"I Work in a Legally Protected Guild...

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"in which I receive high wages, short working hours, long vacations, and lifetime protection from being fired, but workers in private industry should just shut up and face the harsh facts of life."

Who am I?

Comments

  1. Silas Barta5:14 PM

    I don't understand: how are economics professors a legally protected guild?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bob Murphy8:45 PM

    What do you mean by "legally protected guild"?

    ReplyDelete
  3. gcallah8:57 PM

    Look at the tie-ins between accreditation, federal loans, and federal research money.

    I can go out tomorrow and say I am openeing a "university," but I won't be able to get a penny of federal research money or my students a penny in federal student loan money until the "guild" of existing accredited universities allows me in, and they won't do that unless the vast majority of my faculty have gone through a guild apprenticeship (aka "PhD program").

    Maybe "legally privileged" would be a bit more accurate here, but a "privilege" is a form of "protection," isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gabe Ruth9:00 AM

    "Once men sang together round a table in chorus. Now one man sings alone, for the absurd reason that he can sing better. If scientific civilization goes on (which is most improbable) only one man will laugh, because he can laugh better than the rest." -Chesterton

    Goes to show things can always get worse. Now only one country makes anything for the absurd reason that they can do it more cheaply.

    ReplyDelete

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