

The myth of science as a public good - dpatru
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_PVI6V6o-4&sns=em

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wisty
OK, I was sceptical until the Q&A (about 45 minutes in), when he is asked
about blue-sky research. His answer - private companies and foundations do a
lot of blue-sky research (think Bell Labs), and governments are actually
pretty lousy about doing it as they only care about economic growth (and the
next election). It would be nice if it was expanded a bit though.

Towards the end, he also points out that patents in pharmaceuticals are
acceptable, because of the costs of regulatory compliance. If 99% of your
costs are getting FDA approval (which are needed, to stop drug companies
pushing ineffective and dangerous quack treatments), then the patent is needed
to protect you.

