----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- It is my belief that almost all top graduate economics programs have eliminated their language requirement. They also don't have a math requirement; it is integrated into the core. As to whether this is good--obviously it is best to know many languages and many cultures, but by convention the language of economics is English, math, and statistics and if one wants to communicate with economists, one had better know their language, and that means English. Top U.S. schools recruit a majority of their students from abroad because they know the language of economics better than do U.S. students. I've argued that the international convention of English in business and academia is one of the last major comparative advantages that the U.S. has. If I am advising someone to prepare to become an economist, I advise them to take math and stats, not a foreign language. I advise them to take a foreign language for their own personal development. David Colander ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]