John Blundell, director general of the Institute of Economic Affairs in the United Kingdom, writes a perspective in The Scotsman criticizing government investment in science and technology.

The mission of the Institute for Economic Affairs “is to improve public understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society, with particular reference to the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.” So it is not too surprising that its director is critical of government funding for science and technology. Even so, his arguments are worth a look.

Here is an excerpt:

“The official consensus, Right or Left, bright or dim, is that although the results of scientific applications can never be predicted, brainy people given leisure and resources must benefit the rest of us. The economic jargon is that science is a “public good”… The chemist Terence Kealey produced something of a jolt to all this when he published The Economic Laws of Scientific Research in 1996… One of the superstitions Dr Kealey has challenged is the amorphous assumption that state science will enhance or accelerate economic growth. It does not. Ask a few more questions and you wonder why such a mistaken view is so widespread.”

Here is a link to the opinion piece by John Blundell.