SENATE BILL: The STAR Act (Law'd)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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Sponsor: Simfan34 Averroës Nix

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Senator you have 24 hours to start advocating for this.

[Simfan34]

 Atlasia has seen a marked drop in basic science research spending in recent years, and many of our vaunted private institutions that conducted such research such as Bell Labs, Sarnoff Corporation, or XEROX PARC, have either dropped out of basic research for projects that are lucrative in the short term or folded entirely. Indeed, in these days of fierce competition and dwindling profit margins it makes little sense to invest in research in the fundamentals or theory with little connection to daily operations.  As was written in Bloomberg BusinessWeek:

With the increasing focus on shareholder value that began in the 1990s as global competition heated up, Fortune 500 companies could no longer justify open-ended research that might not directly impact their bottom line. Today, corporate research is almost exclusively engineering R&D, tending more toward applied research with a 3- to 5-year time horizon (or shorter).

This was a luxury the monopolies or conglomerates of yesteryear had, but today’s corporations do not. But it is not a luxury, but indeed a necessity.

The many inventions of today- the tablet computer, the smartphone, the LCD television- were made possible by the innovations of decades prior- the transistor, the graphical user interface, and so forth, and those were backed up by simple scientific discoveries from even further beyond. This is something that Governor Nix noted in the past. But a link has been broken in that chain of discovery- the same science.  We are not engaging in basic science research, and thus cannot expect further innovation if we do not invest in the foundations of that innovation- such is common sense.

We today have seen manufacturing leave our shores, and whilst I would hope our government may one day take pains to see its return that is not the issue at hand today. We have placed our hopes for the time being in a “service economy”, but that, in the vein of thought of a Missourian expatriate I am loathe to find myself agreeing with, has given a few of us jobs in the finance sector whilst this “service economy” has meant, for the most of us, a job servicing customers at a fast food restaurant or clerking a checkout counter at a supermarket. Our rate of personal debt has soared, whilst growth in the economy is funneled to a select few. This is not their doing; it is instead that of the general business climate.

But we have a chance to rectify this. By investing in basic research we lay the seeds for another burst of innovation and the invention of the next generation, the chance to funnel their benefits into millions of well-paying jobs. But we need this soon, and indeed we need this now. Thus it is imperative that we conduct these efforts on a wide scale to achieve a “critical mass” of basic science research to accelerate innovation and bring their benefits to market sooner rather than later. That is also why we need to involve, and indeed make central, the private sector. The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical.

But this is a cycle, and it is only if we keep it rotating we can bring gain fruit from it indefinitely. With tax credits, however, I think we reduce the expense dramatically and the governmental risk involved. Many other proposals made by think-tanks along these lines involved credits as opposed to subsidies and I think those work better. Otherwise I see this bill as being good federally.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

This advocating procedure is new. Who started it? When I was in the senate it would start off introduce a bill --> attacked immediately --> attempt to defend it

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This advocating procedure is new. Who started it? When I was in the senate it would start off introduce a bill --> attacked immediately --> attempt to defend it

cue evil sounding voice: I did!

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I support this and agree with the general trend which the distginguished Senator has used to advocate for this. That is indeed that in the era of the 1990's and afterwards (the era of heightened 'Value Migration') in which value (both consumer demand and equity) shift to the most profitable industries at a much more rapid pace then before. This has indeed destroyed the previous industrial giants, or forced them to lean down and become much new nimbler in an era when a new startup can pop up anywhere in the world and take their customers and shareholders away from them. As a result long term investments in R&D have been cut and that will hamper growth and innovation going forward.

There is a minor point on which I would disagree with the Senator and that is the contrast established with the "service economy". The problem with the contrast is that it fails to acknowledge that reason for the domination of the service sector in terms of employment is that technology (some of the same that the Senator mentioned actually) has done to manufacturing what new farm implements did to agriculture in the first half of the 20th century. We do need a strong manufacturing sector and preferrably one larger and more vibrant. But in the modern era, it is a forgeone conclusion that the service sector will be larger and by several factors larger.

I agree this will create jobs and will advance the economy. Most through the creation of whole new industries based on new technologies. However, to wrap this in an argument that implies that this will return us to a by gone era in terms of the size nad importanceo f the manufcaturing sector, I fear it will only lead to disappointment. Some of the very technologies this will create will lead to "efficiency-driven employment reductions" in existing industries.

[Simfan34]

Friendly.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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Sponsor Feedback: Friendly
Status: Senators have 24 hours to object.

[TJ in Oregon]

Why is it limited to "basic" research? What about more advanced research? What even is basic research?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The amendment of course has passed. Funny, I thought I already posted this here on the 26th.


Are we done here, now?

Does the sponsor have a response to the distinguished Former Senator?

[Simfan34]

Basic research lays the foundation for future specialised work. Today very little generalised, basic research is being done, so we should focus on stimulating that.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Are we ready for a final vote then?

[Simfan34]

Are we? I'd like to extend debate and hear more voices.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I can understand that, as it is typically my standard operating procedure on bills that I introduce that have many moving parts. However, time is running out on this Senate and thus my options are getting limited, since the new Senate starts on Friday and if this bill is still silent, the opening of a vote may fall into less patient hands (The old Big Bad X will do Y gambit. It worked on the CSS back in 2011. Not so much with Chairman Oakvale). Also if mine are limited, a retiring Senator is downright restricted if not constrained by the simple cruelty that is the clock face. Since time is not our friend, and if we aren't moving to a final vote, then the process should be started to get a replacement sponsor.


As for the bill itself, I already detailed the impact this may have in terms of actually reducing employment in some areas. Again, that wasn't an effort to advance a Luddite idea, but instead to temper the advocacy given so as to not have it lend itself as much to a counterproductivity criticism.

Also, I would also look the process in which this will be implemented. Who will oversee the program? Who will pay for administration and such? How will companies be selected and under what guidelines? How are campanes going to be rejected? What standards need to be in place to prevent a company from corrupting the process?

[Niemeyerite]

Why don't we create a public institution for this?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Why don't we create a public institution for this?

Could you give us some kind of an example of what this would look like? Do you mean an agency or a quasi-gov't entity like Fannie Mae or something?

[Niemeyerite]

Why don't we create a public institution for this?

Could you give us some kind of an example of what this would look like? Do you mean an agency or a quasi-gov't entity like Fannie Mae or something?

A public Institution. If the Government wants science research to get its benefits, I don't see why we have to fund a private company to do it for us if we can also administrate it, something like the Smithsonian.

[Simfan34]

"The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical."

[Niemeyerite]

"The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical."

I think we could change that. The public sector can bring those goods to market, too. And it can administrate the 8 billion dollars instead of giving it to private companies and then waiting for their patents.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Yes, but if the government doesn't make money, it often seems like no one cares. In the private sector, everything is about making money. And things that improve people's lives make the most money. The private sector will be able to focus its research in a far more streamlined and applicable way than the government ever could. The private sector is more in touch with people and markets.

[Simfan34]

"The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical."

I think we could change that. The public sector can bring those goods to market, too. And it can administrate the 8 billion dollars instead of giving it to private companies and then waiting for their patents.

The bill is pointless if we give the task to the government. The whole point is to encourage that the private sector do it, which they currently have no incentive to do.

[Niemeyerite]

"The government may be good at conducting basic research, but it does so in a vacuum, where its only use is for paper writing and further experimentation. The private sector can bring these goods to market; make the experimental into the practical."

I think we could change that. The public sector can bring those goods to market, too. And it can administrate the 8 billion dollars instead of giving it to private companies and then waiting for their patents.

The bill is pointless if we give the task to the government. The whole point is to encourage that the private sector do it, which they currently have no incentive to do.

IMO, the private sector looks for profits, not benefits. And when we talk about funding basic science projects, what we want to have is benefits for our citizens, not profits for big companies.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Someone volunteer to sponsor this, lest this computer explode and take us all with it. I'll volunteer if no one else steps forward by tomorrow.

However, I can't initiate the transfer process now.

So we are probably gonna die either way!

[Simfan34]

Thank you, Senator Nix.