President Eisenhower famously warned about the military-industrial complex, but less famously also warned about federal involvement in academic research. But we paid no attention and today federal grants consume a vast and growing amount of money.
In today’s Martin Center article, Dr. Edward Archer argues that we’re being ripped off, big-time. He writes, “My experiences at four research universities and as a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research fellow taught me that the relentless pursuit of taxpayer funding has eliminated curiosity, basic competence, and scientific integrity in many fields.”
Government funding of research turns out to be just as bad an idea as government funding of higher education. Read the whole thing.