… and five minutes later, is sent home. You get the sense that maybe his feelings are a little hurt: the only thing the lawyers knew about him was his being a Harvard economics professor. What’s wrong with that? [%comments]
So Greg Mankiw Walks Into a Jury Box …
TAGS: Greg Mankiw, jury
and 
. You can also watch it on 
My experience with lawyers selecting juries is:
1) they want people who can be manipulated
2) highly educated people need not apply
I wonder if the only thing the lawyers really knew about Mankiw is that he is an economics professor at Harvard. I don’t see that as to being such a threat as the fact that he has blog which he updates daily (and I read almost religoiusly) that has over 10.5 Million hits.
It amazes me why he is surprised he is sent home. Anytime there are monetary damages on the line plantiff does not want anyone with a concept of money or worth on the jury. They want somebody that reacts emotionally to money. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the juror won’t be replaced with another economist or someone that is good with math/money, but it makes sense as to why the plantiffs lawyer would challenge. I was kicked off a jury for the very same reason.
The only thing he told them was that he was a Harvard economics professor. But if my lawyers weren’t up to using Google to find out Greg’s published opinions on lawsuits, I’d be suing them for malpractice next…
I had the same opinion as doug expressed, and was surprised when I (with my Ph.D. in physics) was not bumped out. I sat for eight days
I think Mr. Mankiw is mistaken in assuming it is his degree that got him excluded. Unless his jury duty form was vastly different from mine, they knew a lot more than he suggests in his blog (and especially more than the “only thing” mentioned in this blog. I think it is far more likely it was related to his age (in relation to the plaintiff or defendant), his race, or known liberal/conservative leanings of the town where he lives.
They probably felt someone who works as a Harvard professor would be more sympathetic to the doctors.
I was on a jury for a medical malpractice case in MA. I don’t know why he’s complaining about getting out of it. They’re as boring to listen to as lectures on economics theory… oh wait…
Don’t we have a system entitling one to a jury of your peers? For half of the population, a jury trial by peers = a trial by people with below-average intelligence! (I presume that a Harvard economics professor probably does not have below-average intelligence.)
Our whole justice system is foolish. Who believes that we should have a defense and prosecution fight it out because surely the winner must be the right side? Only the lawyers win in our system.
The post indicates that the lawyers had both his name and occupation.
Considering that lawyers have spent plenty of time in higher education, it seems plausible that one of them probably took an undergrad econ class that used one of Mankiw’s textbooks. One of them may even be a regular reader of his blog. If I had been the lawyer, once I saw the job title and the guy’s face, I would have been able to put 2 and 2 together quite easily, and would have instantly known the guy’s positions on a variety of economic and political questions.