Opinion: Giving Can’t Replace Government Science Funding

Despite its seriousness of purpose and impressive results, mega-giving for scientific research is no substitute for government support, a member of the New York Times editorial board writes in an online opinion piece.

Noting recent reporting in the Times on the surge in science-related philanthropy by U.S. billionaires, Teresa Tritch says that even at its most potentially generous, science-based philanthropy by U.S. billionaires “pales in comparison to public financing for science.”

Even if the 40 Giving Pledge signers who name science, health, and the environment as priorities gave all their assets to those causes, it would raise $250-billion, “about two years’ worth of federal financing for research and development in bad budget times,” Ms. Tritch writes in the Times board’s Taking Note blog. She says only government can muster the resources needed to leverage “incremental advances” from donor-backed research into practical applications.