The West has lost the will to fund basic research by William Brody.
In the US, university basic research has withered in many important fields, especially in the physical and information sciences and engineering.
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Industrial basic research has failed to demonstrate a return on investment that satisfies the ravenous appetite of financial markets for short-term earnings growth. As a result, companies have been directing capital to applied research and development, rather than basic invention and innovation.
The writer is president of the Johns Hopkhins University, the co-founder of three medical device companies and co-chairman of the US Council on Competitiveness’s National Innovation Initiative.
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