Economics everywhere for Wharton prof

Micro. Macro. Trickle down.

No matter where Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel looks, he sees economics -- even when he looks out the window of his spacious 30th floor apartment in Society Hill.

"Over there is the First Bank of the United States, and the building with the green roof is the Second Bank," he explains. "It's fascinating to actually be able to see those buildings, especially for someone who specialized in monetary theory."

Siegel doesn't even bother to mention that if you look to the north, you can see the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia, but he no doubt knows where it is.

But it's not Siegel's knowledge of the lay of the land as much as his ability to translate that knowledge into something tangible that has earned him the praise and respect of almost all of his students. In fact, he is a Penn Course Review notable professor -- rated a 3.88 out of four by students.

Rave reviews are not the only notable thing about the man who teaches Honors Finance -- although he teaches at Wharton, he has only taken one business class in his entire life and has never even sat in on a finance course.

Still -- despite being self-taught -- when Siegel talks, Wall Street listens.

On March 10, 2000, the day of the NASDAQ's record-high close, Siegel appeared on the CNN program Moneyline and predicted that technology stocks were overvalued and would collapse. Since that date, the tech heavy index has dropped almost 75 percent.

Coincidence? His students sure don't think so.

"For the first 30 minutes of class, people pack in the back of room to hear his market commentaries," Wharton senior Jeremy Schwartz says.

Flash forward three years to the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. It's raining outside, but few if any of the students in Finance 101 care.

They are hanging on Siegel's every word as he delivers his daily dose of live market analysis -- complete with up-to-the-minute market numbers and Powerpoint, both sharing space on the lecture screen.

And students can even get more specific advice from Siegel when he opens up the 100-plus person lecture to questions.

"Professor Siegel, you said that 2 to 3 percent risk premium is appropriate for equities," one student says. "What about real estate?"

Siegel barely pauses before he has an answer -- "It depends how much you own and how diversified you are," he says. "If you are well diversified, a similar premium would apply."

"As I've gotten older, I pay more attention to the questions," he says later. "I find that it tells you what's on their mind."

Even more than answering questions in a massive lecture, the most unusual phenomenon in Siegel's class is the way he captivates the room, instantaneously reacting to the live feed that flashes across the screen and downing cup after cup of Coke -- one of his favorite drinks.

When Siegel wants to stress something, he leans forward, puts both elbows on his podium and lowers his voice. And the class reciprocates, leaning toward him. During these moments, the only sound you can hear is the quiet hum of Siegel's laptop.

Articulating his personal philosophy on teaching, Siegel drops his voice in the same way.

"One of the secrets to good teaching is that you have to enjoy being up there in front of the students," he says. "Students are very sensitive, and if they detect that you're not happy up there, it's not going to work."

"I don't require students to come to class. I mean, with me, I never would ever dream of that," he says. "If I cannot make it worthwhile for the student to come to class, then there's something wrong with me as a teacher."

According to his students, however, there's not.

"Professor Siegel's fire and passion for teaching is contagious," Schwartz says. "When we see how much he enjoys talking about the financial markets, we cannot help but share in his enthusiasm and excitement."

Siegel can take complex concepts and place them in understandable frameworks, bringing him much of his success.

His relatively simple explanations of financial issues certainly drew people to his book Stocks for the Long Run. And these same skills garnered him an invite to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee in early April.

Still, speaking to over 100 interested students who hang on your every word doesn't necessarily mean you get to know them, he says.

That's why Siegel holds five or six special sessions each semester with small groups of students to talk about his life and answer their questions in a setting where he can get to know them better.

"I really enjoy talking to them," Siegel says, "learning a little bit about what they're thinking."

During the informal chat he had with students two weeks ago, Siegel spoke with childlike enthusiasm and excitement, and the small group seemed happy to chat with him about a broad range of issues while he sat on a table at the front of the room swinging his legs.

When he talked about becoming a teacher, he didn't reference any particular professor or event that led to his decision.

"I think my love of teaching was really rooted deeply in me, right in high school," Siegel says. "I think it just is part of what I love to do. I love to be able to help people."

When asked about what he loves to do when he isn't working, Siegel mentions bridge and travel, but admits that "given my schedule, I don't have a lot of time."

He's not lying -- the day before, he had been in Washington, D.C., and the next morning, he will be en route to San Francisco to give a talk for 500 Morgan Stanley clients.

But, as Siegel sees it, work is pleasure and pleasure is work.

"I love my work," he says. "I love to think about these issues, try to relate them to the students -- it really excites me."

And the joy Siegel takes in teaching doesn't exist solely at Penn with his students -- it follows him wherever he goes.

"I travel a lot," he says, "and invariably I'll have someone come up to me and say, 'Dr. Siegel, you don't know me, but I had you as a student,' and thank me."

For their part, his students are more than welcome. Siegel's just happy to have taught them something that followed them off College Green and into the real world.

"I think that if I can give someone a framework, which they can use to think about the broad economic issues of our day, I'm more than satisfied."

About this series Each year, the Penn Course Review ranks Penn's top professors. And throughout this week, The Daily Pennsylvanian has decided to take a look behind the scenes at a handful of professors from all four undergraduate schools to determine what makes these noted men and women so perfect.

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