Food for thought!
"In an op-ed at The Washington Post, Senior Fellow Scott Atlas echoes Milton Friedman in arguing that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) “should be abolished.” While the NIH has funded some valuable scientific research, Atlas says, “it’s also a governmental monopoly with a roughly $48 billion budget subject to political influence, fiscal abuse and suppression of scientific dissent—one that has diverted billions from actual science to academic operations, racial set-asides and ideological mandates.” Atlas reviews various examples where politicians of both major parties have steered research funding and agendas toward various preferred areas. “Abolishing the NIH would not create a funding vacuum,” Atlas maintains, noting that the private sector already “funds 78 percent of US biomedical research and development.” What’s more, Atlas says, much of the private investment flowing into artificial intelligence is already “funding the overwhelming majority of innovative medical devices and building the AI revolution in biomedicine.” Atlas concludes that doing away with the NIH would not represent a cut to science but rather “is a case for science itself.”"
"In 1980, economist Milton Friedman said the National Institutes of Health should be abolished. Friedman said the same about another government research agency, the National Science Foundation. And when he was asked what the NSF should be replaced with, he replied: “Nothing.” ..."
