Selected Readings
June 2010 - Educational Endowments and the Financial Crisis: Social Costs and Systemic Risks in the Shadow Banking System
Based on a close analysis of the experiences of six New England schools--BU, BC, Brandeis, Dartmouth, Harvard, and MIT--this study by the Center for Social Philanthropy at the Tellus Institute argues that the prevailing "endowment model of investing" is broken. The report provides a preliminary framework for evaluating the social costs and consequences of endowment declines to the local economies in which these school are situated, and documents how endowments have stoked systemic risks in the capital markets. (Download Report - PDF)