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Posted on 04/10/2006 12:54:59 AM PDT by neverdem
A new study of university scientists who received federal financing from the National Cancer Institute found that they generated patents at a rapid pace and started companies in surprisingly high numbers.
The study, the authors say, suggests that the commercial payoff for the government's support for basic research and development in the life sciences is greater than previously thought.
The paper, to be published today, comes at a time when politicians and policy makers in the United States and Europe are questioning the value of government funds invested in fundamental research. In theory, those investments should be a wise use of taxpayers' money, according to many economists, who assert that innovation must be an engine of economic growth and job creation in developed nations.
The new study, by economists at Indiana University and the Max Planck Institute of Economics in Germany, is an attempt to analyze the commercial activity of university scientists in a field where government financing of basic research has been quite generous.
Federal financing of the National Institutes of Health has not grown in the last couple of years, but it increased by two and a half times in the decade before 2005. The National Cancer Institute is the largest of the N.I.H. units, with an annual budget of $4.8 billion, and much of its spending goes to support university research.
The report's authors studied the activities of nearly 1,700 scientists who received the largest grants from the cancer institute from 1998 to 2002. In the past, most studies of patent activity by university researchers have looked at patents assigned to university technology transfer offices, the traditional path to commercializing academic research.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Poing.
The Blood Cleaner [device filters viruses from circulating blood]
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Government-business partnerships abound in all economic sectors. We damned free enterprise long ago.
What a breathless revelation from the Times!!!! They did not even have to make up the story!!
SBIR's have been doing this for decades, and patents look great on a resume...All the better when the taxpayers are footing the bill for the patent lawyers.
Much basic R&D in the Private Sector began drying up as far back as the '80's, when it was possible to invest the R&D budget, and make more than the 8% Cost-plus-fixed-fee on Government contracts.
*******"A new study of university scientists who received federal financing from the National Cancer Institute found that they generated patents at a rapid pace and started companies in surprisingly high numbers.
Propaganda pretending to be "news" from the DNC Times.
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That's exactly what the NIH is doing. It's called accountability. There are a lot of people that question even funding basic research at all. This study indicates that the money spent doesn't dissappear down a black hole, but returns to the economy in the form of start up companies. In other words, the government funding of basic research leads to investment in new start up companies that apply the information gathered from the basic research. This, in turn, creates jobs and offers innovative products and services in the free market. Thisnk about it. A couple of PhD students commercialize their thesis work. They start a company that needs accountants, HR people, production workers, maintenance people and all the overhead that goes with it. That's a good stimulation of the economy.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
The politics of science...
The problem with most government/private research programs that turn into "companies" is that those companies would not be viable on their own. To state it bluntly: the government has an agenda and they are always able to find some people who will be glad to begin an enterprise with government money. But when the agenda changes, the public cash dries up and these companies disappear.
It's OK to use research grants to power business building, since there is little incentive for private people to do this, but if the government is a partner in the business then that business will surely fail. If patents arising fuel business formation without the government's participation, then the business has a great potential future.
Bottom Line: the government wastes tax money. If that money were private, much more new, lasting business would be forthcoming.
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