(Editor’s note: Vivek Wadhwa, a former tech entrepreneur in the Triangle turned academic and author, is a frequent contributor to WRAL Tech Wire.)

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Buttonwood Gathering 2013, New York City.

My really fun debate with Nobel laureate Robert J. Shller.

For decades, the best and brightest minds from American business schools were attracted to Wall Street by the promise of high pay and prestige. But at least since the financial crisis, high-tech companies have become an increasingly appealing destination, and today, when Silicon Valley competes head-to-head for top talent with a financial services firm, it’s often winning. In this spirited debate, two heavyweight thinkers argue over the respective merits of these two diverse career paths. Can Wall Street regain its preeminence and if so how? Does it need to-and can it-sell itself as a place where Millennials can both makes lots of money–and have a positive impact on society? Or will tech firms continue to win the war for the most creative and quantitative minds?

Robert J. Shiller, Sterling Professor of Economics, Yale University

Vivek Wadhwa, Vice president of innovation and research, Singularity University

Here is an article I wrote for Washington Post about this debate: Google — not Goldman Sachs — deserves our best minds.

You can follow me on Twitter and read more of my articles on my website: www.wadhwa.com.

(C) Vivek Wadhwa