A Review of David Colander's <i>The Making of an Economist, Redux</i>

David Colander's update/reworking of his 1987 volume draws conclusions about graduate study in economics from interviews with students in selected leading U.S. programs. Although not formally statistical, the interviews support the conclusion that most of the core of graduate instruction (except macro) is handled very well. Colander's concern about the lack of attention to training teachers is well founded. His conclusion that fewer idiots savants are being trained than in the 1980s is overly optimistic, and his worry about stresses that graduate students express is misplaced.