One of the stronger arguments for public support of universities is that the creation of new knowledge improves the quality of our lives. In the early 1950s, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, Jonas Salk, discovered a vaccine that within a few years essentially ended a ghastly disease that maimed large numbers — polio. The quality of our lives has been importantly improved because of similar advances originating in university offices and laboratories.

But a lot of academic research has been far less beneficial, arguably even harmful. Partly this reflects the recently revealed epidemic of fraudulent “research” published by journals to advance the careers of scholars. Not all reported “discoveries” are genuine. But beyond that, there is a lot of published work considered of great importance that in the long run has been shown to have caused more harm than good. And nowhere is that more apparent than in my own field of economics. (RELATED: Lies Abound In Higher Education. Now They’ve Lost Our Respect.)
A revolution in economic thinking began in earnest in the 1930s. John Maynard Keynes posited a new theory that suggested collective action could dramatically reduce the menace of high unemployment and economic downturns. The stimulation of “aggregate demand,” for example, could lower unemployment. Simultaneously, a new generation of young university economists were using mathematical techniques and statistical methods to add a more “scientific” gloss to a profession going back to Adam Smith (1776), if not the ancient Greeks.
Three economic problems have received much attention. First, how do we maintain “full” employment, eliminating large numbers of people without jobs? Second, how can we let our economy grow at a high rate over time, advancing the material welfare of the population? Third, how can we maintain roughly stable prices so the ravages of inflation do not destroy the wages and savings of workers and investors, or others on fixed incomes, and also d...