A Higher Class of Failure?

The Rich are Different From You and I- It was Ernest Heminway who swiftly replied to this assertion - “Yes, they have more money”. Ah, yes, but are they more intelligent?

There’s an interesting angle on the appearance of top bankers before the Treasury Select Committee on Friday in today’s Telegraph. Andy Hornby, former chief executive of HBOS was- predictably perhaps- asked what qualifications he had in banking. Hornby had to reply that he had none; although he was able to say that he had an MBA from Harvard and had specialised in all the finance courses. Not sure if that’s exactly the sort of ringing endorsement the Harvard Business School will be keen to publicise, but there it is. So the question arises - does the education system (consider the UK and the US as essentially the same) really select the best and the brightest?

The commentators have not been slow to hurl rotten tomatoes at the bankers; yes, abuse is much easier than sociological analysis. If you’ve read about meritocracy in your AS course you’ll be aware of the theory that the education system simply picks out the most able and puts them where their talents can be used for the benefit of the wider society.

But can this really be true? You don’t have to be a member of the feral media to wonder if this is a truly convincing argument. As Jonathan Russell of The Telegraph points out, fees for the two-year MBA course at Harvard cost around $150,000. Even with that there are some 8,600 applications for 900 places. But surely there are many others with the potential to complete this prestigious course successfully, yet who lack the funds to pay their way? Discuss.

And don’t be too hard on the MBA’s who failed in the real world - hell, anyone can make a mistake!