
The Global State of Science (2017) - arcanus
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/the-global-state-of-science
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nopinsight
> While there have been some questions about the quality of some of China's
> research, its researchers are producing a growing number of the most highly
> cited papers. (Oddly, Switzerland has led in this category by a wide
> margin.)

I’d say Switzerland’s excellence in research is rather expected. With average
pay significantly higher than other European countries and multilingual
society, they are probably a magnet for top talent from other European
nations. (If anyone has more info, please feel free to add.)

In Asia, Singapore has positioned itself as Switzerland’s equivalent. It has
worked itself into a financial and knowledge-based industry hub. Its residents
speak multiple major languages, including English and Mandarin, as well as
others from Chinese and Indian cultures. The small island state (< 6 million
population) is punching above its weight in innovation as reflected in recent
rankings of its top two universities (both in top 3 or top 5 in Asia and top
20-30 overall globally; top 10 globally in engineering).

(Relatedly, Lee Kuan Yew, the late founder of modern Singapore, was an advisor
to several Chinese leadership teams. Several Chinese metropolises probably
took inspiration and ideas from Singapore.)

Some ideas and policies from Singapore and Switzerland can probably help
ignite innovation hubs for other serious governing bodies.

~~~
dmichulke
Small countries have two big advantages:

1\. If government does something really bad (e.g., become am evil
dictatorship), the majority of the population just moves 50 km and is suddenly
in another country. Businesses move much earlier, so there is lots of tax
competition.

2\. Corrupt politicians still need to shop and go to the bakery. In small
countries you can get easily "hated by the people", making your life
miserable. That or the occasional stone in your house's window. Everybody
knows where you live.

The above two are concrete countermeasures available to the general population
against today's standard default "democracy against the will of the people."

Compare that to the administrative cities of Washington, Brussels (as EU
capital), Brasilia, where no ordinary people live (at least they're physically
separated) and where you'd need to move hundreds of kilometers in order to
become resident of another country.

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nopinsight
> The US alone spends about $500 billion. China, which was at roughly $100
> billion a decade ago, has now cleared $400 billion.

Taking into account the costs of doing science in the two countries, China's
investment has probably surpassed the US based on purchasing power parity
(PPP) adjustment.

A root cause of the Century of Humiliation was China's then technological
inferiority to Western powers and Japan, resulting in losses despite its
massive manpower advantage (e.g., ~200,000 vs ~20,000 troops in the First
Opium War). It is unsurprising that they took to heart a painful and vivid
lesson on the importance of technological and scientific development.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Opium_War)

~~~
acqq
When the "Century of humiliation" and the Opium Wars are mentioned, reading
about them also gives a unique chance to easily understand the real meaning of
the still popular term "Free Trade," even then:

[https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-
war-1839-1842](https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/opium-war-1839-1842)

"The war ended on 17 August 1842, with the Treaty of Nanking enabling the
British to 'carry on their mercantile transactions with whatever persons they
please'. The treaty committed the Chinese to free trade, including the trade
in opium."

The British practically fought the war to be free to be drug dealers to the
whole country, asserting they have the right to "free trade." If you are
studying economy or history, you already knew that, otherwise you probably
haven't, unless you are Chinese: if I understand correctly, such details are,
IMHO rightly, the necessary part of the Chinese curriculum.

Free trade is of course even now only used as a term for "others" to accept
what "we" want to do. In other direction, "we" can simply care about the
"national security":

[https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/trump-issues-order-
prohibiti...](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/trump-issues-order-prohibiting-
broadcoms-bid-to-take-over-qualcomm.html)

The Newspeak principles weren't invented by Orwell. One country's free trade
is another country's national security.

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j7ake
This article is nicely written but some figures to summarise data would be
nice !

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arunmp
> India and China combined now account for roughly half the world's
> undergraduate degrees in the sciences

I wish this amount of man power is converted into productive outcomes.

