Thanks, Harvard. But We’ll Take What’s Ours.
Harvard is worried because people increasingly don’t seem to like capitalism. But elite universities and billionaires are part of the problem, not the solution.
Bill Gates speaks at Harvard’s 2007 commencement. Darren McCollester/Getty Images
Harvard is worried about capitalism. Not, mind you, because it’s struggling financially. Harvard gets a 10 percent return on its endowment every year. No, Harvard is worried because people increasingly don’t seem to like capitalism.
Last week Nitin Nohria, the dean of Harvard Business School (HBS), shared his concerns with the Harvard Crimson. In the interview Nohria cited “erosion of faith in capitalism” and “underlying distrust in the United States’ economic framework” as a major concern for HBS.
Widespread dissatisfaction with capitalism is no secret. An oft-cited Gallup poll shows less than half of people aged 18 to 29 had a positive view of capitalism in 2018. A recent Rand study entitled “Truth Decay” reports “widespread uncertainty and anxiety” throughout the United States. The fact that Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist, is currently the Democratic Party’s frontrunner for the 2020 presidential election would also seem to confirm growing anticapitalist sentiment.
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