dreamdancer 0 #1 March 10, 2009 i didn't realise that he was being quite so radical. this all sounds good stuff... QuoteNEVER has so much money been pumped into science so quickly and with so much hanging on a successful outcome. The full scope of President Barack Obama's agenda to revitalise the ailing US economy has now been revealed, and it is arguably the biggest bet on science and technology in history. The Obama administration's latest attempt to tackle the problems facing the US is a record $3.6 trillion budget request for 2010. This has come hard on the heels of a $787 billion "stimulus package" designed to give the US economy a shot in the arm. Both are packed with funding for science and technology ventures, from healthcare research to an electricity supergrid. The stimulus alone hands out more than $20 billion for basic research and about $50 billion to support renewable power and energy efficiency (see charts). The stimulus bill calls for the funds to be spent in two years, though in some areas it may take longer. In terms of dollars per year, it is arguably the most cash that has ever been pumped into scientific research. Even the Apollo programme and the Manhattan project - which cost over $200 billion and $35 billion at today's value - were spread over 11 and five years, respectively. It seems Obama is delivering on his promise to restore science to its rightful place. "He is committed to putting his money where his mouth is - or putting our money where his mouth is," says Lesley Stone of the lobby group Scientists and Engineers for America. Yet in the light of US budget plans for 2010, it is clear that Obama's goal is about more than giving the economy a kick-start by spending on scientists' salaries and test tubes. In the detail of the stimulus are key components of a wider agenda, aspects of which might have triggered a fight if they had not been hurried through. Take healthcare: the stimulus includes $1.1 billion for research into the comparative effectiveness of treatments. This is a bold move, given the powerful organisations that profit from the status quo, such as big pharma. It is crucial to Obama's wider plan to save big, by cracking down on ineffective treatments, and to spend big, to extend healthcare insurance coverage to tens of millions of people who don't have it. Obama's plans for healthcare exemplify the risks inherent in his agenda. Delivering the promised efficiency will require a shake-up of a system that currently rewards doctors and hospitals according to the quantity of the care they provide, not its quality. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126984.000-obama-goes-all-in-for-science.htmlstay away from moving propellers - they bite blue skies from thai sky adventures good solid response-provoking keyboarding Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
