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Tue 23 Dec, 2008 08:55 pm
Science We Can Believe In: How President Obama Can Recharge US Research
Back in September, when the presidential election seemed up for grabs, a group of more than 60 Nobel Prize-winning scientists endorsed Barack Obama. One important reason: his plan to increase federal funding for research, which they argued would result in "new ways to provide energy ... and improve our economy." Fund science, goes the logic, because basic research always yields economic benefits.
Now, with the economy in tumult and a deficit that could reach $1 trillion this year, the question is not whether research and development should be a priority but whether Obama will be able to deliver. And even if he can still manage to increase funding, simply putting more cash into the same old research priorities won't help invent the future. Obama will surely aim to spend more than George W. Bush (but not enough to make everyone happy). More important, he'll have to create policies that ensure good ideas make it out of the lab.
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