THE ACADEMIC LIFE. Atlantic Blog disagrees with Ann Coulter's characterization of the workload of academicians. Atlantic Blog is correct about the joys of dealing with university administrators. Coulter is not completely off the mark. Take the whole quote: "Apart from being a college professor, there is no easier job in the universe than being a journalist. For 99.999 percent of writers, there is no heavy lifting, no physical danger, no honest day's work. Andrew Grossman has found a way to make it even easier. No research!" There is nothing honest about sitting around in committee meetings (which the REMFs seem to believe is the most important professorial function.) Years ago, John Panzar, who at the time was chairman of the economics department at Northwestern (located in interesting quarters -- one building, with the north entrance labeled Nathaniel Leverone Hall, leading to the economics department, and the south entrance labeled Arthur Andersen Hall, leading to the graduate school of business -- I wonder if there's a "naming opportunity" on offer for the south entrance.) But I digress. John Panzar had done some work on academic productivity, and he discovered that the modal number of refereed publications by economists with Ph.D.s was ... zero.