Stephen Downes

"The age of American Science is over, and it's not coming back any time soon," writes Alex Usher. "The opportunity exists, therefore, for ambitious universities to scoop up a fair bit of top new talent." He's speaking to a Canadian context, but of course the opportunity exists worldwide. And in Canada, since governments won't find new researchers, he suggests, universities should consider recruiting foundations to fill in the gap. The problem with this is that foundations have an agenda, and in a lot of cases that agenda lines up with the sort of thinking that led the U.S. into the position it's in now. There's a reason why we want public funds to support public education; it keeps the country from going off the rails.