Phi Beta Cons

English Professor Understands the Austrian Malinvestment Theory

In this week’s Pope Center Clarion Call, Troy Camplin discusses his rather unsatisfactory experience as a Ph.D. who can only obtain adjunct teaching positions. He sees his situation (staying at home with his young children because day-care costs more than he’d make by teaching an array of classes) as evidence for the Austrian school’s explanation that government actions can distort people’s decision-making and lead them into costly mistakes — such as taking out lots of governmentally backed student loans to get degrees that don’t pay off.


There are plenty of interesting revelations in this piece, including that Camplin was once told, “Now, we aren’t saying you should dumb down your course . . .” when that was just what the administrators wanted him to do.

George Leef is the director of editorial content at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is the author of The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale: A Political Fable for Our Time.
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