Ed Dodson responding... John Samples wrote: > > ... complainers evaluate > themselves according to their (self ascribed) "merit". Labor markets, on the > other hand, evaluate them according to their value to others. Which > evaluation should we trust? Someone who is the judge in their own case or an > institution that assimilates the judgments of many individuals who have > practical concerns in mind? Labor market policies should be based on value, > not merit. Ed Dodson here: There is the theoretical competitive market and there is reality. Virtually every society is built on a system of law that secures and protects "rent-seeking" claims on the goods and services produced by others. Societies differ only by the extent to which such laws subsidize quasi-monopolistic enterprise. The quite natural response by people who provide their labor is to organize -- to form unions or professional associations and establish stringent licensing and other rules to restrict supply. Your example of tenured professors is one in which the original reason for establishing tenure (freedom of academic expression) seems to have had the oppositive effect; namely, the creation of academic orthodoxy, while intensifying competition at the margin for the smaller and smaller number of tenure-track positions that become available thru attrition.
begin:vcard n:Dodson;Edward tel;fax:215-575-1718 tel;home:856-428-3472 tel;work:215-575-1819 x-mozilla-html:TRUE org:Fannie Mae;Housing and Community Development, Northeast Regional Office (NERO) version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] title:Senior Affordable Housing Business Manager note:If you need to reach me during non-business hours, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] adr;quoted-printable:;;1900 Market Street=0D=0ASuite 800;Philadelphia;PA;19103;U.S.A. fn:Edward J. Dodson end:vcard
