The U.S. industry is losing one of its major global advantages, and so far, most business leaders have not yet proposed a peep.
For generations, American companies have been backed by generous government funds that support cutting-edge research within federal agencies and through grants to academic scientists. The entire ecosystem grew up in Boston, Philadelphia and Silicon Valley to help commercialize the innovations obtained.
The U.S. Space Program has laid the foundation for dozens of successful products, from storage foam to cordless vacuums and computer mice. National Institutes of Health funding contributed 99% of all drugs approved between 2010 and 2019. Now, Donald Trump's second administration is throwing sand for the innovative machine.
As part of what they say is a campaign aimed at reducing waste and phase out the ideology of “wake up”, his appointees are researching and cutting federal work for the government, from food and drug monitoring agencies to climate and public health agencies. The cuts also attacked individual scientists through cancelled grants and controversial attempts to retroactively cut overhead payments for research.
The government is punishing billions of dollars in grants to holders of holders of elite universities and threatening their ability to enroll students overseas as it seeks to advocate more ideological control over teaching and research.
Resistance to research attacks is established. Small donors gathered on the side of Harvard, a joint statement condemning “an unprecedented government overt touch” and “forced use of public research funds” that attracted signatures from leaders of more than 500 U.S. agencies.
But American business leaders largely failed to act. When Harvard fought the government, its biggest donors avoided talking about this issue. Some are said to have even put pressure on universities to retreat and restart settlement negotiations.
Their default is in stark contrast to the ongoing resistance to Trump’s tariffs and trade policies. Citadel founder Ken Griffin warned last week that U.S. brands are “eroding”, while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently said uncertainty around tariffs “challenges” global confidence in the U.S.
What cannot defend science is not only cowardice, but also short-sighted. U.S. government funding usually initiates scientific discoveries to achieve commercial success. Where will Silicon Valley be if the Department of Defense has not had a pioneer in funding the Internet?
Without government research grants, the business will work harder. For example, in Biotech, the U.S. government funds account for 38% of the total investment last year, almost the same as the total global venture capital total.
The Trump administration’s cuts and crackdowns today not only cramp research, but also reduces future innovations by making our science attractive to the next generation of researchers. It is hard to imagine the cost reductions compared to the cuts in student research grants considered by the Environmental Protection Agency and others.
Academic research has never paid like a banking industry or business, but it does provide stability and intellectual freedom. Both seem to be in danger now.
Dozens of universities address funding uncertainty by scaling down or revoking quotes to freshmen’s graduate students. Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University both announced cuts related to Trump-related research cuts, and other schools will inevitably follow. Not surprisingly, interest in British universities is soaring.
During Trump’s first term, the CEO initially courted or cringed to him during his personalized attacks on social media. But seven months later, some of them mustered up the courage to denounce his response to the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
There is no reason to wait for this long. Trump has the lowest 100-day approval rate for any president in 80 years, and his policies on academia and research are particularly unpopular. A new Washington Post poll found that 77% of those surveyed opposed cuts in medical research, while seven in 10 people did not like to control efforts at private universities.
The average American understands the threat. Business needs to be joined.
broke.masters@ft.com
Follow Master Brooke myft Then continue x