Government direct funding

Another barrier to the industry-academia relationship is the if it s not broken, why fix it mentality. Presently, many universities are quite well supported by government research funding. There is a fear that stronger ties to industry would compromise the current direction of university research and, worse, could even compromise scholarly pursuits. 

The initial staffing and funding of the newly established Emission Trading Unit in the EPA was resourced by cuts in the six relevant government departments. This was not a sustainable long-term solution however, the Department of Finance, as a matter of policy, was not able to sanction increased direct funding for the EPA. It was therefore decided that participants in the ETS would pay the costs of administering the scheme. It was considered that payment on the... 

In Europe and Japan, government-funded demonstration projects are being actively pursued as a method of direct stimulation of the PV industry. 

It seems clear that government as a funding agency and physicians as clinical providers may take race into account when racial correlations with health status or health care are directly relevant. In many clinical situations moral and legal duties to take race into account in order to respond properly to the patient s health needs may also exist, either because of state action or because of state laws banning racial and ethnic discrimination in public accommodations, which include hospitals and physician offices. Three situations in which a physician may have a duty to recognize racial correlations and order a different test or therapy as a result are discussed below. 

When private dollars pay for innovation, they do so at their own risk. If the innovation is unsuccessful, the innovator loses his or her investment. If the innovation succeeds, the innovator is compensated. In contrast, with government funding of innovation, the risks are not as straightforward. Those who pay for the investment, taxpayers, have no direct say in the investment, butbear the risk. This is apt to lead to poor direction of research funds. 

Politicians, like all citizens, welcome the improvements in the physical world that have come from science, and they also worry about unintended consequences that accompany some scientific advances. In their quest to improve society, politicians have embraced science and increased government funding for research. Use of the public largesse is accompanied by political judgment and even direction about which kinds of science should be pursued and which discouraged or ignored. 

Governments realize the importance and power of science and employ the latest scientific tools and methods to carry out their functions. Science and politics have become inseparable because of funding and regulation policies. Moreover, politicians intervene in the practice of science, sometimes diverting science and the interpretation of scientific findings away from where the evidence leads to directions deemed politically desirable. Three chapters in this volume, by William Happer, Henry I. Miller, and Joseph P. Martino describe some such political interventions. 

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