Source: Quillette
by Zachary Robert Caverley
“The most recent estimate suggests that basic research endowments will fall by US$15 billion in 2026. In a recent Quillette essay, Lawrence Krauss writes that these cuts threaten ‘the economic health and security of the US’ and ‘the future of scientific research and innovation at the country’s universities and scientific institutions.’ … These claims are worth examining in more detail. For a start, the best available evidence does not demonstrate that federal science funding predicts economic growth. This claim has been evaluated multiple times, sometimes decades apart. In 1989, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) audited R&D investments and determined that federally financed research was having no significant effect on the economy.” (08/01/25)
https://quillette.com/2025/08/01/science-funding-and-economic-prosperity-reply-to-lawrence-kraus/