The Economic Laws of Scientific Research

Very interesting book

I love this book and think there is so much in it. Its a book of two halves, the first half is chapters 1-8, taking us up to the modern world from 9-12. I think the most rewarding chapters are easily 9-11 inclusive, but i wouldnt skip the first chapter on Bacon vs Smith. Thats if youre pressed for time.I think most people would be surprised at the many routes of private funding of research as well as the vast amount of it. To put a rough figure on it from 70-90% of research is done privately depending on the country.The first half does have a lot of useful information, Kealey mentions 5 different ways of funding research on page 74 but then later he mentions a 6th, corporative schemes. And you get to learn a lot of interesting tid-bits, and how we slowly advanced to our current condition, and with each advancement our condition improved. He he goes through a lot of history, eventually dedicating chapters to the commercial revolution, the agricultural revolution, and industrial revolution.The real meat for me are chapters 9-11, and thats cause theres so much information (graphs) which are easy to understand and have very clear conclusions. One thing im tempted to do is go into OECD statistics and get the most up to date figures and see have trends held (Which i trust they have) and see if countries have changed their policies at all. But check it out and see for yourself.

Should be very widely read. The best thing that could happen to scientific research, and to pure research in academic context in general, is to get the government out of it.

Kealey's excellent exposition on the driving forces of well-directed science was definitely a text which contradicted many of the conceptions which I have developed over the years through "common wisdom." Effectively, the text is a treatise against the Baconian model of economic growth through which scientific research is the primary cause. In the name of such a model, most contemporary policy-makers and scientists insist that it is the role of government to fund "primary research" in order that applications may be derived from it. While one could definitely take this consideration down the epistemological rabbit hole, Kealey merely lays out the facts and statistics which are ultimately bolstered by common sense.The central argument is that market-directed research is the greater impetus for technological and economic progress than centrally-planned research and technology. Through a whole variety of examples and statistics, the author lies out the overall path of technological development in history and how it developed a need for science, thereby connecting scientific research much more directly to the "situation on the ground" of reality, allowing for productivity (and hence capital) growth in the market as it stands. Additionally, he discusses and refutes many of the contemporary arguments about slow-downs being caused by a lack of funding. Once again, statistics are used to explain the general developmental paths of societies, but common sense once again can verify this by the truism that more complex systems are inherently more difficult to grow with haste.These remain mere guideposts to Kealey's considerations since the text itself is a comprehensive, yet accessible, historical/statistic reflection on the proper roles of the market and government in scientific research. In an age which ascribes near necessity to the latter and little to the former, this text is an important counter-argument which deserves consideration, in particular because of the strength of its lucid common sense.

A thesis that runs counter to the role of the public sector in innovation. Definitely worth a read whether you agree or not.

This is a must read book for anyone who is honestly interested in how scientific discoveries are made, not just the stories we tell ourselves about how they are made, but the facts.