Kinda baffled too. Given the apparent zeal for whacking science, why hasn't Big Pharma been putting the squeeze on Senators to protect their turf (RFK, NIH, NSF, etc.)?
Are execs in denial? Too focused on short-term results? Or do they not understand their own scientific pipelines?
Are execs in denial? Too focused on short-term results? Or do they not understand their own scientific pipelines?
Reposted from
Gaius (from Tribunate)
Did big pharma just forget that it has lobbyists? If a similar figure existed on the left that threatened pharma profits at even half the amount RFK will cause, then there would be a full court press against them
Comments
That without massive funding from the federal government for basic research, little of that era's most lucrative technology originates here?
They collected remaining STEM folks from every war-torn spot on the planet, scattered the best across American universities, + paid 'em all using Federal funds
And by making the grant review process a competitive process via external review boards of other scientists, the most promising areas of each field got funded
All the risks of basic research were socialized, + the gains privatized
Capitalist utopia!
Science? Basic research? Those are both inherently public goods we've consistently funded at the federal level since the 1940s. Under what economic model would privatizing either make any sense?
Or is this just a one-time pump + dump grift?
But why do powerful outsiders let this run ... to their clear detriment?