New Book: Let Colleges Fail—Proven Economic Principles Can Solve Today’s Problems in Higher Education

Oakland, Calif.—The concept of “creative destruction” was introduced by economist Joseph Schumpeter to describe the natural process by which competitive markets dismantle established practices, thus making way for innovation. That process needs to occur in American higher education—but is blocked by regulations and subsidies from government and short-sighted donors.

In his new book Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education, Richard K. Vedder (Senior Fellow, Independent Institute), lays out the painful but salutary pathway for restoring robust higher learning in America.

Why do we subsidize universities through taxpayer-provided grants and private donor gifts when the institutions are so obviously failing America’s youth? The history behind such subsidies is complicated. But the way to fix higher education is as time-tested as the study of economics itself.

“It’s sink or swim. And in the face of necessity, most businesses—or at least, those worth their salt—learn, however painfully, to swim,” says Vedder, who has taught college-level economics for six decades.

Vedder offers solutions to weak, woke, and feckless universities including what they can and must learn from the profit-driven private sector. Big government needs to get out of the student loan business yesterday, says Vedder.  The eye-stretching price tag for tuition just adds insult to injury.

Daring in its analysis and, practical in its problem-solving, Let Colleges Fail is indispensable reading for those who want America’s colleges to thrive once again.

Author Biography: Richard K. Vedder is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Economics at Ohio University; and he is the Founding Director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington, D.C. He is the author of the book Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America.(Independent Institute, 2019)

For more information, contact Robert Ade, [email protected], or (510) 635-3690.

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