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British Government Slashes Scientific Research
asobala writes "The British Government has slashed the funding of scientific Research Councils by £68 million. The Research Councils most affected by this include the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, which has been hit by a £29 million reduction in funding, and the Medical Research Council, which is seeing a £10.7 million reduction in funding. The response of the BBSRC biological research council announces that the council will have to cut 20 new grants and reduce expenditure on new equipment."
...except it would be better if there was an equivalent tax slash, too.
The role of the government shouldn't be to fund every kind of research under the sun. All government organizations are inefficient, and jockey more for position and power than for results. If a government organization could obtain positive results, it would mean they couldn't ask for more money.
I'm a fan of getting the State out of science entirely -- let the market produce what the market has a demand for, not for pie-in-the-sky results that never seem to be worth the cost to taxpayers and the economy as a whole. While there are certainly cases where government research led to something positive for the average taxpayer, there are many more situations where that spending was negative for most, if not all.
I personally know so many college-educated Ph.Ds and all who are constantly trying to get grants so they don't have to go into the "real world" that it disgusts me. Some of the smartest graduates of my high-ranked high school fit this description, and it has gotten to the point that I don't even bother talking with them as all I'll hear is how the didn't get a certain grant or how they have to figure out a way to keep one for the next year or three.
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