I'm proud to be a graduate of the Harvard Extension School. I got a wonderful liberal arts education, and it wasn't even that expensive. Unfortunately, when it comes to economics the Extension School is just as bad as the rest of Harvard: worse than useless.
For example, this fall you can take ECON E-1452: "Money, Banking and Financial Institutions." According to the syllabus, "this course is an analysis of money and its role in financial markets and the economy. It considers the impact banks and other financial institutions have made in the United States and internationally, as well as the events leading up to the financial crisis of 2008." The course textbook was written by Frederic S. Mishkin.
This is the same Frederic Mishkin who was apparently paid $124,000 to write a paper which stated that "it [is] unlikely that there are serious problems with safety and soundness in the [Icelandic] banking system," and though a financial meltdown might be possible, such "self-fulfilling prophecies are unlikely to occur when fundamentals are strong, as they are in Iceland."
The Icelandic banking system subsequently collapsed. Mishkin never disclosed in the report that he was paid to write it by the Icelandic Chamber of Commerce.
Apparently one Charles Ferguson is making a movie about the financial crisis, and he interviewed Mishkin on the subject:
(The CV has since been changed to include the correct title of the paper mentioned in the video.)
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