World economics rankings

Selections from the new QS World Rankings of Economics Departments:

• 1. Harvard
• 2. MIT
• ...
• 37. Auckland (implausibly high)
• Tied equal in rankings 51-100, and listed in alphabetical order:
  • Boston University
  • Cal Tech
  • ...
  • University of Canterbury (probably about right)
  • ...
  • University of Minnesota
  • ...
• Tied equal in 101-150 (among others): University of Otago; Victoria University at Wellington; University of Waikato; Massey University

Ok, more honestly, there's no way that the NZ universities deserve to rank quite this well. Canterbury probably punches above weight in relative rankings because, in reputational surveys, Canterbury just has a good-sounding name: evocative of long English traditions, maybe it's really part of Oxbridge for all that the American survey respondents know.

But let's ignore the caveats and boldly assert that the University of Canterbury's economics department is tied equal with Boston University, the University of Minnesota, Cal Tech and other illustrious institutions. And, more importantly, we're better than Otago.