Scientific innovation has been driving US economic growth for decades. Losing that edge means losing access to the technologies and brainpower that come with it.
And how do you compare the results? Can you say definitively that a cure for one disease is more important than another? What metrics do we use? Number of lives affected? Physical pain avoided? Who decides the final say in value? You need a medium to get an approximate value.
I’d say material results are a pretty good metric.
And how do you compare the results? Can you say definitively that a cure for one disease is more important than another? What metrics do we use? Number of lives affected? Physical pain avoided? Who decides the final say in value? You need a medium to get an approximate value.