"The suggestion that universities might be more efficient than private corporations at anything is almost comic."
It's not a priori implausible to me. Why shouldn't there be things universities do better than corporations? They're different entities with different structures; it makes perfect sense that they'd have different strengths and weaknesses.
Universities are to organizations as cockroaches are to organisms. They're ridiculously inefficient and bureaucratic; but they're also the only form of organization likely to be around in 10,000 years.
That is an absurd and useless analogy. You're essentially just declaring your opinion without anything to support it, which does nothing to further the conversation.
Universities are bureaucratic, yes. in the same time you can encounter "academic" people there, who are genuinely interested in doing research, even for crappy money. That what they are, that's their nature.
In corporations it's more often some a*holes working towards promotions/power not giving a shit about "advancement" or greater good for humanity/society.
All IMHO of course, but based on personal experience in both areas.
It's not a priori implausible to me. Why shouldn't there be things universities do better than corporations? They're different entities with different structures; it makes perfect sense that they'd have different strengths and weaknesses.