Prof. David Cleeton

Prof. David Cleeton (Ph.D., Washington University at St. Louis) is Professor of Economics at Illinois State University. He is coauthor (with Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie) of the textbook Financial Economics. He previously taught at Oberlin College, Christopher Newport University, and Ohio State University.



Everything involves trade-offs. What are the trade-offs of letting older economics textbooks go out of print and publishing newer ones?

A textbook is to college academics as the catechism is to Christian religion. The analogy is that both are instructive methods to summarize and contextualize the principles of the discipline or religion in question. However, the world is dynamic and evolving so the relevancy for practice must be updated to incorporate contemporary concerns and issues. Obviously, the Catholic Church is ponderous in its response while academics are innovative and entrepreneurial. There may also be important differences related to where you would place academics and church authorities along the organizational spectrum from competition to monopoly.
 
What course that is not normally required for an undergraduate economics major do you think all students should take before they finish their degree?

That is a tough question because the answer might be more efficiently crafted to reflect the interests, abilities, and career plans of a given economics student. For those interested in pursuing graduate studies in economics or a related field they should familiarize themselves with the basic tools used in crafting formal economic models. That means taking a course in mathematical economics, which itself may have some important prerequisites. For the student interested in a more broadly based liberal education I would suggest an economic history or history of economic thought course. Personally, I hedged my bet and took both.