{"id":176357,"date":"2020-07-05T17:43:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T22:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2020\/07\/05\/today-in-wicked-bad-ideas\/"},"modified":"2020-07-05T17:43:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T22:43:00","slug":"today-in-wicked-bad-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2020\/07\/05\/today-in-wicked-bad-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Today in Wicked Bad Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"
Congress is looking to staple the National Science Foundation (NSF) to commercial interests<\/a>, because it is so blazingly obvious that the problem with science in the United States is clearly that there are not profit incentives, said no one ever:<\/div>\n

A bipartisan group of US senators and representatives has introduced legislation in Congress that would significantly change the operation of the National Science Foundation (NSF). Proponents of the bill say that the proposal aims \u201cto solidify the United States\u2019 leadership in scientific and technological innovation through increased investments in the discovery, creation, and commercialization of technology fields of the future\u201d. To do so, the so-called Endless Frontier Act would expand the NSF\u2019s remit, rename the organization and provide more than $100bn in support. The proposal has gained approval from many, but some have objected that it may undercut the NSF\u2019s main objective, which is to fund basic scientific research. <\/p>\n

Those behind the bill \u2013 four prominent US congresspeople \u2013 say that its introduction stems from the perception that international competitors, and particularly China, threaten to overtake the US technologically. \u201cTo win the 21st century, we need to invest in technologies of the future,\u201d says Ro Kahana, a Democratic congressperson from California. \u201cThat means increasing public funding into those sectors of our economy that will drive innovation and create new jobs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Chuck Schumer, a New Yorker who leads the Democratic minority in the Senate, says that the US \u201ccannot afford\u201d to continue to underinvest in science while still \u201clead[ing] the world\u201d in advanced research. That view is backed by Republican senator Todd Young of Indiana. \u201cBy virtue of being the first to emerge on the other side of this pandemic, the Chinese Communist Party is working hard to use the crisis to its advantage by extending influence over the global economy,\u201d he claims. The new act, adds Republican representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, who is the fourth member of the group introducing the legislation, \u201cis a down payment for future generations of American technological leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

Yet the proposal has drawn some criticism. Former NSF director Arden Bement told Science of his concern that the bill could indicate to Congress \u2013 which appropriates agencies\u2019 funds \u2013 that investments in the bill\u2019s innovative technologies override the importance of the NSF\u2019s core mission of funding fundamental, curiosity-driven research. But Bement\u2019s successor France C\u00f3rdova, who completed her six-year term as NSF director in March, argues that current-day science involves more seamless integration between fundamental and applied research.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gee, ya think?<\/p>\n

One of the causes of inequality in our society are the extensive and intrusive subsidies provided by the government to private industry,  things like this initiative, and the expansion of IP provisions.<\/p>\n

This is bad for science and bad for the economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Congress is looking to staple the National Science Foundation (NSF) to commercial interests, because it is so blazingly obvious that the problem with science in the United States is clearly that there are not profit incentives, said no one ever: A bipartisan group of US senators and representatives has introduced legislation in Congress that would …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[447,449,679,427,406,634],"class_list":["post-176357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-congress","tag-legislation","tag-research","tag-science","tag-stupid","tag-subsidies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176357"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176357\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}