Economist Tyler Cowen has declared that the extraordinary explosion of innovation in the United States in the period roughly from 1850 to 1970 was a fluke in human history, at least partly because such fundamental technologies as railroads and electric power arrived at a time when America had lots of free land and a rapidly growing population. He called the practical inventions that propelled American prosperity “low-hanging fruit.” There are good reasons to question this analogy, but the data clearly show differences between the two periods…
In Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential “Farewell Address” on January 17, 1961, he famously warned of the “military-industrial complex.” Not as well remembered has been his admonition that “The free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity.” The “domination of the nation’s scholars” by the power of federal money was a danger “to be gravely regarded,” as was the danger that “public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite.” Read more…
