Global Warming research grants

Below is an article suggesting that the Federal Reserve has corrupted the economics profession. While I don’t disagree, I think the academic profession has been even more damaging. There are two primary forces that have caused the profession to lose their independence. First is the grant process where money flows to research that is acceptable to the grant provider — the Federal government. Thus research is skewed to produce support for an expanding government role in the economy. (It is similar to the Global Warming research grants.) Second, the government (or the Fed) provide status, prestige and higher living standards to academics who are fortunate enough to land “plum” jobs. Anyone looking for such a position will not be critical of Keynesian economics, the theory that enables politicians to spend and gain power. As President Eisenhower so aptly warned in his farewell address:

“The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded.”