Research Universities Are Poised to Lose Billions Under Trump's Sudden Cut
chronicle.comThis seems short sighted. We as a society know that research, sometimes "obviously" useless research, is a necessity. We used to finance research through corporate taxes, leading to Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, IBM Research and others. We moved that effort to universities. We made our universities attractive to the best minds in the world, they are a jewel in the US' metaphorical crown.
Why throw that out? This is about the alleged liberalness of universities, isn't it?
I agree; this is incredibly short-sighted. And it has the potential to be catastrophic for scientific progress in the United States.
Scientific innovation happens because countries invest in basic and applied research. This research largely happens at research universities, hospitals, and national labs. If research universities can't afford to conduct research, the scientific innovation—along with the training of the next generation of scientists—all grinds to a halt.
It is difficult for most Americans to see immediate and direct benefits of basic R&D since it is typically a long term investment. As transparency of federal government activities improves, it might make sense for most Americans to oppose using their tax dollars to fund activities that they may not immediately benefit from or understand.
Perhaps this is something that could be outsourced to other countries much like manufacturing?