Wow–the hostility to Duke is amazing!! I guess being a non-native with no ties to any of the government schools or historic rivalries I don’t get it. Of course Duke and all other private schools get government money–including Hillsdale and Grove City, it?s really all relative, which is why I referred to private schools as “less coercive institutions.” I agree, there probably is no such thing as a truly private college–that is a shame. And I too would likee to see all government funding of private colleges end, for the same reasons that I oppose vouchers for k-12 education. (For some reason most conservatives have a problem with the former but think the latter will bring us education nirvana.) On the other hand, as a tax payer I would be much better off if the state universities privatized to the same extent as Duke, Wake Forest, Campbell, Davidson, etc. than if those colleges gave up all of their government funding.
My response to Chad is that Walmart has gained its leverage with suppliers because it first gained a large market share by satisfying customers in a free market setting. They had to win this share without their customer’s shopping bill being subsidized by coercion. How this is analagous to government schools whose customers probably wouldn’t go there if it weren’t for the education welfare they receive is beyond me.
