Economics degrees
Name game
经济学学位
名称痕戏
Luring students with
a new label
新瓶旧酒吸引学生
ECONOMISTS do not much like their discipline
being dubbed(配音；授予称号) the dismal(忧郁的；阴沉的，沉闷的)
science. Some American universities are paying more attention to the noun than
to the adjective. The reason is not philosophical, but pragmatic. Foreign STEM graduates (the acronym stands for science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) can get visa extensions for three years of practical training (ie,
work). Those from other disciplines are allowed only a year.
经济学家不太喜欢人们将他们的学科唤作“沉闷的科学”。一些美国大学现在把意力更多地放在这个名称的名词而非形容词上。其中原因并非哲学上的，而是实用性的。STEM专业〈科学、技术、工程和数学的这些专业的缩写）的留学生毕业后签证可延长三年以参加实践训练（即工作）， 其他专业的学生只有一年。
Two more years working in America means
more earnings. It also means a better chance of finding an employer willing to
sponsor an application for an H-1B visa, the main starting-point
for skilled foreign workers who hope to settle permanently. In 2012 the Department of Homeland Security expanded the list of
STEM courses. Now any reasonably crunchy economics
degree can count as STEM with a tweak(扭向) to its
federal classification code, from economics (45.0601) to econometrics and
quantitative economics (45-0603).
可以在美国多工作两年意 昧着更多的收入，也意昧着更有机会找到愿意资助自己申请H-1B签证的雇主--这种签证是希望在美永久居留的外国技术型工人的主要起点。2012年，美国国土安全局扩展了STEM专业的清单。现在，任何用到正常程度的数学和统计方法的经济学学位都可以算作专业，只要稍微改动一下联邦的学科分类代码，从经济学改成计量经济学和数量经济学就可以了。
Economics departments appear to be catching
on. Yale and Columbia have both changed the code for their
economics major in the past few months; five of the eight Ivy League Universities have now done so. Students at
Pennsylvania and Cornell are agitating for
a switch.
经济专业院系貌似也都行动了起来。过去几个月里，耶鲁大学和哥伦比亚大学都改 变了其经济学专业的代码；八所常春藤盟校中有五所都已经做了更改。宾夕法尼亚大学和康奈尔大学的学生正在焦急地期盼他们的学校做出同样的改变。
Universities are doubtless acting in
response to increased demand for H-1B visas. Just
65,000 are awarded by lottery each year to holders of bachelor’s
degrees. Their chance of success has been at best 30% in recent years. In 2011
the 65,000 visa cap was hit only in November. In 2017 it was hit on April 7th,
within a week of applications opening. Whether students are being taught
economics or econometrics, they are getting a fine worked example in regulatory
arbitrage.
大学这样做无疑是面对H-1B签证需求增长的一种对策。每年获得学士学位的毕业生只能通过抽签争夺6.5万个签证，近年来他们被抽中的概率顶多30%。2011年时6.5万个签证到11月才发放完毕，而去年到4月7曰也就是申请开放才一周就已满额。无论学生们学的经济学还是计量经济学，他们都 到了一个很好的监管套利的范例。