CHARLES WHEELAN '88

ECONOMICS

FAVORITE BOOK TO TEACH:

Inequality in America: What Role for Human Capital Policies? by James J. Heckman and Alan B. Krueger

MUST-READ BOOK IN YOUR FIELD:

The Economist, the magazine

FAVORITE PLEASURE READ:

The Razor's Edge, by W. Somerset Maugham

CURRENTLY READING:

Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East, by Martin Indyk

Inequality is an in-depth look at an important public policy issue. The authors come to the conclusion that education-and preschool education in particular-plays a crucial role in determining life success. That's a pretty intuitive finding, but the authors substantiate that view with a lot of interesting empirical data. The result is a book that is both highly relevant and academically rigorous. I also enjoy teaching the book because both Heckman and Krueger were professors of mine in graduate school, so I feel there is some kind of continuity from my former professors to my current students. I always invite my Dartmouth students to my home once during the term for dinner because Krueger did the same when I was in his class, and I like to be able to pass that tradition along.

The Razor's Edge is about a guy who forgoes a conventional career in finance to travel the world seeking enlightenment. I first read the book in high school and it was one of the things that motivated me to travel around the world after I graduated from Dartmouth. I read the book again 20 years later when I was taking my children around the world, and it still spoke to me. There are pressures at any stage in life to do the conventional thing. I think it's always healthy to challenge those choices, or at least reflect on them.