Michelle Dang

That's right. Hopefully, we'll know more about what research is going to be affected when the new government policy comes out. And we did ask the Trump administration about some of the concerns here and didn't hear back. Here's Max again.

That's right. Hopefully, we'll know more about what research is going to be affected when the new government policy comes out. And we did ask the Trump administration about some of the concerns here and didn't hear back. Here's Max again.

So finally, I want to go back to the cuts to grants and jobs in science to talk about the government's reasoning here, why they're doing this. I mean, the US has got a national debt of around $36 trillion. And the Trump administration says a big reason for these cuts is that they want to stop government waste and help the economy.

So finally, I want to go back to the cuts to grants and jobs in science to talk about the government's reasoning here, why they're doing this. I mean, the US has got a national debt of around $36 trillion. And the Trump administration says a big reason for these cuts is that they want to stop government waste and help the economy.

Thanks, Professor Andrew Fieldhouse, who's an economist at Texas A&M. And Andrew told me that for decades, since World War II really, there's been this idea that when the government invests in basic science, like how the body works or how atoms work, That gives us knowledge, which can potentially be used to help the economy.

Thanks, Professor Andrew Fieldhouse, who's an economist at Texas A&M. And Andrew told me that for decades, since World War II really, there's been this idea that when the government invests in basic science, like how the body works or how atoms work, That gives us knowledge, which can potentially be used to help the economy.

So investing in rockets and space science decades ago ended up launching the current space economy, which the US government recently said adds more than $130 billion to the economy. Another example, the US government invests in understanding the basic biology of viruses, like coronaviruses. And it literally spends millions of dollars into mRNA vaccine technology that might have never worked.

So investing in rockets and space science decades ago ended up launching the current space economy, which the US government recently said adds more than $130 billion to the economy. Another example, the US government invests in understanding the basic biology of viruses, like coronaviruses. And it literally spends millions of dollars into mRNA vaccine technology that might have never worked.

But then 2019 rolls around.

But then 2019 rolls around.

So there are some obvious examples where investing in science has clear benefits for the economy. The internet is another classic example, which also started out through U.S. government money. But at the same time, it's pretty easy to find some projects that the U.S. government has funded recently and think, huh, that's no Apollo space mission.

So there are some obvious examples where investing in science has clear benefits for the economy. The internet is another classic example, which also started out through U.S. government money. But at the same time, it's pretty easy to find some projects that the U.S. government has funded recently and think, huh, that's no Apollo space mission.

Like take this one, Smart is the New Sexy, a study about the mating behaviour of chickadees. Or another paper that's about cannibalistic tadpoles. Every now and then a politician will find studies just like these and say, come on, science is having a laugh. This is a waste of taxpayer money.

Like take this one, Smart is the New Sexy, a study about the mating behaviour of chickadees. Or another paper that's about cannibalistic tadpoles. Every now and then a politician will find studies just like these and say, come on, science is having a laugh. This is a waste of taxpayer money.

So we wanted to know, when you don't cherry pick the obvious examples where science has made bank, or the curious examples where it's not so obvious where the benefit might be, does investing in science really boost the economy? Luckily, Andrew and a colleague at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finished a study that helps us answer this very question.

So we wanted to know, when you don't cherry pick the obvious examples where science has made bank, or the curious examples where it's not so obvious where the benefit might be, does investing in science really boost the economy? Luckily, Andrew and a colleague at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas finished a study that helps us answer this very question.

They looked through more than 70 years of data and used regression models to see when the US government put money into non-defence research and development in the past. So think the NIH, the NSF, NASA. What happened? That is... The government puts in a dollar of R&D funding, what comes out...

They looked through more than 70 years of data and used regression models to see when the US government put money into non-defence research and development in the past. So think the NIH, the NSF, NASA. What happened? That is... The government puts in a dollar of R&D funding, what comes out...

Yeah. The team found that for every dollar that the government spends on science, years down the line, the economy gets around $1.70.

Yeah. The team found that for every dollar that the government spends on science, years down the line, the economy gets around $1.70.