Go ahead, care less about Harvard, I dare you

Remind me why we're so obsessed with the Ivy Leagues? [Bloomberg]( yearur This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a Build-Your-Own-Cannoli Bar of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Harvard’s]( not the only school. - Japan’s new year has been all [too]( [cruel](. - Uncle Sam got a much [larger pool](. - Macron needs more [soft power]( to rule. Harvard Is Giving Me a Headache An Ivy League degree is kinda like a [Birkin bag](: You can’t get one online or walk into an Hermès store and ask the sales associate if you can buy one. You must have a purchase history with the brand. And there’s [no guarantee]( which style or color you’ll get. Once you have that bag on your arm, however, everything changes. (I say this not from experience, but from [that one episode]( of Sex and the City.) You will be offered a glass of sparkling water at the car dealership. Maitre D’s will try to squeeze you in at the [hottest restaurant]( in town. You’ll get invitations to exclusive galas at Casa Cipriani, where live swans pour you cocktails from their beaks. The Birkin conveys a powerful signal: Not only are you smart; you are an investor — a true savant. If you think it’s ridiculous that something as frivolous as a $25,000 handbag could open so many doors, consider admission to Harvard. It’s really no different, except four years of tuition costs about eight Birkin bags, a portion of which pays for the [Build-Your-Own-Cannoli]( Bar. As you know by now, Harvard’s [president resigned]( on Tuesday. But I’m not here to talk about Claudine Gay, or the merits of DEI programs, or [Christopher Rufo’s op-ed]( about Bill Ackman’s Big Squeeze. If you’re interested in reading about that, I highly recommend Beth Kowitt’s exceptional [column]( explaining that the war against diversity, equity and inclusion programs isn’t going to stop with academia. Instead, I want to focus on one question: Why are we so [obsessed]( (in hatred or in love) with Harvard in the first place? Allison Schrager [says]( it’s all about signaling, one of the most [powerful ideas in economics](. The purpose of college isn’t so much to give young minds the tools they need for success in life (or maybe just in newsletters). Better to think of a degree as social currency; a passport to getting employed at one of those places that gives you an embroidered fleece vest on your first day. If you are a recent grad, prospective employers can be confident that you will be smart, productive and collegial — or so the logic goes. And if you’ve got an Ivy at the top of your resume? Well, whoop-de-do: You either possess rare brilliance or have a parent that just so happens to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. “The signal was always imperfect, but in the last few decades it became both more valuable and less accurate,” Allison writes. Competition to get into these elite schools has intensified and the unrelenting pressure to succeed can have unhealthy consequences — ahem, crippling [anxiety and/or depression]( — for students. “Intoxicated by the idea that they were shaping the elite of America,” Allison says, the nation’s elite schools “increasingly saw themselves not as educational institutions but as organizers of a vast social project.” The only path forward is to make America’s elite schools less important, she argues. In other words: We should care less about Harvard. Which, dare I say, seems like an [easy enough]( thing to do? Parents and prospective applicants should be more concerned with finding a school that provides students real value instead of the most “prestigious” degree. A good education — regardless of what school you attend — is a more valuable luxury item than even a Birkin. Bonus Education Reading: Who broke the news about Claudine Gay? The [Harvard Crimson](. Here’s why student journalists [deserve a bigger seat]( at the table. — Amanda Little Japan’s Series of Unfortunate Events An earthquake, a dramatic plane [accident]( … how many more unpleasant surprises can Japan take? It’s only the fourth day of January, but Japan has already had what feels like a year’s worth of news. First, there was a magnitude 7.6 earthquake strike on New Year’s Day. Authorities announced the most serious tsunami alert in more than a decade, which has since been lifted. “In many ways, the story of this disaster is one of what didn’t happen,” Gearoid Reidy [says](. “Despite the record-level shaking, most buildings held up, with much of the damage so far coming in older dwellings, or those hit by fire or landslides.” But the drama didn’t end there. On Tuesday evening, a Japan Airlines flight landing in Tokyo struck a much smaller plane on the ground, killing the five Japanese Coast Guard crew members aboard. “As soon as the two aircraft touched, flight and cabin crews were racing against the clock. The jet was already in flames before the pilots could bring flight JL516 to a halt,” Tim Culpan [writes](. “Such an accident should never have happened. Preliminary information indicates the Dash 8 may have also been on the runway, likely in preparation for takeoff en route to provide supplies to northwest Japan,” the disaster zone of the aforementioned earthquake. Luckily, all 379 passengers escaped, but the accident highlights one of the biggest outstanding risks in aviation, Tim says: runway collisions. What other shocks might strike the Land of the Rising Sun in 2024? Although financial turmoil is a less visceral form of “surprise,” Gearoid says Japan’s stock boom could fizzle if there’s a yen reversal. “Japan remains [misunderstood](, and if past performance is anything to go by, it won’t take much for foreign funds to get cold feet,” he writes. That said, there’s plenty of room for optimism. 2023 was an excellent year for Japan, both in terms of [soft power]( and [economic power](. Let’s just hope there are no more surprises lurking around the corner; Japan has had its fair share of those for the year. Telltale Charts An “extended shelf” sounds like a little corner cabinet you’d DIY in your bathroom over a long weekend. It does *not* sound like a chunk of sea floor about the size of Texas plus New Mexico. And yet that’s exactly what it is: “Just as the US was winding down for the holidays last month, [Washington] gifted itself an early stocking stuffer: [About 380,000 square miles]( of seabed,” otherwise known as the country’s extended continental shelf, Liam Denning [writes]( (free read). Now, I didn’t realize you can just pay for the rights to the ocean’s basement like it’s part of the Adopt a Highway program, but Liam says “interest in such rights has sharpened as demand for critical minerals for both clean energy and defense applications rises.” If officials can demonstrate certain geographical features extend the shelf further than their country’s exclusive economic zone (which normally extends 200 nautical miles from the coast), then they have the green light to buy it. But Liam warns that “it is a significant, and troubling, portent for the Arctic and the wider world that the US has staked its own claim now.” Just after Brexit, speculation was that Paris would become continental Europe’s financial, tech and research hub. Seven years later, Lionel Laurent [says](, “talk of ‘peak Paris’ can be heard around the foie gras as higher interest rates bite and the economic outlook sours.” Although France’s track record has been solid so far, President Emmanuel Macron has a long way to go before he can claim victory. “The most obvious thing Paris has to get right this year is the Olympics,” Lionel writes. But even if the Summer Games are successful, businesses still have to deal with plenty of red tape. “In the financial sector, banking and hedge fund expats accept that Paris has been lucky so far in pulling in money and talent from London and keeping Frankfurt at bay,” Lionel writes, but the honeymoon could soon fade if returns remain elusive. Three Free Reads Trump took $7.8 million in [foreign cash]( while he was in office. He’d do it again. — Tim O’Brien Nobody wants Trump to become [a martyr](. Keep him on the ballot and let voters decide. — Nia-Malika Henderson The US needs to confront [the new “Axis of Evil”]( by preventing it from forming.— Andreas Kluth Further Reading The Federal Reserve continues to keep Americans in the dark about [the problems]( at our banks. — Bill Dudley UK retailers got [a Christmas bonus]( after better-than-expected holiday sales. — Andrea Felsted As Ron DeSantis’ campaign flames out, he’s [blaming everyone]( — including Trump — but himself. — Mary Ellen Klas Houthi rebels now represent [a greater danger]( to the economy than Hezbollah or Hamas. — Bobby Ghosh Quick action is needed to stop the [fake police calls]( that are putting political figures in harm’s way. — Dave Lee Rate cuts will boost [parts of the economy]( that have been in recession for nearly two years. — Conor Sen Some of the biggest [open-source AI projects]( aren’t so free after all. — Parmy Olson Taxing water is [an effective tool]( that’s not receiving nearly enough thought. — Mark Gongloff ICYMI The Iowa high school [shooting](. The [outcomes]( of January 6. The [names]( linked to Jeffrey Epstein. The [vultures]( circling Paramount. The [plagiarism scandal]( of Bill Ackman’s wife. Kickers Don’t go to [the bathroom]( at Dunkin’. Even [the flowers]( are having less sex. Would you buy a house if [a murder]( took place there? Wild horses are [being hit]( by cars way too often. This 13-year-old might be [the first]( person to beat Tetris. Jeremy Allen White did an [underwear ad](. Will [newsletter ads]( be next? Notes: Please send [Pop-Tart scandals]( and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. 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