F.A.Q. about Jim Hartley

Q:  Having a F.A.Q. on your Web Page about yourself is really rather lame, isn't it?
A:  Yes.  Incidentally, the lameness of the idea probably explains why only 3,999 people have even looked at this page.

Q:  Have you read all those books in your office?
A:  No.  I read halfway through Toni Morrison's Beloved, and decided the novel was far too inane to force myself to finish.  I have kept it in my office, however; for what reason, I am not quite sure.

Q:  Why do you wear shorts in the middle of winter?
A:  I wear shorts in the middle of summer, too.

Q:  Who are the guys in those pictures over your desk?
A:  Martin Luther, H. L. Mencken, and Herbert Hoover

Q:  Do you really love economics or is that just an act?
A:  All right thinking people love economics, and I try to emulate right thinking people in this respect.

Q:  Do you read economics books at the beach?
A:  [While this isn't actually a frequently asked question, it is a question I was actually asked.]  To the best of my recollection, I have never read an economics book at the beach.  I did read Buckley and Bozell's McCarthy and His Enemies at the beach in Mendicino, CA, however.  Does that count?

Q:  Why do you pace so much during lectures?
A:  I have no idea.  It's not a conscious thing.  [However, for the insatiably curious, Jacques Barzun provides an explanation of things like this is his excellent book, Teacher in America.]

Q:  Why did you take a job at Mount Holyoke?
A:  Well, they hired me.  I suppose the real question is why did Mount Holyoke hire me, and to that, I cannot give an answer.

Q: Do you have any advice on how I can get a job after I graduate?
A: Are you kidding?  I don't have a clue how to get a job.  I never held a real job in my life.  In fact my total inability to get a real job was the driving force behind my decision to go to graduate school.

Q: Do you know of any great summer internships (or jobs) for which I can apply?
A: My most prestigious summer job was delivering pizzas for a pizza place in Santa Clara, California, which is by now surely out of business if our models of competition driving out inferior producers have any relevance to the real world.  So, my advice is to apply at Dominos; I think they pay pretty well.

Q: What is your favorite song or artist?
A: While I generally don't play the "What is your favorite X?" game, I do feel duty- bound to offer up answers to real questions asked by real people.  So, in the song department, I'd go with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; in the artist depratment, Bach is the hands-down winner; in the modern department, Led Zeppelin (with the Rolling Stones a close second).

Q: If you had the chance to go to only one other country before you died, which country would it be? And why?
A: If death was imminent, I wouldn't go to another country; I don't like travel all that much.  However, if I had to go, I would go to Bulgaria.  Why?  Well, I have already been to India, so Bulgaria is the obvious choice.

Q:  This is the dullest F.A.Q. I have ever read.  Why did you write it up?
A:  I was bored one day.  Fixing up my Web Page resembles something productive, and I am not very good at being unproductive (for a discussion of this phenomenon, by the way, see Buchanan, Ethics and Economic Progress).  The more interesting question is: why did you read it?  Answers can be submitted to me.

Q: I am going to pretend I am interested in this. Where can I learn more?

A: http://www.jimhartley.blogspot.com

Q:  Well, can't you do something to improve it?
A:  Sure.  Send me a question.