On the Alleged Exploitation of Adjuncts

George Leef

Just as low-wage workers in the fast food industry as supposedly exploited by their employers, so too are adjunct faculty members. They have sweated to earn advanced degrees and badly want to work in the academic world, yet college officials offer to pay them a pittance for teaching courses. That's unfair exploitation, right?

Not so fast argue Jason Brennan of Georgetown and Phillip Magness of George Mason, the authors of a new paper on that subject. I discuss their arguments in this week's Pope Center Clarion Call.

In short, "justice for adjuncts" would cost a huge amount that should, arguably be spent instead on other things; it would also create bad unintended consequences, just as all interference in the market does.

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