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July 29, 2022
A New Policy Chief Brings Order and Stability to Biden’s Science Agenda
After two years of controversy and turmoil, President Biden’s federal science agenda finally may be getting back on track. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation just voted to advance the confirmation of Dr. , the nominee to fill Biden’s only empty cabinet position — director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and…
March 2, 2022
President Biden’s Science Agenda Is Imploding
President Biden promised to reinvigorate American science. After a tumultuous four years in which a populist upsurge, a bombastic president, and the worst public health crisis in a century had pushed the social contract between science and the public to the breaking point, he pledged to restore science to a place of preeminence in the federal…
September 27, 2021
Science Needs Fixing, Not Just Funding
The era of constrained federal science budgets is over. With Congress poised to boost public spending on research and development (R&D) by anywhere from tens of billions to hundreds of billions of dollars, science agencies may be preparing for an infusion of federal money on a grand scale that has the potential to transform the institutions of science and technology….
August 2, 2021
Unmasking Scientific Expertise
In early February 1976, two cases of swine flu were discovered at Fort Dix in New Jersey. The Center for Disease Control identified the virus as Hsw1N1, similar to the one that caused the 1918 pandemic. Serologic testing indicated that the virus had spread to more than 200 recruits. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices soon…
June 21, 2021
Liberalism Is Not Enough
In both ends of the political spectrum, it seems liberalism has become démodé. From the traditionalist right, R. R. Reno of First Things proclaims, “[w]e’re afflicted by a liberal monoculture” characterized by a “double-pronged project of cultural and economic deregulation” that has eroded the solidarity needed to hold society together. From the left, Jacobin‘s Nicole Aschoff criticizes what she sees…
June 21, 2021
Is It Time for a US Department of Science?
The Biden administration made history earlier this year by elevating the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to a cabinet-level post. There have long been science advisory bodies within the White House, and there are a number of executive agencies that deal with science, some of them cabinet-level. But this will be the first time in…
June 1, 2021
When It Comes to Public Policy, ‘following the Science’ Is More Complicated Than It Sounds
Scientific evidence is vital to public policy, but science does not offer a repository of neutral evidence that arrives ready-made onto the political scene. Using science to make policy decisions is complex, requiring not only expert judgment but also the judgment of those nonexperts whose experience, knowledge, and know-how is needed to deliberate well about…
May 30, 2021
Congress Must Reassert Its Role in Science and Technology Policy
Earlier this year, Congress held a hearing to consider ways of addressing the “brain drain” in the federal scientific workforce. Calls like this to equip government with more and better expertise are a response to the gap between our elected officials’ technical capacity and the importance of science and technology for society as a whole….
May 28, 2021
Funding Isn’t Enough to Fix Science
The Senate just spent a fevered 72 hours debating the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that aims to spur American innovation and bolster our competitiveness in science and technology by authorizing over $100 billion for federal research and development (R&D). With bipartisan support and the backing of the White House —…
May 6, 2021
Why the Federal Government Must Put More Money Toward Basic Science
A consensus is forming in Washington that the federal government is not doing enough to help American innovation. New research suggests that federal underinvestment is contributing to sluggish productivity and eroding America’s global competitiveness. Current public spending on research and development (R&D) stands at roughly $130 billion — dwarfed by the private sector’s more than $450 billion. This is…