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by haberman 3892 days ago
> and the oracle is exactly correct, then under this model, The Economist assigns every college a score of 0.

If what you are saying is true, then I agree that the ratings are nonsensical. But I don't think you are correct. Their methodology consists of comparing two numbers:

1. the observed earnings

2. the estimated earnings if the same students had studied elsewhere (presumably some average)

So if we had your oracle, the numbers 1 and 2 would be different for the two colleges, not the same.