Michigan and Bain Capital alum Manu Diwakar (OG) to round out the editorial board.

While each member of the editorial board takes responsibility for overseeing a different economic policy area, every proposed post is thoroughly vetted during the board's weekly meeting at the Grille. According to board member Manu Diwakar the discussions are often contentious but always end up finding consensus, "As students and future leaders, it is important to understand how the choices we make today impact the future of our country. Talking about these issues in an open forum, free of partisan debates is an important way to understand that gravity of these issues while maintaining intellectual honesty." Drew Thomas credits his time at HBS for making this possible, "I've become more open to listening to opposing ideas, and better at evaluating those ideas based on their strengths and weaknesses."

While the editorial board has provided the bulk of the blog's postings so far, guest bloggers will be increasingly featured in the coming weeks and months. The blog's creators ultimately hope to transition management of the site to a group of next year's ECs. "The goal is to build a vibrant, diverse forum that continues long after we have left HBS," says board member Eric Hart. "We welcome submissions both from within the HBS community and beyond."

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