Religion
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QJE: Investments in education continue to provide economic benefits two and half centuries later (Michael Simkovic)
A recent article in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (the leading journal in economics) finds evidence that early investments in education in the 1600s through mid 1700s continued to provide economic benefits in the form of persistently higher eduction levels and 10% higher wages and centuries later. The study examined the economic performance of communities…
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President Trump uses scuffle at Berkeley as pretext to pressure universities into promoting views he endorses (Michael Simkovic)
A recruiter for a far-right group that maintains a "Professor Watchlist" was recently punched in the face while using slogans about "hate crime hoaxes" to recruit (or perhaps to intentionally provoke an incident) at the University of California Berkeley. The FBI and Department of Education have both found that serious (at times deadly) hate crimes…
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Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on the “State of Intellectual Freedom in America” (Michael Simkovic)
I testified earlier today at the House Judiciary Committee on the "State of Intellectual Freedom in America." A copy of my written testimony can be seen here. My shorter oral remarks are available here. An excerpt appears below: "Disagreement between knowledgeable scientific experts and median political views often do not suggest political bias on the…
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When do donor influence and ideology undermine academic integrity? (Michael Simkovic)
Key takeaways Universities face serious threats to academic freedom from outside pressure groups Some Donors have made demands that can undermine university provision of unbiased, high-quality research Accommodating ethically questionable Donor demands can undermine public confidence not only in individual researchers, but in entire institutions and even in the broader academic enterprise Stronger, more secure,…
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Should the government raid university endowments? (Michael Simkovic)
Vanderbilt Tax Professor Herwig Schlunk wants the federal government to tax university endowments, preferably out of existence. He writes: “In the best of all possible worlds, the federal government could and probably should . . . confiscate[e] all private university endowments . . .” Toward that end, Schlunk recycles arguments that were discredited years ago.…
Giovanni Molteni Tagliabue (Italy) Rationalized and Extended Democracy – The REDemo Project. Foreword by Gilberto Corbellini. Firenze University Press 2023.…