University of Virginia's Hostility to Coase, Buchanan, et al.

George Leef

Here is an excerpt from Jim Powell's book The Triumph of Liberty:

Intellectual adversaries became hysterical. Some reportedly suggested these men might be fascists. Around 1961, Kermit Gordon, who headed the Ford Foundation's economics funding program, told University of Virginia President Edgar F. Shannon Jr., that continued Ford Foundation support for the economics department was jeopardized by the "Nineteenth century Ultra-Conservatism" of Buchanan, Tullock, Coase and Nutter. The economics department was secretly evaluated, and the ensuing report recommended (1) "Additions should be made to the staff of full professional members of different 'modern' outlook"; and (2) "Care should be taken in making or renewing non-tenure appointments, as well as those of higher rank, to avoid recruitment from the Chicago School." Accordingly, Shannon ordered a purge. Coase left for the University of Chicago. Three times the university refused to name Tullock a full professor, and after the third refusal, in 1967, he accepted a professorship at Rice University, Houston. The following year, Buchanan went to the University of California at Los Angeles. Nutter left to become Assistant Secretary of Defense for international affairs. Many of the students these men attracted went elsewhere. Thus did the University of Virginia force out two future Nobel Laureates and a lot more talent as well.

But never forget that liberals are deeply committed to free inquiry and exchange of ideas.

Image: Ronald Coase / AP

  • Share

Most Commented

September 6, 2024

1.

Professor Alleges "Widespread" Discriminatory Hiring Coverup at University of Washington

Audio acquired by the National Association of Scholars describes allegations of coverup race-based hiring coverup at the University of Washington...

October 29, 2024

2.

The Looming Irrelevance of Middle East Study Centers

Today’s Middle Eastern Studies Centers are facing a crisis due to the winds of change in the Middle East and their own ideological echo chamber....

September 25, 2024

3.

NAS Statement on University of Pennsylvania Sanction of Amy Wax

The National Association of Scholars is outraged—but not surprised—by Penn's decision to penalize Wax for exercising her academic freedom. ...

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

September 21, 2010

3.

Ask a Scholar: What Does YHWH Elohim Mean?

A reader asks, "If Elohim refers to multiple 'gods,' then Yhwh Elohim really means Lord of Gods...the one of many, right?" A Hebrew expert answers....