The Martin Center recently published an essay by Edward Archer in which he argued that, largely due to government interference, American scientific research is in decline.
Today, we publish a response from Richard Weinberg. He argues that Archer has overstated the case; while our funding system leads to some waste, fraud, and abuse, on the whole it has produced good results for us. Weinberg writes:
As a fellow researcher who has witnessed questionable funding decisions and has suffered occasional professional misfortunes arising from others’ errors or misjudgments, I can appreciate [Archer’s] outrage, but I believe that his essay is dangerously misleading in suggesting that increased governmental support for science has caused net damage to scientific research in the U.S.
We also publish a brief rejoinder from Archer, who contends that Weinberg has missed his point.
Anyone with a background in scientific research is invited to weigh in.