Friday, March 29, 2013

FGCU: Koch Brothers in the Sweet 16




Just because George Mason University didn't make it into March Madness this year, don't think the Koch Brothers aren't covered. A Kochoctopus tentacle has made it into the Sweet 16.

Think Progress reports:
It’s a great story: the virtually unknown, 15th seeded Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), has made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. But there’s something you might not know about FGCU: its economics department is, as a consequence of grants from Randian businessman John Allison and the Charles G. Koch Foundation[...]
According to Review.net:
 At Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, every student who majors in economics and finance gets a copy of Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged.[...]“I’d like to develop a center for free enterprise,” says Bradley Hobbs, the professor of economics who is spearheading the effort.
Naturally, because the Kochs have a tentacle in the operation, Hobbs mentions Hayek and not Rothbard or Mises:
 .“We also need diversity of thought,” says Hobbs, whose own early leftist views shifted “from Marx to Hayek” later in his career."

Hobbs said he has received funding of $600,000  from BB&T, which is the bank John Allison was CEO, before heading up Cato Shrugged. It's all beltarian money after that. Review.net reports:
So far, the support Hobbs has received hasn’t been local. “The support I get is out of D.C.,” he says.
Not surprising the work they are doing is technocratic and works to maintain the state, rather than principled  free market positions. Review.net informs that one FGCU economist wants to abolish the mortgage tax deduction:
 Dean Stansel, associate professor of economics, recently co-authored a paper for the Reason Foundation that concluded that the tax code’s mortgage-interest deduction is ineffective at promoting homeownership and distorts the allocation of capital in the economy because it favors taxpayers who itemize deductions. Eliminating the deduction would reduce excessive debt and lead to a healthier housing market in the future.

1 comment:

  1. It's interesting that this was written as a negative.

    Robert, could you please provide a list of the institutions that you have helped fund? I would be curious to know which institutions now teach Rothbard and Mises as a result of your generous contributions.

    ReplyDelete