Munger has clearly been very involved with this project. I'm not gonna try to wade into the windows vs not thing. I can see how there's a trade-off especially g

Munger has clearly been very involved with this project. I'm not gonna try to wade into the windows vs not thing. I can see how there's a trade-off especially given that having a single-person room is something of a luxury for college students. But I do want to question whether it's appropriate for philanthropists to be so involved in what they fund, or whether it should still be considered philanthropy at that point. Economists sometimes talk about the inefficiency of gift-giving. Compared with the amount expended, perhaps substantially less value will be captured by the receiver. This seems like the billionaire equivalent of giving someone a painting you did, if you're not especially renowned as an artist. If the UC system had received an equivalent amount of funding from another source would they have chosen to spend it all on this building? Or perhaps, would some have gone to scholarships, and some to more faculty, and some to a misguided new institute for whatever? Even if they had wanted to build a dorm, had Munger not been involved, would they have preferred to go in a very different direction? Munger gets to put his name on this thing, but it sounds like he also enjoys getting to play architect or designer but without having to compete on the merits of his skills in those fields. He gets to build a thing the way he wants, put his name on it, and put it on UC land. And if we're having a conversation about how in this specific instance it may be out of line with actual benefits to the future residents, then can we also talk about how it's maybe in general a bad idea to keep congratulating rich people for pushing their personal vanity/hobby projects onto the public and calling it benevolence? Meanwhile, Munger has been vocal in opposition to the idea of introducing a wealth tax, or a tax on corporate stock buybacks, and has suggested that the capital gains tax is too high rather than too low. To Munger, even at a public school, private entities should decide how much to spend and how to spend it.