Funding scientific research
If science produces such large economic benefits, why should governments fund scientific research?
It is incredibly important to examine the question "if science produces such large economic benefits, why should governments fund scientific research?" In contemporary society, the importance of funding scientific research is quite high since "state funding helped get Google’s search algorithm, antibody cancer therapies, and DNA sequencing technologies off the ground."(Huppert and Taylor, 2013) However, it is also equally important to highlight that funding scientific research is extremely expensive. For example, in order to start up a biochemical research lab, you require at least $10 million as the preliminary point at which you buy and set up the equipment. Furthermore, seeing as the government is currently in a serious amount of debt whereby the UK national debt has rocketed to over £1.2 trillion, they have recently confirmed that they intend to cut budgets from several departments and divisions across the board rather than increase or give out any funds. In this essay, I will begin to underline some examples of the large the economic benefits provided by science. I will also outline the consequences and benefits of the government funding scientific research on the account that science is the cause of accumulating large economic funds. Furthermore, I will examine the different groups of people who support and oppose the funding of scientific research and explore which side of the scale weighs more according to whether scientific research should be funded or not.
There are large economic benefits provided by science as expressed by President Barrack Obama who stated that "Science is more essential for our prosperity, our health, our environment and our quality of life than it has ever been before." There was also a report recently which established that for each US dollar spent by the US National Institute of Health, an extra 2.2 dollars is produced in a
It is incredibly important to examine the question "if science produces such large economic benefits, why should governments fund scientific research?" In contemporary society, the importance of funding scientific research is quite high since "state funding helped get Google’s search algorithm, antibody cancer therapies, and DNA sequencing technologies off the ground."(Huppert and Taylor, 2013) However, it is also equally important to highlight that funding scientific research is extremely expensive. For example, in order to start up a biochemical research lab, you require at least $10 million as the preliminary point at which you buy and set up the equipment. Furthermore, seeing as the government is currently in a serious amount of debt whereby the UK national debt has rocketed to over £1.2 trillion, they have recently confirmed that they intend to cut budgets from several departments and divisions across the board rather than increase or give out any funds. In this essay, I will begin to underline some examples of the large the economic benefits provided by science. I will also outline the consequences and benefits of the government funding scientific research on the account that science is the cause of accumulating large economic funds. Furthermore, I will examine the different groups of people who support and oppose the funding of scientific research and explore which side of the scale weighs more according to whether scientific research should be funded or not.
There are large economic benefits provided by science as expressed by President Barrack Obama who stated that "Science is more essential for our prosperity, our health, our environment and our quality of life than it has ever been before." There was also a report recently which established that for each US dollar spent by the US National Institute of Health, an extra 2.2 dollars is produced in a
Bibliography: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10213582/Scientific-research-should-get-more-public-funding.html Last accessed: 12/02/2014 http://www.debtbombshell.com/ Last accessed: 12/02/2014 http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100609/full/465682a.html Last accessed: 12/02/2014 http://royalsociety.org/uploadedFiles/Royal_Society_Content/policy/publications/2010/4294970126.pdf Last accessed: 12/02/2014