Current Activities

Hudson Valley One covered my candidacy in the Town of Olive town supervisor race here. Although I lost to my able opponent, Jim Sofranko, I continue to work on important projects and to teach full-time.  There may be a series of law suits at CUNY concerning issues that I, as a named plaintiff, cannot publicly discuss.  As well, I am working on a large-scale research project with the Marnell brothers, Bob, Matt, and Mark.  

The Washington Post recently published Niall Ferguson's op-ed about the founding of Austin University, a university devoted to academic freedom. Professor Ferguson's op-ed spends a paragraph on my research on political affiliation of university professors.  Last February the Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted me on outdoor work, and in August WalletHub quoted me on CLUE reports. 

Earlier this year Studies in Higher Education, the education journal that is highest ranked by the Australian Business Deans Council, the journal ranking  most important to business schools globally, published Sean Stevens's and my piece "Partisan Registration of Faculty in Flagship Colleges." Langbert and Stevens's "Partisan Registration and Contributions in Flagship Colleges," published in 2020, is still available on the National Association of Scholars' blog.

I will continue to teach full-time for the next few years and continue to live in the Catskill Mountains near Phoenicia, Woodstock, Liberty, and Kingston. I am traveling to Curacao in the first half of January.  If you need to reach me, please use my home email address mlangbert@hvc.rr.com. No hate mail, please.  

My Candidacy for Town Supervisor of the Town of Olive

Update: I lost the election.  

My chief interests in running are (1) property rights, (2) freedom of choice, (3) respect for home rule and localism, (4) volunteerism coupled with traditional values. I currently teach at Brooklyn College, a division of the City University of New York. I have been a full-time Olive resident since 2009 and first bought my house here in 1997. I went to summer camp in the area from 1964 to 1971.

Having grown up in Astoria, Queens, I attended the Bronx High School of Science, SUNY Binghamton, and Sarah Lawrence College. I finished two MBAs, one from UCLA and another in insurance from what is now the St. Johns University School of Risk Management. I went on for a Ph.D. in industrial and labor relations at Columbia.

I worked for ten years in corporate America in the human resource and employee benefit departments of several Fortune-listed corporations, including Johnson and Johnson’s corporate office.

In 1991 I served on the staff of the New York State Assembly Ways and Means Committee, where I worked on NYS pensions and the Office of General Services budget.

Since ‘91 I have worked as a professor of business administration and industrial relations, teaching about 10,000 students at Brooklyn College, NYU, Iona, and other colleges. I have published in excess of 30 academic articles on HR, employee benefits, and faculty political affiliation.

Issues

Taxes

Taxes need to remain low so that families and retirees are not forced to move away.  

 Town Plan and Property Rights

The town plan should emphasize residents' rights to own and use their property as they desire. 

Local Control 

Town authority should be retained and not transferred to New York City, New York State, or to regional authorities. 

Airbnb's

The issue of Airbnb's is complex. Externalities need to be balanced with property rights. My rights extend to where I affect yours.

Many local businesses profit from the money that comes into the town from Airbnb's. These include Tetta's Market, Olive's country store, the gas stations, Boiceville Supermarket, Marty's Mercantile, and property maintenance business. Many times the way an Airbnb is maintained is actually much nicer than if the owner themselves maintained it for personal use only and actually helps the neighborhood look nicer.  

Most local Airbnb's are quiet 99% of the time. These are two- or three-bedroom places that small families use to get away from the noise and bustle. In a few cases there may be issues concerning noise and disturbances.

I suggest the principle of observability. If noise and failure to maintain septic systems are not felt by neighbors, they are private. To the extent that they are observable by neighbors, then the neighbors can file a complaint, and the town must impose a fine to penalize legitimate harm.

There are additional questions of balance. Congestion that blocks thoroughfares cannot be allowed, but parked cars that do not obstruct are not an issue.

There is no need for regulation or inspection. These should be replaced by penalties that are sufficient to deter observable violations. In other words, penalties should be high, but regulatory costs and regulatory interference in property rights should be minimal. Maximal monetary penalties should be imposed on out-of-town visitors who are indifferent to residents' privacy, property, and personal rights.

An emphasis on liability rather than inspection can balance behavior so that property rights are respected and retirees can profit from their real estate while other residents are not harmed.

 

  

Freda Bernstein Langbert, RIP

My wife of almost 24 years, Freda, died on January 26. My love for her will never die. The funeral will be today, Friday, January 31, at the Gromley Funeral Home in Phoenicia, NY.  Her obituary appears in the Kingston Daily Freeman. A number of local poets and one of her family members have expressed an interest in  collecting her poems and turning them into a book. I have begun putting them in touch with each other and planning the project.

There are stars whose light reaches the earth only after they themselves have disintegrated and are no more. And there are people whose scintillating memory lights the world after they have passed from it.  These lights--which shine in the darkest night--are those which illuminate for us the path.

--Hannah Senesh

Students Thank Me for Exceptional Teaching

The college has a formal evaluation system, and there are teacher-rating systems available online.  Often, however, I receive thank-yous from students who have benefited from my courses.  I received one last fall from a student who had taken my class six years earlier, and several years ago I received one from someone who had taken a my course at NYU thirteen years earlier.  Some of the letters I've received in the past year follow:

Dear Professor,

Thank you so much for your time to correct my essay, I have learned from your comments and the class.
--Student LZ

Dear Professor Langbert,

I would like to express my gratitude for being one of your students. Thank you for allowing me to learn from my mistakes.
--Student BA

Dear Professor Langbert:

That was fast, amazing class, I learnt A lot

Dear Professor Langbert:

Thanks for your very informative lessons, you know so much amazing, enjoyed your class very much. 

Have a great winter break.

P.S. I showed my husband a nice video of one of your presentations, he enjoyed your opinions, proud you can stand up strong about your opinions, even if others disagree. You are so calm cool & collected & brilliant.

--Student RH

Dear Professor Langbert: 

Also, thank you for such an amazing semester. My major is Business Admin: Leadership and Human Resource Management with a minor in Business Law. I think after this class, I may want to practice Employment Law. 

You class really made me realize this is the field I want to be in. Have a great holiday! Hopefully we cross paths again soon! 

--Student AB

Dear Professor Langbert:

Thank you for a great semester,
--BD

Good evening professor,

Thank you for being my professor and I really enjoyed the lessons that you taught this semester. The book for this extra credit was very helpful for me since i am a finance major, and the basis of this book practically touches upon everything i have learned in my other classes. Happy holidays and have a wonderful year.

--Student JP

Hi Professor Langbert,

Thank you very much! It was a pleasure learning from the best of the best!  Hope you have a wonderful and safe holidays
--Student AA

Dear Professor:

I wish I had paid sturdy attention in your class in 2012. I finally got finished reading Ragged Dick and realize how much I see myself in this character. An immensely inspiring underdog story!

On this Thanksgiving I want to say thank you for planting the seed for my development.

I don't if you remember me. I am a former student. You might recall I cried in your class in 2012. The truth is, I was going through a lot(Manic Depression and all the Jazz), and in retrospect- Your class was the single most important moment in all of my years at college. 

I remember like it was yesterday. You, critiquing all my work. The red ink all over papers. Talks of socialism, freedom, individualism, and self-esteem. During that time I didn't understand it all. I was young, and very naïve. I couldn't even read at a 12th grade level, but I tried my best. You gave me a C+ in that class, and in retrospect that was the most important grade I have ever had. 

The thing is, I have over the course of my years been torn between Capitalism vs Socialism, Individuality vs Collectivism, and having Freewill vs being guided through Determinism. I read, read, and read. I read many books, watched many lectures, and had many debates. It wasn't until I realize during all this debating that all this exploring I was doing and mass confusion was merely making me more aware. Yes, I said it. It was increasing my understanding of the world. Of the polarity which is associated with everything. 

I can't say I agree with you on everything. But I do want to formally thank you for "putting the battery in my back" as is often said.You are an amazing teacher, and at one point my arch enemy. I hated how you made me dislike Obamanomics, and found vested interest in Billionaire tycoons like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel.

Thanks for your inspiration!

Your former student,

--Student HF

Thank you for a great, informational semester Professor. Happy Holidays!  

--Student BC

Thanks for great course and happy holidays. 

--Student NS

College Kids' Hard Turn Left Means Trouble Ahead for America

On Nov. 2, 2019 the New York Post ran an editorial on the lopsided, often delusional,  political beliefs of today's college students, and the editorial discusses my research on faculty political affiliation.  Unfortunately, the Republican Party has sat on its hands for decades as the radicalization of education has unfolded.  I'm not sure that the damage that left-wing control of both K-12 and higher education has done can be undone.