Back in the early 1980s, Stan Liebowitz and I did a series of studies ranking economics journals according to citation rates (that study appeared in the Jl of Econ Lit and is still being cited). We then used those data to rank economics departments according to total weighted citations, per-capita weighted citations, total weighted publications, and per-capita weighted publications. Depending on the metric used, the University of Western Ontario's economics department ranked somewhere between 15th and 30th in the world. It was an excellent department (that study appeared in the Quarterly Jl of Econ and Bus).
Provincial budget cuts, coupled with some poorly managed destructive in-fighting, led to serious deterioration of the department's prestige and ranking in the early 1990s. We struggled, but recently people here have been working to rebuild the department. Nevertheless, a recent ranking has our department at 64th in the world. That is big drop from our glory days [h/t to co-blogger, Gabriel].
And very likely things will get worse.
The financial folks here gambled with our rent money: they invested huge chunks of the university's operating revenues AND endowment funds in equities. They looked like geniuses when stock prices were rising, but who is suffering now? Not them. In fact, they blame the market, not their own injudicious investment strategies.
Instead, the admin types here are reneging even on re-negotiated agreements. As a result, our department is losing a very dynamic and energetic chair and will likely lose other very creative economists.
There is a report that some of the senior admins here think that even having a ranking of 64 is too high for a university whose overall ranking in the world is somewhere between 100 and 150. They think this department is too good and commands too many of the university's resources. They see that top new PhDs in economics draw big salaries at top schools, and so they want us to hire lesser people and fall in the rankings.
For this and other personal reasons, I will be happy to be out of here in a few years.