8/17/2019 Feb 4th Action Flyer

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feb-4th-action-flyer 1/2

A Student Perspective

Teaching introductory economics to K-16 students can be challenging. That is why Koch Industries has teamed up with Florida

State University to offer a Common Sense Economics (CSE) curriculum that is easy and fun for students to understand.

Students love excitement, and what could be more exciting than risking the lives of countless communities for profit? Under

“Readings Reflective of Common Sense,” the CSE curriculum features an essay entitled “Sacrificing lives for profits” [links to

each: ow.ly/XVvFM and ow.ly/XVwdJ respectively].

The charge that sways juries and offends public sensitivities [...] is that greedy corporations sacrifice

human lives to increase their profits. Is this charge true? Of course it is. But this isn’t a criticism of

corporations; rather it is a reflection of the proper functioning of a market economy.

Corporations routinely sacrifice the lives of some of their customers

to increase profits, and we are all better off because they do.That’s right, we are lucky to live in an economy that allows corporations to increase profits by

intentionally selling products less safe than could be produced. The desirability of sacrificing lives for

profits may not be as comforting as milk, cookies, and a bedtime story, but it follows directly from a

reality we cannot wish away.

The author, Dr. Dwight Lee, is a professor at Southern Methodist University and "scholar" for several Koch funded think tanks,

including the notorious climate change denying Heartland Institute. Dr. Lee presented CSE to high school instructors during

FSU’s 2009 Excellence in Economics Education event [pg 26, ow.ly/UggOV].

This program is part of a widely criticized agreement between the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) and FSU involving the

violation of many academic policies, faculty censorship, and a $105,000 bribe, that has allowed Koch to gain

unprecedented control over hiring and curriculum, CSE being just one example [ow.ly/UgkFI].

Who are your lecturers?

Are they connected to Koch? DANIEL WINCHESTER has ties to the Institute for Humane Studies.

TAWNI H. FERRARINI teaches CSE in Michigan.

JOAB COREY directly funded by Koch through the Excellence in Economics Education started with the

CKF gift and connected to George Mason University which receives the most money from Koch and

harbors the Mercatus Center.

8/17/2019 Feb 4th Action Flyer

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feb-4th-action-flyer 2/2

Questions Students Ask Their Professors

Quick Facts and Resources

A 2008 agreement between FSU and the Charles Koch Foundation (CKF) created the Program for the Study of

Political Economy and Free Enterprise (SPEFE) and the Program for Excellence in Economic Education (EEE).

SPEFE/EEE personnel are contractually bound by Koch’s ideological stipulations (section 1.a in the contracts

below), and Koch can revoke funding for lack of “compliance.” The agreement violates academic policy and donor

policy by granting undue influence to the Koch Foundation. The memorandum outlines conditions under which

CKF would fund, but maintain control of, faculty and instructor hiring, curricular and extracurricular programming

(including the Economics club), and graduate fellowships within the Department of Economics.

A recently discovered faculty report, which had previously been censored by university administration, observed

that “Koch funded non-tenure track faculty have been assigned to teach the service courses in Economics. Criticism

of this administrative move asserts that faculty oversight of these positions and content no longer rests with the

Economics department at large, but with the SPEFE Program. These courses teach approximately 7000 FSU

students/yr.” Dr. Joab Corey is among these instructors.

A massive new report by the Center for Public Integrity reveal new details of who Koch’s secretive donor network

(Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce) is using universities not just to produce pro-corporate research, but as a

training and recruiting grounds for their political work. Recent research has revealed the true intention of the Charles

Koch Foundation’s higher ed philanthropy, from top Koch officials themselves, VP of the Charles Koch Foundation,

Kevin Gentry, was recorded in a secret summit of donors describing how:

“The [Koch] network is fully integrated, so it’s not just work at the universities with the students, but it’s also

building state-based capabilities and election capabilities and integrating this talent pipeline,” he said.

“So you can see how this is useful to each other over time,” he continued. “No one else has this infrastructure. We’re

very excited about doing it.”

Investigative journalist Jane Maye’s new book Dark Money reveals the 3-step plan that the Koch network uses to

manufacture policy change. The “Structure of Social Change” was drafted by Koch executive Richard Fink.

Academia (step 1) serves as the basis for policies created at Koch-funded think tanks (step 2), policies which are

pushed by Koch-funded groups (step 3).

2008 contract [ow.ly/UghTf], 2013 contract [ow.ly/Ugiq0], UnKoch report [ow.ly/UgkFI], False FSU Claims

[ow.ly/Ugh89], SPEFE/EEE faculty (pg 26) [ow.ly/UggOV], Censored faculty report [ow.ly/ReRu5] Center for

Public Integrity [ bit.ly/cpi1030], Leaked Koch summit documents [ow.ly/Ue4rg]