The real science gap

miller-mccune.com

2 points·philk··4 comments

Read the article. Feels like Republican propaganda, even though it is not. The reason why scientists cannot find jobs is the lack of industry in USA. Industry is often employer for scientists (on-site chemists, physicists and so on).

I find that premise ("lack of industry") difficult or impossible to believe. The real (inflation adjusted value) manufacturing output of the US is doing just fine, it's manufacturing employment that's taken it on the chin. The US is still doing a lot of the higher value stuff, including R&D which employs scientists.

A big problem with industrial employment of scientists is that the deliberate stuffing of the pipeline (e.g. by the NSF starting in the '80s) to keep the price of science labor low also lowers the income of industry scientists. Basic supply and demand.

Yes, but if you look at amount of industrial output per capita, you'll see that it is smaller than Germany's.

And your point is?

Doesn't America have a more broadly based economy? I.e. a lot more raw materials extraction, food production (profitable, even! (vs. the CAP)), a bigger financial industry (hey, it's undergoing tough times but it's not without value), etc? Hollywood? Popular music?

I don't know the shape of the German economy at all well, but I've read it's very manufacturing export focused.

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