The Harvard Hedge Fund?

A blog post by Matthew Yglesias ’03 has sparked quite a lively debate about whether Harvard deserves its tax-exempt status. This is all a response to a bill being debated in the Massachusetts legislature to tax college endowments exceeding $1 billion.

Yglesias, a blogger for TheAtlantic.com, starts by quoting another blogger’s comparison of Harvard’s endowment to “a $40 billion tax-free hedge fund with a very large marketing and PR arm called Harvard University.” Comments from site visitors draw in a cornucopia of related issues: tuition, financial aid, admissions policies, the general role of elite universities in society.

You can even add your two cents if you scroll down to the bottom of the page.