The INDEPENDENT NEWSLETTER OF THE INDEPENDENT INSTITUTE VOLUME XIII, NUMBER 2 Public School New Book Questions Monopoly Assailed “Sustainability” Nation at Risk is the name of an often- n recent years, the term “sustainable devel- A cited federal report deploring the sad state Iopment” has been propounded by numerous of America’s public schools. In the two decades activists and thinkers who seek environmental since its release, politicians have tirelessly protection, government management of the pledged their “support” for education, but pub- economy, and “social justice.” In hope of achiev- lic-school performance has declined further. ing this vision, these proponents would impose a host of new laws and restrictions at all lev- els—local, national, and international. The proponents of sustainable development often claim scientific, economic, and philo- John Merrifield and Peter Bimelow address the Inde- pendent Policy Forum on the educational crisis. Why has real reform remained elusive? And what strategies have the best chance of giving children the quality education they need to thrive in a dynamic, information-based economy? Economist John Merrifield (U. of Texas at San Antonio; author, School Choices: True and False) and Peter Brimelow (author, The Worm in the Apple) addressed these questions at the Independent Policy Forum, Solving America’s Public School Crisis (Feb. 20). (continued on page 3) IN THIS ISSUE: sophical support for their agenda, but this is a Independent Policy Forum ...................... 1 pretense that masks a counterproductive hostil- A Poverty of Reason ................................... 1 ity toward genuine science, economic progress, President’s Letter ...................................... 2 the rule of law, and individual liberty, accord- Center on Peace & Liberty ...................... 3 ing to Oxford University economist Wilfred Independent Institute in the News .......... 4 Beckerman, in his new book from the Inde- The Independent Review ........................... 5 pendent Institute, A Poverty of Reason: Sus- Happy Birthday Independent Institute .. 7 tainable Development and Economic Growth. Summer Seminars for Students .............. 8 (continued on page 6) 2 The INDEPENDENT EXECUTIVE STAFF DAVID J. THEROUX, Founder and President MARY L. G. THEROUX, Vice President ALEXANDER TABARROK, Ph.D., Research Director BRUCE L. BENSON, Ph.D., Senior Fellow IVAN ELAND, Ph.D., Senior Fellow ROBERT HIGGS, Ph.D., Senior Fellow RICHARD K. VEDDER, Ph.D., Senior Fellow K. A. BARNES, Controller PENNY N. BURBANK, Publications Manager ROBERT B. CALVERT, Development Director CARL P. CLOSE, Academic Affairs Director JONAH STRAUS, Sales and Marketing Director VALERIE WALSTON, Public Affairs Director BOARD OF DIRECTORS ROBERT L. ERWIN, Chairman, Large Scale Biology Corporation JAMES D. FAIR, III, Chairman, Algonquin Petroleum Corp. JOHN S. FAY, President, Piney Woods Corporation President’s Letter: PETER A. HOWLEY, Chief Executive Officer, The connectME Center BRUCE JACOBS, President, Grede Foundries, Inc. WILLARD A. SPEAKMAN, III, President, Speakman Company DAVID J. THEROUX, President, The Independent Institute MARY L. G. THEROUX, former Chairman, Garvey International Liberty, Peace, PETER A. THIEL, Founder, PayPal, Inc. BOARD OF ADVISORS MARTIN C. ANDERSON Security and Truth Keith and Jan Hurlbut Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution HERMAN BELZ Professor of History, University of Maryland THOMAS BORCHERDING “Al Qaeda is on the run. That group of terror- Professor of Economics, Claremont Graduate School BOUDEWIJN BOUCKAERT ists who attacked our country is slowly but surely Professor of Law, University of Ghent, Belgium JAMES M. BUCHANAN Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, George Mason University being decimated. They’re not a problem any- ALLAN C. CARLSON President, Howard Center for Family, Religion, and Society more.”—President George W. Bush ROBERT D. COOTER Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley ROBERT W. CRANDALL In its recent report, the State Department Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution RICHARD A. EPSTEIN James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago has announced that the number of terrorist inci- A. ERNEST FITZGERALD Author, The High Priests of Waste and The Pentagonists dents and deaths around the world has dropped B. DELWORTH GARDNER Professor of Economics, Brigham Young University to a twenty-year low, despite 9/11. However, al GEORGE GILDER Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute NATHAN GLAZER Qaeda terror incidents have increased with U.S. Professor of Education and Sociology, Harvard University WILLIAM M. H. HAMMETT intervention in the Mideast. And in its new an- Former President, Manhattan Institute RONALD HAMOWY Emeritus Professor of History, University of Alberta, Canada nual report, Amnesty International notes that STEVE H. HANKE Professor of Applied Economics, Johns Hopkins University Washington’s war on terrorism has made us less RONALD MAX HARTWELL Emeritus Professor of History, Oxford University safe by giving governments an excuse to abuse JAMES J. HECKMAN Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, University of Chicago H. ROBERT HELLER individual rights in the name of “state security.” President, International Payments Institute WENDY KAMINER Meanwhile, the National Debt Ceiling has Contributing Editor, The Atlantic Monthly LAWRENCE A. KUDLOW Chief Executive Officer, Kudlow & Company just been raised to $7.3 trillion. The FY’04 bud- JOHN R. MacARTHUR Publisher, Harper’s Magazine get of the U.S. government has increased to $2.2 DEIRDRE N. McCLOSKEY Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago trillion, not including the costs of occupation/ J. HUSTON McCULLOCH Professor of Economics, Ohio State University FORREST McDONALD reconstruction in Iraq, with spending of $2.7 tril- Distinguished University Research Professor of History, University of Alabama THOMAS GALE MOORE lion on the military over the next six years, the Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution CHARLES MURRAY Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute largest increase in defense spending in a gen- WILLIAM A. NISKANEN Chairman, Cato Institute eration. As a result, under the Bush Adminis- MICHAEL NOVAK Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy, American Enterprise Institute tration the level of federal power has now in- JUNE E. O’NEILL Director, Center for the Study of Business and Government, Baruch College CHARLES E. PHELPS creased at twice the rate under Bill Clinton, for Provost and Professor of Political Science and Economics, University of Rochester PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS the largest increases since the days of Lyndon Chairman, Institute of Political Economy NATHAN ROSENBERG Fairleigh S. Dickinson, Jr. Professor of Economics, Stanford University Johnson’s Vietnam War and Great Society! SIMON ROTTENBERG Professor of Economics, University of Massachusetts Furthermore, the Department of Justice is PAUL H. RUBIN Professor of Economics and Law, Emory University seeking to expand police powers beyond the USA BRUCE M. RUSSETT Dean Acheson Professor of International Relations, Yale University PASCAL SALIN PATRIOT Act, which would give it discretion to Professor of Economics, University of Paris, France ARTHUR SELDON arrest even U.S. citizens without charge up to Founder-Director, Institute of Economic Affairs, London WILLIAM F. SHUGHART II Robert M. Hearin Chair and Professor of Economics, University of Mississippi and including stripping away their citizenship VERNON L. SMITH Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, George Mason University rights. And, the U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled JOEL H. SPRING Professor of Education, State University of New York, Old Westbury that the police may use coercive means to ex- RICHARD L. STROUP Professor of Economics, Montana State University THOMAS S. SZASZ tract information from anyone so long as the re- Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, State University of New York, Syracuse ROBERT D. TOLLISON sults “are not used in court.” Robert M. Hearin Chair and Professor of Economics, University of Mississippi ARNOLD S. TREBACH Professor of Criminal Justice, American University Spin, secrecy, deception, and misinforma- GORDON TULLOCK University Professor of Law and Economics, George Mason University tion remain the key means for these sorry GORE VIDAL Author, Burr, Lincoln, 1876, The Golden Age, and other books changes. In contrast, the Independent Institute’s RICHARD E. WAGNER Hobart R. Harris Professor of Economics, George Mason University SIR ALAN WALTERS events (p. 1), publications (pp. 1, 5), and media Vice Chairman, AIG Trading Corporation PAUL H. WEAVER programs (p. 4) are committed to uncovering Author, News and the Culture of Lying and The Suicidal Corporation WALTER E. WILLIAMS Distinguished Professor of Economics, George Mason University the truth. 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