Who knows what they’ll get up to?
This aspect of philanthropy is rarely mentioned in the public feting of wealthy benefactors. On the contrary, the role of philanthropy in funding universities — as well as hospitals, museums, art galleries, concert halls and opera houses — is typically advanced as one of the reasons we shouldn’t be concerned by the rise of billionaires. After all, we’re told, our public institutions need money, following the cutbacks of the 1990s.
Of course, the problem is circular. If governments hadn’t cut tax levels so deeply — particularly for those at the upper end — there would be sufficient revenue to sustain our public institutions, as there was in the early postwar years.
The public also has an inflated sense of how much financing wealthy donors actually provide through philanthropy. For instance, there was much celebration in April 2010 when it was announced that a new $35 million donation from Peter Munk would enable the University of Toronto to establish a school of global studies. The new Munk School of Global Affairs (incorporating the existing Munk Centre for International Studies) is to be housed in a century-old stone building on fashionable Bloor Street West, and feature an elevated pixel board flashing the latest world news headlines.