Proposed Federal Grant Rule Rewrite Threatens Decentralized American Science
By
Alex Tabarrok
Sesame, salt, and substance. A flagship bake.
Summary
The OMB, along with approximately forty federal grantmaking agencies including NSF, HHS, DOE, NASA, and DOD, has proposed a major rewrite of the Uniform Guidance rules governing all federal grants. This rule change would fundamentally alter the relationship between the federal government and scientific research, shifting from a system where science has been state-funded but not state-directed (since the Vannevar Bush era) toward one where the government could exert direct control over research agendas and administration. The article argues this represents a nationalization of American science, moving away from the decentralized, peer-review-based allocation system toward centralized state control.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledAmerican science has long been state funded but not state directed.
Since Vannevar Bush, money has flowed through many agencies to independent universities, allocated largely by peer review.
The system has flaws—conformity, gerontocracy, waste—but it had one great virtue, the system was decentralized and not under state control.
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