That Ain't Chicken Feed

The cash-strapped State of Massachusetts proposes to tax the wealth of its educational institutions.

Massachusetts legislators, demonstrating a growing resentment against the wealth of elite universities in tight economic times, are studying a plan to levy a 2.5% annual tax on the portion of college endowments that exceed $1 billion.

The effort takes aim at one of the primary economic engines of the state, which is home to nine universities with endowments that surpass the $1 billion level, led by Harvard University's $35 billion cache, the nation's largest. [snip]

Supporters said the proposal would raise $1.4 billion a year. Based on the most recent size of Harvard's endowment, the university would have to shell out more than $840 million annually.

Elite universities have no one but themselves to blame. Too many academics preach a philosophy that extreme private wealth is evil and that it should be transferred to a government that will re-distribute it in the name of societal justice. At $840 million per year even Harvard will feel pain. As someone once said, the chickens have come home to roost. © 2008 Stephen Yuen