Recently, Xing Zong, a Chinese graduate student at Duke University and a
freelance writer for China.com, took an exclusive interview with Dean Edward
Snyder,* *University of Chicago Graduate School of Busines.
About University of Chicago Graduate School of Business The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, also known as Chicago GSB, or simply The GSB, is one of the world’s leading business schools and the second oldest in the United States. Its flagship campus is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois on the grounds of the university at large, while maintaining additional campuses in London, Singapore and Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. While recognized for the excellence of its graduate business programs in general, the GSB's reputation is particularly notable in the fields of finance, economics, quantitative marketing and accounting.
About Dr. Edward Snyder,
Edward Snyder is dean and the George Pratt Shultz Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He began his appointment as dean in July, 2001.
Snyder received his Ph.D. in economics in 1984 and his M.A. in public policy in 1978 from the University of Chicago. He was the John M. Olin Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Chicago's George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State from 1991-92.
Snyder began his professional career as an economist with the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In his sixteen year tenure at the University of Michigan Business School, Snyder was a faculty member and served as Senior Associate Dean. He also served as the inaugural director of the Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, which focuses on such emerging markets as India, China, and Central Europe. Before joining the GSB, Snyder was Dean and Charles C. Abbott Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School.
Snyder's research develops insights into business practices, specifically distribution and contracting practices, antitrust enforcement, and public policy. He is an editor for The Journal of Law and Economics.
Interview:
Z: Dean Snyder, thanks for taking my interview. Let’s first talk about the legendary economics department at Chicago, where you obtained your Ph.D. degree. In fact, the entire school of thought bears its name. Led by Nobel Prize laureates such as Milton Friedman, Ronald Coase, George Stigler, Gary Becker, Robert Lucas, James Heckman, and Robert Fogel, the economics department has played an important role in shaping ideas about the free market. So studying in Chicago economics was, in your own words “transformational”. Could you please describe the experience you gained from your Ph.D. study here? S: First, thank you for taking the time to get my views. I was fortunate to study economics during a truly special time period. The concentration of Nobel Laureate talent at Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s may never be duplicated again anywhere. In addition, the economists at Chicago were taking on big, controversial ideas. I recognized that I was witnessing and part of a revolution in thought. On a more personal level, I must say that it was a difficult experience because of the challenging nature of the program and high expectations that were set for graduate students. But that of course made the program more beneficial. In today’s language, I experience a huge amount of “value added” from the experience.
Z: Prof. Milton Friedman passed away last year. He is particularly well known in China. Friedman's advocacy of free markets was a minority view during the "big government", high taxation, high regulation, welfare state era before 1960s. However, he lived to see his laissez-faire ideas embraced by the mainstream, especially during the 1980s, a watershed decade for the acceptance of Friedman's ideas. I would like to draw a conclusion here, proposing a different theory not only requires insights, mind, vision, but also courage. Do you agree?
