[pvn]

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And if you compare publicly funded research (university, etc.) with for-profit research (biotech, drug companies, etc.)

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Lots of university research is done with private funds. People endow universities despite government taxation, there's no reason to think such giving would *decrease* if taxation burdens were removed.

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I can't believe that anyone would believe that the for-profits are doing better science.

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Again, you're falsely framing this. It's not a "for-profit" vs. "University" debate. There is non-profit private research, and there is for-profit university research.

The debate is between government funding and private funding. And the fact that government has distorted the market does not prove that it's more desirable.

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Have we learned nothing from Johnny Mnemonic ?

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All I needed to know about the virtues of statism I learned from Johnny Mnemonic and the West Wing.

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For profit science really restricts exploration.

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How? Think about it. What's more restrictive? Some government bureaucrat doling out funds to selected projects, or private individuals doing whatever they want?