6 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The ‘Knowledge Class' Needs a Reality Check
Jukka Savolainen's op-ed 'The Alienated 'Knowledge Class' Could Turn Violent' (May 22) reminded me of the scene in 'Blazing Saddles' when Gene Wilder advises Cleavon Little not to confront Mongo. 'Don't do that,' he says. 'If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad.'
As I see it, American universities are getting their just deserts. To say that the Trump administration should take its foot off the gas in its showdown against Harvard and its peers means these universities wouldn't receive the free-market discipline they badly need. Advanced-degree holders in political science or philosophy aren't filling a market need. This signal would normally lead fewer students to pursue these fields. This doesn't happen because taxpayers subsidize this inefficient employment pipeline through guaranteed student loans, tax-free endowments and government grants.
