My reply is exactly what another commenter wrote: >The discussion isn't about university research money and whether that is spent productively, it's about endo

My reply is exactly what another commenter wrote: >The discussion isn't about university research money and whether that is spent productively, it's about endowments, which are nothing more than investment funds. >The question is whether it is productive to maintain large investment funds unrelated to their stated goals of education and research. >I think the OP would be happier if those endowments were drawn down on research with uncertain benefits rather than just invested in natural resource extraction companies. I am in favor of big research budgets, if real and valuable research is being done. I know there are a lot of uncertainties there and that there isn't always a direct 1-to-1 correlation between spending and benefit for the economy/humanity. That is still positive sum. But it's something different. I'm referring to zero sum hoarding, not research funds.