The other major issue in higher education that I am concerned about is the financing research in science and engineering. If you go back 50 years, you will see that there was established after the Second World War kind of a social contract between the federal government and research universities where the government provided the resources to conduct the research, and the university provided the infrastructure and the labor force. What has been happening over the last 25 years is that social contract is beginning to erode. The percentage of total research dollars that the federal government now provides to the universities is declining as a percentage. And at some point the universities are gonna have to cry uncle and simply say that we cannot afford to fill in the gap that is left by the decline in federal dollars. And if you believe as I do that the economic vitality of the United States over the last half-century is directly related to the degree in which this country invested in research and development, then a decline in research is really not a good prognosis of the future health of the United States.
Recorded on: 8/7/07
Discuss
Craig Murray on January 16, 2008, 9:57 PM
That research has been "privatized" by the fed. There is plenty of research, but unfortunatley it's driven by profit-seeking corporations.
While I agree that the fed should start funding research again, I disagree with the idea that R&D expendature is down. It's clearly not down. It's just being paid for by the wrong people with the wrong motives.
Craig Murray on January 17, 2008, 2:57 AM
That research has been “privatized” by the fed. There is plenty of research, but unfortunatley it’s driven by profit-seeking corporations.
While I agree that the fed should start funding research again, I disagree with the idea that R&D expendature is down. It’s clearly not down. It’s just being paid for by the wrong people with the wrong motives.
Nick Montgomery on January 17, 2008, 10:03 PM
It's worrying to me that we can criticize cuts to public scientific research without talking cuts to OTHER types of public research. Neoliberal policies are helping to privatize all kinds of research within both corporate structures and NGOs, and this inevitably affects public access to knowledge.
Nick Montgomery on January 18, 2008, 3:03 AM
It’s worrying to me that we can criticize cuts to public scientific research without talking cuts to OTHER types of public research. Neoliberal policies are helping to privatize all kinds of research within both corporate structures and NGOs, and this inevitably affects public access to knowledge.
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