Groupthink: Marching to a Single Drumbeat
Why do the professors in a discipline think so much alike? Dan Klein and Charlotta Stern offer some answers.
Author Profile
George Leef
George Leef is director of external relations for the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Carroll College (Waukesha, WI) and a juris doctor from Duke University School of Law. He was a vice president of the John Locke Foundation until 2003.Prior to joining the Locke Foundation, Leef was president of Patrick Henry Associates, a consulting firm in Michigan dedicated to assisting others in advocating free markets, minimal government, private property, and individual rights. Previously, Leef was on the faculty of Northwood University in Midland, Michigan, where he taught courses in economics, business law, and logic. He has also worked as a policy adviser in the Michigan Senate.
A regular columnist for Forbes.com, Leef was book review editor of The Freeman, published by the Foundation for Economic Education, from 1996 to 2012. He has published numerous articles in The Freeman, Reason, The Free Market, Cato Journal, The Detroit News, Independent Review, and Regulation. He writes regularly for the National Review's The Corner blog and for SeethruEdu.com.
Articles by George Leef
A New Law of Averages at Princeton
The Ivy League school’s reintroduction of tough grading standards could change the campus culture for the better.
“Endowment Transparency”
No, students do not have a right to know how Duke invests its funds.
How Student Aid Chases Its Own Tail
A new paper argues that government student aid actually raises the costs of education for taxpayers and some students.
It All Depends On What Academic Freedom Is
A new Pope Center paper sheds light on a hotly debated topic.
Adrift in the Slow Lane of Learning
A new paper by Mark Bauerlein confirms the unspoken agreement: professors teach little, and students learn less.
Only Rubber-Stamps and Jellyfish Need Apply
Dartmouth’s high-handed dismissal of Todd Zywicki from the Board of Trustees constitutes an abuse of authority worthy of the old Soviet Politburo.
I Pledge Allegiance, To the Diversity…
Virginia Tech has proposed guidelines mandating attitudes toward diversity that stifle academic freedom.
Minority Students and Research Universities:
There is nothing to be gained and quite a bit to be lost if we follow preferential policies that deliberately trump merit with group classifications.
Cheating is So Much Easier
For-profit “essay mills” cater to lazy and dishonest students.