I have often wondered what would happen if universities shut down everything
but the vital organs--engineering, nursing, etc. (How could the "essentials"
be determined? By asking "Would you have a job if you did not teach?") I
have a hard time believing that a Classics dept. would survive on the street
if the govt. did not give it a home. Are universities are a form of
non-circulating prestige goods? (Although I think that Columbia University
originally located in WA, DColumbia.) Dan
> Armchairs,
>
> Here's a question that puzzles me every now and then. People from all
walks
>
> of life tend to complain that their salaries are (injustly) low. Ok, why
> not
> complain, right?
>
> But when I think of professors, particularly university faculty and --if
you
>
> push me harder-- economics faculty, I just get wonder: Are they really
> being
> underpaid as they often complain?
>
> Who else other than "economists" to understand why their wages are
whatever
> they are? Yet I hardly have found an explanation despite the fact that
> economists like to "explain" every single fact of life they come about...
>
> So, are professors really underpaid? (if such statement makes any sense at
> all).
> What's beneath and beyond the popular saying: "life as an academic will
not
> make you rich, but it will be fun"?
> What's to the other usual saying: "if you are so smart... why aint you
rich?"
>
> What's beneath the general public opinion that "teachers are uderpaid"?
> What kind of people self select themselves to pursue academic careers?
