It is not so much about “how much money we spend per student” but “on what” we spend money per student for. If we spend money on universities ‘closed’ to the outside world of business and society, this is money down the drain. If instead money is spent on incubators, innovators or, in general, universities aiming to create a better, more efficient, and technologically more advanced economy and society, this spending is then the best investment a country can opt for. Universities often complain about under-funding. Before they do so, however, they should convincingly explain to society what they are going to do with the money, and who are their peers who will eventually assess their toils. Otherwise, money given to universities is money put into a bottomless barrel, proliferating incompetence and backwardness. Contrarily to the university of the 1940s, today the value of research is measured by society's willingness to underwrite it. (OECD: spending on education). HH
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