This post on the NY Times Economics blog has some other references on
the same sort of stuff:
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/economics-for-sale/


On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 2:51 PM, Nick Blomley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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> http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/billionaires-role-in-h
> ring-decisions-at-florida-state-university-raises/1168680
> Koch Brothers Buy Economics Department at Florida State University
>
> Billionaire's role in hiring decisions at Florida State
> University raises questions
>
> By Kris Hundley, Times staff writer
>
> St. Petersburg Times
>
> May 10, 2011
>
>
>
> A conservative billionaire who opposes government meddling in
> business has bought a rare commodity: the right to interfere
> in faculty hiring at a publicly funded university.
>
> A foundation bankrolled by Libertarian businessman Charles G.
> Koch has pledged $1.5 million for positions in Florida State
> University's economics department. In return, his
> representatives get to screen and sign off on any hires for a
> new program promoting "political economy and free
> enterprise."
>
> Traditionally, university donors have little official input
> into choosing the person who fills a chair they've funded.
> The power of university faculty and officials to choose
> professors without outside interference is considered a
> hallmark of academic freedom.
>
> Under the agreement with the Charles G. Koch Charitable
> Foundation, however, faculty only retain the illusion of
> control. The contract specifies that an advisory committee
> appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be
> considered. The foundation can also withdraw its funding if
> it's not happy with the faculty's choice or if the hires
> don't meet "objectives" set by Koch during annual
> evaluations.
>
> David W. Rasmussen, dean of the College of Social Sciences,
> defended the deal, initiated by an FSU graduate working for
> Koch. During the first round of hiring in 2009, Koch rejected
> nearly 60 percent of the faculty's suggestions but ultimately
> agreed on two candidates. Although the deal was signed in
> 2008 with little public controversy, the issue revived last
> week when two FSU professors - one retired, one active -
> criticized the contract in the Tallahassee Democrat as an
> affront to academic freedom.
>
> Rasmussen said hiring the two new assistant professors allows
> him to offer eight additional courses a year. "I'm sure some
> faculty will say this is not exactly consistent with their
> view of academic freedom,'' he said. "But it seems to me it
> would have been irresponsible not to do it."
>
> The Koch foundation, based in Arlington, Va., did not return
> a call seeking comment.
>
> Most universities, including the University of Florida, have
> policies that strictly limit donors' influence over the use
> of their gifts. Yale University once returned $20 million
> when the donor demanded veto power over appointments, saying
> such control was "unheard of."
>
> Jennifer Washburn, who has reviewed dozens of contracts
> between universities and donors, called the Koch agreement
> with FSU "truly shocking."
>
> Said Washburn, author of University Inc., a book on
> industry's ties to academia: "This is an egregious example of
> a public university being willing to sell itself for next to
> nothing."
>
> The foundation partnering with FSU is one of several non-
> profits funded by Charles Koch (pronounced "coke''), 75, and
> his brother David, 71. The aim: To advance their belief,
> through think tanks, political organizations and academia,
> that government taxes and regulations impinge on
> prosperity.
>
> The Koch philosophy is similar to that of Rick Scott, who, in
> one of his first acts as Florida's governor, froze all new
> state regulations on businesses, and has pushed for tax
> cuts.
>
> The Koch brothers own the second biggest private U.S.
> corporation, maker of such popular products as Brawny paper
> towels, Dixie cups and Stainmaster carpet. Koch Industries,
> which had $100 billion in sales last year, also owns
> thousands of miles of oil pipelines, refineries and Georgia-
> Pacific lumber. The Koch brothers are each worth $22
> billion.
>
> Charles, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries in Wichita,
> Kan., cofounded the Cato Institute, a policymaking group, in
> 1977. His brother serves on the board. David, who lives in
> Manhattan and is Koch Industries' executive vice president,
> in 2004 started the Americans for Prosperity Foundation which
> has worked closely with the tea party movement.
>
> The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, to which he has
> given as much as $80 million a year, has focused on
> "advancing social progress and well-being" through grants to
> about 150 universities. But in the past, most colleges,
> including Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers,
> received just a few thousand dollars.
>
> The big exception has been George Mason University, a public
> university in Virginia which has received more than $30
> million from Koch over the past 20 years. At George Mason,
> Koch's foundation has underwritten the Mercatus Center, whose
> faculty study "how institutions affect the freedom to
> prosper."
>
> When President George W. Bush identified 23 regulations he
> wanted to eliminate, 14 had been initially suggested by
> Mercatus scholars. In a New Yorker profile of the Koch
> brothers in August, Rob Stein, a Democratic strategist,
> called Mercatus "ground zero for deregulation policy in
> Washington."
>
> Now, rather than taking over entire academic departments,
> Koch is funding faculty who promote his agenda at
> universities where there are a variety of economic views. In
> addition to FSU, Koch has made similar arrangements at two
> other state schools, Clemson University in South Carolina and
> West Virginia University.
>
> Bruce Benson, chairman of FSU's economics department, said
> that of his staff of 30, six, including himself, would fall
> into Koch's free-market camp.
>
> "The Kochs find, as I do, that a lot of regulation is
> actually detrimental and they're convinced markets work
> relatively well when left alone," he said.
>
> Benson said his department had extensive discussion, but no
> vote, on the Koch agreement when it was signed in 2008.
>
> He said the Koch grant has improved his department and
> guaranteed a diversity of opinion that's beneficial to
> students.
>
> "Students will ultimately choose," he said. "If you believe
> strongly in something, you believe it can win the debate."
>
> Benson makes annual reports to Koch about the faculty's
> publications, speeches and classes, which have included the
> economics of corruption. He said FSU has promised to retain
> the professors in tenure-track positions hired under the Koch
> grant if the foundation ever feels they aren't complying with
> its objectives and withdraws support.
>
> "So far, they're fine with what's going on," Benson said.
> "But I agree with what they believe, whether they give us
> money or not."
>
> As originally drafted, the agreement called for the Koch
> foundation and FSU to raise up to $6.6 million for six
> faculty positions. That plan has been scaled back in the face
> of the recession, but FSU's dean dismissed suggestions that
> he signed the deal with Koch because of financial strain.
>
> "This would have been an opportunity to improve our economics
> department under any circumstances," Rasmussen said.
>
> In addition to funding two slots, Koch has also donated
> nearly $500,000 for graduate fellowships. So far only BB&T,
> the bank holding company, has joined the effort, with its
> foundation pledging $1.5 million over 10 years. The money is
> being used to hire an instructor who is not eligible for
> tenure; BB&T had no control over the hire, Rasmussen said.
>
> A separate grant from BB&T funds a course on ethics and
> economics in which Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is required
> reading. The novel, which depicts society's collapse in the
> wake of government encroachment on free enterprise, was
> recently made into a movie marketed to tea party members.
>
> "If somebody says, 'We're willing to help support your
> students and faculty by giving you money, but we'd like you
> to read this book,' that doesn't strike me as a big sin,"
> said Rasmussen of the BB&T arrangement, which the bank has
> with about 60 schools. "What is a big sin is saying that
> certain ideas cannot be discussed."
>
> Nor does he fear that the agreements with Koch and BB&T will
> prompt future donors to demand control over hiring or
> curriculum.
>
> Said Rasmussen, "I have no objections to people who want to
> help us fund excellence at our university. I'm happy to do
> it."
>
> Times researcher Shirl Kennedy contributed to this report.
> Kris Hundley can be reached at [log in to unmask] or (727)
> 892-2996.
>
> On the web
>
> To see the agreement between FSU and the Koch foundation, go
> to www.links.tampabay.com
>
>
>
> __._,_.___
>
>
> ................................................................................
> Nicholas Blomley
> Professor
> Department of Geography
> Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby
> BC V5A 1S6
> Canada
> [log in to unmask]
> 778 782 3713
> www.sfu.ca/~blomley
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