Thanks for this; in particular, for illustrating how many opportunities there will be for schools to avoid the tax (albeit at the unproductive cost of more legal and accounting fees). And of course the real motivation for this legislation is to punish the liberal elite institutions that Trump and his crowd hate (or disingenuously profess to, given that many went there (e.g., JD Vance, Josh Hawley)). But how do you respond to this critique (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/08/harvard-tax-higher-education-letters/) that many university endowments are essentially hedge funds that generate much more return (incl. capital gains) than they pay out in scholarships? It's helpful that Harvard can afford to stand up to Trump, but do they really need $53 billion?
Thanks for this; in particular, for illustrating how many opportunities there will be for schools to avoid the tax (albeit at the unproductive cost of more legal and accounting fees). And of course the real motivation for this legislation is to punish the liberal elite institutions that Trump and his crowd hate (or disingenuously profess to, given that many went there (e.g., JD Vance, Josh Hawley)). But how do you respond to this critique (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/06/08/harvard-tax-higher-education-letters/) that many university endowments are essentially hedge funds that generate much more return (incl. capital gains) than they pay out in scholarships? It's helpful that Harvard can afford to stand up to Trump, but do they really need $53 billion?
Excellent piece. Thanks.