Category: investing in science and engineering

Russian Science….

It is well known what happened to the excellent Russian scientific enterprise in the immediate aftermath of the Soviet Union’s demise in 1991. Brain Drain is a simple phrase which encapsulates the effects of cutting off sustained and predictable investment in scientific research. For a summary of how Russian science is slowly moving beyond what was surely a national scientific catastrophe, read here. For the perspective from the Chronicle of Higher Education, look here.

In the meantime, that famous downward trajectory is surely a cautionary tale for those of us here in the States, who have witnessed a slow atrophying public support for science.

Quite separately, but reflecting a similar decay in public understanding of how science investments are made to pay off practically, the recent shutdown cost American research dearly…..experiments that are interrupted are often irreparably lost.

Thomas Friedman gets it exactly right

Tom Friedman nails it in his op-ed piece in today’s NY Times. His comparison of Hong Kong’s modern airport to JFK mirrors my own experience last week leaving Munich and arriving at Dulles with its antique mobile lounges and confused immigration lines.

But his most important point is about how the the rescue package for the US economy gets spent:

That’s why we don’t just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which we’re borrowing from our kids’ future, is spent wisely. 

It has to go into training teachers, educating scientists and engineers, paying for research and building the most productivity-enhancing infrastructure — without building white elephants. Generally, I’d like to see fewer government dollars shoveled out and more creative tax incentives to stimulate the private sector to catalyze new industries and new markets. If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us.

Jim