US Knowledge Inc vs Donald Trump

Higher education in the US is under threat from White House. And since the threat isn't guided by a particular political ideology - such as, say, anti-communism - liberal universities in the US have a shot at taking on Donald Trump in court. A legal fight over academic independence is going to be expensive. It makes sense for institutions to consider collective action to defend who they can teach and hire, and what knowledge they consider worth imparting. Fortunately for US universities, they have hedged their bets between business and government, which allows them some leeway over autonomy. But they are not created equal across a wide field of private and public funding. They need a common shield against the administration's threats of funding cuts, revocation of tax exemptions and denial of research funding.

The US has a higher-education system that works. It equips the economy with class-leading skills. The market for education in America is competitive, drawing in the best talent from across the globe. The quality, and volume, of its research are extraordinary, rendering the US an unassailable comparative advantage over the rest of the world. Such a system needs to develop immunity to intervention that could undermine decades of market dominance. Trump needs American universities to Make America Great Again. In case he missed the point, its universities conferred the US its special place in world affairs. Wrecking academia is the last thing the US needs, never mind the number of low-skill jobs Trump forces American or, for that matter, Chinese companies to create stateside.

It would be interesting to see how a tactic like collective action plays out in an education system that celebrates capitalism. In a way, US universities are defending both democracy and capitalism, which between them provide the best defence to academic autonomy. Knowledge is, after all, a central assumption for efficient markets and states.