How effective are the MacArthur “Geniue Awards” that give recipients $500,000 to use as they see fit? “An examination of the program reveals that most of the 31 writers chosen since 1981 as MacArthur Fellows had already hit their artistic peak. Surveying book reviews, author profiles and the opinions of literary scholars, Crain’s determined that 88% of the MacArthur recipients wrote their greatest works before being recognized by the Chicago-based foundation. The sheer number of books produced by the writers declined, too, after their MacArthur awards.”