It is incredibly worrying that the Trump administration is planning to screen basic research proposals for consistency with the administration's priorities (Science Agency Diverts Money Meant to Fund Basic Research. New York Times, October 4, 2026: A19).
Thanks to economists like Edwin Mansfield, we have known for over 40 years that unfettered, unguided, unconstrained basic research has contributed measurably to our economic prosperity.
The administration's approach is misguided. We need to build a strong, high wall between political ideologies and basic scientific research. Having political commissars deciding scientific research priorities will be very dangerous. Political commissars, like Secretary Kennedy, America's Lysenko, will kill the seed corn, basic rresearch, that keeps America great.
