Suspicions In The Ec Dept.

Whoever Data Resources Inc. is, and whatever it does, it seems to have stirred up some controversy in the Economics Department.

Prompted by complaints raised by John Kenneth Galbraith, Warburg Professor of Economics, the Department set up an investigative committee to check the effects of business connections between Faculty members and corporations.

The committee reported to James S. Duesenberry, chairman of the Department, that business ties do not impose a conservative bias on Faculty members and do not interfere with teaching time or hiring decisions.

One corporation that seems to have a grip on the Department is Data Resources Inc., a consulting firm founded and directed by Otto Eckstein, professor of Economics.

Partly because of Galbraith's complaints and partly because of the University's new rule limiting consulting to one day a week, Eckstein will go on half time status here next year.

Eckstein explained that his commitment to Data Resources seems to have mushroomed and that he could not now abandon his ties to the firm.

He denied that his connection with Data Resources interferes with his administrative decisions or his teaching abilities.