This presupposes a business major is any better at understanding customer needs than an engineer. Given that most startups fail, I'd be willing to infer that neither the typical non-technical founder nor the typical technical founder is particularly good at this.
This isn't close to a monopsony but it's more directionally correct than it is wrong. Keep in mind research institutes can be funded by private foundations, state and local governments, industry (e.g. pharma), venture, or even foreign governments. The federal government is undoubtedly the largest buyer though. I do think there are other motivations to rely primarily on federal grants beyond number of dollars. In particular, funding sources other than federal grant money is often looked down on from an academic prestige perspective. Until now federal money came with very few strings attached compared to the perceived loss of objectivity that could occur when receiving money from other sources. The current situation may alter or relax the prevailing view on which sources of research money are perceived of as potentially compromising.
The cough headache appearing right after pregnancy is suspicious. Did you get an epidural? I think they are finding that CSF leaks (which can be a complication of lumbar punctures and epidurals) are underdiagnosed. I wonder whether a small leak might manifest as a headache triggered by coughing and bending over.
This is often repeated, yet despite the studies on speed differentials being dangerous I am still skeptical of the more specific claim that driving the speed limit specifically when others are speeding increases your risk of getting in an accident.