Author: Scott Drylie

Scott Drylie is an assistant professor of economics, cost analysis, and acquisition management at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Dayton, Ohio. He regularly writes on Adam Smith and seeks to bring the history of thought into contemporary discourse. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.

It’s Time to Call Out the Fops in Academia (Again)

In 1753, English writer Samuel Richardson has his main character proclaim, “Women must not encourage Fops and Fools. They must encourage Men of Sense only.” While “fool” belongs to most English speakers’ lexicon today, “fop” likely does not.  According to Google Ngram (below), “fop” has seen about a 95% decline in relative usage since its […]

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