The Time To Demand Funding

摘要

The funding crisis for science may find its solution, however unfortunately, in the recession at hand. There will be a need for federal spending on real infrastructure projects to rescue the economy. NIH and NSF should be among the foremost beneficiaries. In the 1930s, cultural and artistic endeavors were among the beneficiaries of economic stimulus programs through the Works Progress Administration. That was before the existence of NIH or NSF. Surely, science is among the highest achievements of human culture. Spending on NIH and NSF can rescue our endangered scientific infrastructure and save the scientific careers of what will otherwise be a lost generation. The proposals are ready to go in the form of thousands of unfunded but worthy grants, thus meeting the criterion of immediate implementation necessary for a stimulus package. And the public should welcome this. Increased spending on research is virtually certain to benefit us, our children, and their children.